FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Karen V. Pincus, S. Robson Walton Chair in Accounting and department chair of accounting in the Sam M. Walton College of Business, University of Arkansas, has received the Federation of Schools of Accountancy - Joseph A. Silvoso Faculty Merit Award.

"This is the highest award given by the Federation of Schools of Accountancy," said Doyle Z. Williams, dean of the Walton College. "It is given for distinguished contributions to the Federation, the profession of accounting and accounting education. We are very excited about Dr. Pincus receiving this award. She is one of our top faculty members and has devoted her career to enhancing accounting education through her many national leadership roles."

The award was presented at the Federation’s 27th annual meeting in Denver in October. The Federation’s Supporting Associate KPMG LLP provided funding for the award. The organization is composed of more than 200 accredited graduate accounting programs and major professional associations. Its mission is to encourage and promote the development of high quality accredited programs and to be a leading advocate of such programs. Pincus was president of the Federation in 1999 and served on the board of directors for 1995-1996 and 1998-2000, the audit committee, and the transitioning to new curricula committee. She also served as editor of the first two Pedagogical Resource Catalogs.

Joseph A. Silvoso was the former president of the American Accounting Association and professor emeritus of accountancy at the University of Missouri, Columbia. Silvoso was known as the father of the schools of accountancy movement in the U.S. and established the School of Accountancy at the University of Missouri in 1975, the first such school at a major state university. In 1989, the Federation of Schools of Accountancy established the Joseph A. Silvoso Faculty Award of Merit in his honor as he was the driving force in creating the Federation.

Pincus came to the Walton College in 1995 from the School of Accounting at the University of Southern California where she had taught since 1983. She holds BS, MBA and PhD degrees from the University of Maryland.

Pincus was vice president of the American Accounting Association (AAA) from 1996-1998 and has served on the Arthur Carter Scholarship Committee and the Auditing Section Task Force on Future Assurance Services. She was also president of the AAA Audition Section from 1999-2000 and currently serves as historian until 2005. Pincus was elected to a three-year term as member-at-large of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants Council.

Her research interests include auditing, with an emphasis on research involving audit judgment and fraud prevention and detection. She focuses on accounting education. The Accounting Organizations and Society recently recognized Pincus as authoring one of the top five most-cited articles on accounting. One of the most popular classes she teaches in the Walton College is the graduate level fraud detection class, in which she gives detailed lectures on what happened financially at Enron.

Pincus is a licensed CPA. Prior to becoming an academic, she worked in public accounting with Coopers & Lybrand’s Washington, D.C. office. She served as treasurer and member of the board of a company that builds, owns and manages housing developments in Columbia, Maryland.