Business Doctoral Graduate Wins Dissertation Award
Heather (Losi) Holcomb, Ph.D. '21, center, receives the American Accounting Association (AAA) Timothy Pearson Best Dissertation Paper Award for 2023.Heather J. (Losi) Holcomb, Ph.D. '21, a member of The University of Scranton’s first cohort of doctoral students, received the American Accounting Association (AAA) Timothy Pearson Best Dissertation Paper Award for 2023. The prestigious award is presented by AAA’s Forensic Accounting Section to the author of a dissertation related to forensic accounting that was completed within the last three years.
Dr. Holcomb received the award for her dissertation titled “The Effects of Client Machiavellian Traits and Fraud Motivation on Fraud Risk Assessments,” which was subsequently published in the Journal of Forensic Accounting Research in 2022. Her dissertation chair was Robert Giambattista, Ph.D., associate professor of management, marketing and entrepreneurship, and her second chair was Douglas Boyle, D.B.A. '88, professor and chair of the Accounting Department and director of the University’s Ph.D. program in accounting.
“It is a tribute to the hard work of our faculty and the quality of the students our program attracts, that Heather Holcomb, a graduate of our first doctoral class, has received this prestigious award. We believe that we continue to see our graduates receive recognition for their achievements,” said Mark Higgins, Ph.D., dean of the Kania School of Management at the University. The doctoral program in business, housed in Scranton’s Kania School of Management, is the first Ph.D. program offered at Scranton.
Dr. Holcomb is the fifth member of the University’s business doctoral program to win a prestigious national dissertation award. Lisa S. Haylon, Ph.D. candidate, and Xiaobing (Emily) Li, Ph.D '23, received the IIA’s Michael J. Barrett Doctoral Dissertation Award this year. Gregory Kogan, Ph.D. '22, and Joy Chacko, Ph.D. '21, were awarded the Institute of Internal Auditors Michael J. Barrett Doctoral Dissertation Award for their respective years.
Dr. Holcomb of Liverpool, New York, is an assistant professor of accounting at the State University of New York at Oswego.
