FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Carolyn Callahan, Doris M. Cook Chair in Accounting and director of the accounting doctoral studies, Sam M. Walton College of Business, University of Arkansas, has been elected vice president of the American Accounting Association (AAA) for the 2003-2005 term. The election took place at the association’s annual meeting in Honolulu, Hawaii in August.

The AAA promotes worldwide excellence in accounting education, research and practice. Founded in 1916 as the American Association of University Instructors in Accounting, the AAA is a voluntary national organization of persons interested in accounting education and research.

"It is an honor to have one of our faculty members elected to such a respected national office," said Karen V. Pincus, S. Walton Chair in Accounting and department chair. "Carolyn has a long history of dedication and service to the AAA. She also brings that dedication to the Walton College accounting doctoral program."

Callahan was previously the chairperson of the AAA’s 1999 New Faculty Consortium, served on the 1999 Globalization Initiation Committee, which planned the first international conference sponsored by AAA and Taiwan, and served as co-chair of the program committee for the 2000 Globalization Conference sponsored by the AAA and the British Accounting Association. Her long-time dedication to the AAA also includes service on a number of other AAA committees including: the New Faculty Consortium, The Council, Financial Accounting and Reporting Section Steering Board, Competitive Manuscript Award Nominations, Faculty Diversity and Initiatives, Annual Program Planning, and the Notable Contributions to the Literature Screening Committee.

In giving back to the African American community and her profession, Callahan was a founding member of The PhD Project for minority doctoral students in accounting as well as finance.  In August 2000, she was awarded the organization’s highest award for outstanding leadership, commitment and service to the accounting academic profession. Most recently, she was honored with the American Association of Higher Education’s 2003 Harold Delaney Exemplary Educational Leadership Award.

Callahan joined the Walton College in January 2001. She came from the University of Notre Dame where she was formerly the KPMG Research Faculty Fellow. Callahan received her PhD in accountancy and finance from Michigan State University, her MS in accountancy from Bowling Green State University and her BS in accounting from Ohio Northern University. She went on to serve as a member of the faculties of the University of Massachusetts and the University of Notre Dame before joining the U of A.

Callahan’s research interests include market frictions, market structures, corporate information signals and theoretical pricing models. Her research addresses the quality of information produced by a firm and financing costs in the capital markets. This research is used by investors to make better investment decisions and by corporate managers to minimize their cost of raising equity capital.

In addition to receiving national competitive research grants, Callahan has been published in numerous top tier academic journals such as The Accounting Review, Contemporary Accounting Research, and the Journal of Accounting Research among others. She is a member of the editorial board of The Accounting Review, Accounting Horizons, Behavioral Research in Accounting and The Journal of Cost and Managerial Decisions.