Biographical note

Jay Rich is a professor of accounting at Illinois State University. He received his B.S., M.S. and Ph.D. from the University of Illinois. Prior to entering the Ph.D. program, he worked as an auditor at Price Waterhouse & Co. in Chicago and earned his C.P.A. In 1985. Dr. Rich has published articles in numerous journals, including The Accounting Review, Auditing: A Journal of Practice & Theory, Accounting Horizons, Contemporary Accounting Research, Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes and Accounting Organizations and Society. He has also served on the editorial board of Auditing: A Journal of Practice & Theory and Current Issues in Auditing. Dr. Rich has received both the Outstanding Dissertation Award and Notable Contribution to the Literature Award from the Audit Section of the American Accounting Association. He was also recognized with the Outstanding Educator Award from the Illinois CPA Society. His primary teaching interest is financial accounting and he has taught numerous courses at the undergraduate, master and doctoral levels. Dr. Rich has a wife of 35 years, Jane, and three children, Dennis, Anne and Grace. His outside interests include his family, travel and reading. He also repeatedly develops plans to exercise and diet at some point in the future. By all accounts, he is a master at grilling meat, a mediocre skier and a shameful golfer. Linda A. Myers is a distinguished professor of accounting and holder of the Haslam Chair of Business at The University of Tennessee, Knoxville (UTK). She holds a B.com. in accounting, an M.B.A. from McMaster University and a Ph.D. from the University of Michigan. Dr. Myers has published more than 40 peer-reviewed articles in The Accounting Review; Journal of Accounting and Economics; Journal of Accounting Research; Contemporary Accounting Research; Review of Accounting Studies and Accounting, Organizations and Society. She is the recipient of the AAA�s Notable Contribution to the Auditing Literature Award, the AAA�s Financial Accounting and Reporting Section Best Paper Award and the Financial Executives Research Foundation�s Award for the Outstanding Accounting Review Article. Dr. Myers� research has been cited in The New York Times and The Economist, as well as by the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. She has also been quoted on National Public Radio�s Marketplace Business. She is as an editor at Contemporary Accounting Research, Auditing: A Journal of Practice & Theory, Accounting Horizons, Journal of International Accounting Research and CAFR. Dr. Myers is also an associate editor at the Journal of Accounting and Auditing & Finance and she serves on the editorial boards of The Accounting Review and European Accounting Research. She has taught financial accounting, managerial accounting and Ph.D. seminars at McMaster University, University of Illinois, Texas A&M University, University of Arkansas and UTK. She currently serves as director of the Ph.D. program in accounting at UTK. When not traveling around the globe, Dr. Myers enjoys playing board games, cooking, entertaining and spending time with her husband and two children. Dr. Jefferson P. Jones is an associate professor of accounting in the School of Accountancy at Auburn University, where he teaches financial accounting and applied financial research courses. He received his B.S. and Master of Accountancy degrees from Auburn University and his Ph.D. from Florida State University. Dr. Jones has received numerous teaching awards, including the Auburn University Beta Alpha Psi Outstanding Teaching Award (12 times), the Auburn University Outstanding Master of Accountancy Professor Teaching Award (five times), the Auburn University Outstanding Distance Master of Accountancy Teaching Award (three times) and the Auburn University College of Business McCartney Teaching Award. In addition, he has made numerous presentations around the country on research and pedagogical issues. Dr. Jones has public accounting experience as an auditor with Deloitte and Touche and holds a C.P.A. certificate in the state of Alabama (inactive). He is a member of the American Accounting Association, the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) and the Alabama Society of CPAs (ASCPA). His research interests focus on financial accounting, specifically investigating the quality of reported accounting information and accounting education. He has published articles in numerous journals, including Advances in Accounting, Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting, Issues in Accounting Education, International Journal of Forecasting and The CPA Journal. When not at work, Dr. Jones enjoys playing golf and watching college football.