Article by Accounting Professors Wins Gold Medal

An article by University of Scranton accounting professors has won a prestigious Institute of Management Accountants’ Lybrand Gold Medal as the “outstanding article of the year” for 2019, marking the fourth medal, and second gold medal, to be awarded to professors at Scranton in just six years. The manuscript recognized was “Beyond Internal Controls: The Need for Behavioral Assessment and Modification in Fraud Mitigation Efforts,” by professors Douglas M. Boyle, D.B.A., James Boyle, D.B.A., and Daniel Mahoney, Ph.D., which was published in the fall 2018 edition of Management Accounting Quarterly.

The Lybrand Competition considers for awards all manuscripts published during the year in the Institute of Management Accountants’ (IMA) Strategic Finance and Management Accounting Quarterly journals, both of which are rated among the top five practitioner journals.

In 2016, the article “The Continuing Saga of Goodwill Accounting,” by Dr. Douglas Boyle, Dr. Mahoney and Brian Carpenter, Ph.D., received IMA’s Lybrand Gold Medal. In 2014, the article “New Rules for Lessee Accounting: A Summary of the Lessee Provisions of Accounting Standards Update” by the three professors received IMA’s Lybrand Bronze Medal, and in 2015, the manuscript “Operation Broken Gate: The SEC Holding Gatekeepers Accountable” by Drs. Douglas and James Boyle, Dr. Carpenter and Dr. Mahoney received the IMA’s Lybrand Silver Medal.

In addition to the medals, manuscripts entitled “The SEC Whistleblower Program Expands Focus: Retaliatory Behavior, Confidentiality Agreements, and Compliance Personnel” by Drs. Douglas and James Boyle and Dr. Carpenter and “Goodwill Impairment Adequacy: Perspectives of Accounting Professionals” by Dr. Douglas Boyle, Dr. Carpenter, and Dr. Daniel Mahoney received 2016 Lybrand Certificates of Merit. Finally, manuscripts titled “Avoiding the Fraud Mind-set” by Drs. Douglas Boyle and James Boyle and Dr. Mahoney and “Goodwill Accounting: A Closer Examination of the Matter of Nonimpairments” by Dr. Douglas Boyle, Dr. Carpenter and Dr. Mahoney received Lybrand Certificates in 2015 and 2012, respectively.

Dr. Douglas Boyle currently serves as chair of the Accounting Department at Scranton, director of the University’s internationally recognized DBA program and the founder and director of the University’s Nonprofit Leadership Certificate Program. In addition, he, along with Dr. James Boyle and Dr. Mahoney, led the University’s effort to establish a Business High School Scholars Program.

A Certified Public Accountant as well as a Certified Management Accountant, Dr. Boyle has more than 25 years of industry executive experience. An award-winning teacher, Dr. Boyle was profiled in 2019 as one of just six “Professors to Know in Business Programs Based in the Northeast” selected by Bschools.org, an online resource for entrepreneurs. Dr. Boyle earned a bachelor’s degree from The University of Scranton, an MBA from Columbia University and a doctorate from Kennesaw State University.

Dr. Boyle’s research has been published in numerous academic and practitioner journals, such as The Journal of Accounting and Public Policy (JAPP), Accounting Horizons, Current Issues in Auditing, The Journal of Accounting Education, The Accounting Educators’ Journal, The Journal of Accountancy, Strategic Finance, Fraud Magazine, Internal Auditor, Management Accounting Quarterly, The CPA Journal, Internal Auditing, The Journal of Applied Business Research and The Journal of Business and Behavioral Sciences.

An award-winning teacher and scholar, Dr. Mahoney earned a bachelor’s degree and an MBA from The University of Scranton as well as a doctorate in accounting from Syracuse University. A Certified Public Accountant, he was named Kania School of Management’s Professor of the Year five times and has won numerous other awards for teaching.

Dr. Mahoney’s research has been published in numerous professional journals, such as The CPA Journal, Internal Auditor, Management Accounting Quarterly and Journal of Business and Economics Research, Accounting and Financial Management.

Dr. James Boyle holds a bachelor’s and MBA from The University of Scranton and a DBA from Kennesaw State University. He has taught part-time at the University since 2009 and full-time since 2012 and also served as an internal auditor for the University for more than a decade. He has published articles in multiple academic journals, including The CPA Journal, Strategic Finance, The Journal of Forensic and Investigative Accounting and Internal Auditing.