Four Texas Professors Receive Outstanding Educator Awards
Texas CPA Society Recognizes Educators for
Teaching Excellence and Contributions to the Accounting Profession

DALLAS — The Texas Society of Certified Public Accountants (TSCPA) recently honored four top Texas professors with the organization’s 2004 Outstanding Accounting Educator Awards.

Winners included Ramon Fernandez, CPA, University of St. Thomas; Liliana Hickman-Riggs, CPA, University of Texas-Dallas; Karen Russom, CPA, North Harris College; and Dr. L. Murphy Smith, CPA, Texas A&M University.

At a ceremony held during the TSCPA Accounting Education Conference, the four winners each received a plaque and a $1,000 award provided by the TSCPA Accounting Education Foundation.

The TSCPA Outstanding Accounting Educator Awards honor Texans who have demonstrated excellence in teaching and who have distinguished themselves through active service to the accounting profession.

Criteria for judging includes instructional innovation, student motivation, the pursuit of learning opportunities for students, involvement in student and professional accounting organizations, and research accomplishments and publications.

Fernandez is an assistant professor of accounting at the University of St. Thomas, where he organizes the business school’s only undergraduate service learning course. For the past 21 years, his tax students and other volunteers have partnered with the IRS Volunteer Income Tax Assistance program to prepare thousands of tax returns for area residents.

Fernandez also is the tax expert for Lance Robert’s national radio call-in shows.

Hickman-Riggs has served as an adjunct accounting faculty member at the University of Texas-Dallas for the past 10 years and has taught numerous undergraduate and graduate accounting courses. Known for her enthusiasm in the classroom, she utilizes specific teaching methods for each type of learner in her classroom. Hickman-Riggs also serves as the lead instructor and national director for BeckerConviser’s cram review products.

Russom is a professor of accounting and accounting coordinator at North Harris College, where she has taught a variety of accounting and auditing courses. She is a certified WebCT instructor and has developed and taught several online courses. Russom helps students apply their accounting knowledge through field trips to area businesses like Blue Bell Creamery, Gallery Furniture, Frito-Lay, and local television stations.

Smith is a professor of accounting at Texas A&M, where he primarily teaches courses in accounting information systems and international accounting. He also led in the development and maintenance of the university’s Internal Auditing Program.

He has collaborated on three educational mystery novels that integrate current business topics with accounting concepts, which have received rave reviews from students.

ABOUT TSCPA

TSCPA (http://www.tscpa.org) is a nonprofit, voluntary, professional organization representing Texas CPAs. The society has 20 local chapters statewide and has 27,000 members, one of the largest in-state memberships of any state CPA society in the United States. TSCPA is committed to serving the public interest with programs that advance the highest standards of ethics and practice within the CPA profession.