Deloitte Accounting Professorship

MTSU’s Zeta Gamma Chapter of Beta Alpha Psi (BAP), international accounting honorary organization for accounting students, held a special meeting on January 22. The chapter had invited the accounting faculty to attend to introduce themselves, and candidates for membership from fall 2012 were initiated. The highlight of the meeting was the announcement by Deloitte, one of the “Big 4” CPA firms in the United States, of its new Deloitte Foundation Professorship at MTSU. In attendance were five partners and directors from the firm’s Nashville office:

• Jim Biagini, a director with the Deloitte Tennessee audit practice, who has more than 22 years of experience in accounting and auditing. He received his accounting education from MTSU, and he is a BAP chapter past president.
• Donald Fields, an advisory director with the Deloitte Tennessee advisory practice, specializing in risk controls and consulting. He holds an MBA degree from the MTSU Jones College of Business.
• Kevin Moore, a partner with Deloitte and the professional practice director of the Deloitte Tennessee audit practice. He has nearly 30 years of experience in accounting and auditing and is a graduate of Creighton University in Omaha, Nebraska.
• Tom Walker, an audit partner in the Nashville practice. He is an MTSU graduate and has been a partner for almost 20 years. He is a past member of the MTSU Accounting Advisory Board.
• Lisa Nix, a managing director with Deloitte’s national Life Sciences & Health Care mergers and acquisitions transactions services practice. She has over 20 years of public accounting experience and over 10 years of experience leading the health care services teams for strategic and financial buyers. She is an MTSU graduate and past president of the BAP chapter. A member and past chair of the Accounting Advisory Board, she heads its Board Development Committee.

Deloitte's Lisa Nix, right, recognizes

Terry Ward, past holder of the

Deloitte Foundation Professorship.

Nix introduced Paula Thomas as the new holder of the Deloitte Foundation Professorship. Thomas has taught at MTSU for more than 25 years and is past chair of the Department of Accounting. She is from Fayetteville, Tennessee, and earned her D.B.A. from Mississippi State University in 1988.

Nix also recognized the past holder of the Deloitte Foundation Professorship, Terry Ward, who has taught at MTSU for over 18 years. From Blackberry Creek, Kentucky, Ward received his Ph.D. from the University of Tennessee in 1991. He held the professorship from its creation in 2006 to 2012.

Paul Thomas, left, named holder of the Deloitte Foundation Professorship, 

talks to Deloitte's Jim Biagini, center, and Tom Walker.