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Ph.D. Students in Residence
Nico Arguello
Nico is a first-year doctoral student with research interests in audit (both internal and external) and corporate governance. Nico earned his bachelor of business administration in accounting as well as a master’s degree in accounting (with a double concentration in audit/advisory and tax) from Southern Methodist University in 2014 and 2016, respectively. Nico's professional career includes work as a bilingual internal auditor at Trinity Industries. Additionally, Nico worked as a manager for EY (Dallas) across several lines of service, ranging from assurance and internal audit to accounting compliance and reporting (ACR). Immediately prior to joining UT’s PhD program, Nico worked as an internal audit manager at Protiviti (Dallas). Nico is a certified public accountant in the state of Texas and a certified internal auditor. He is also a member of The PhD Project (KPMG Foundation) and an AICPA Fellowship for Minority Doctoral Students recipient. Email: jarguell@vols.utk.edu
Xi Ai
Xi is a fourth-year doctoral student with research interests in auditing, international accounting, and mergers and acquisitions. She earned her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in accounting from the University of Arkansas in 2014. Prior to starting the doctoral program, Xi worked in the International Accounting Division of Tyson Foods’ global headquarters in Springdale, Arkansas. Her duties included overseeing financial reporting and implementing SOX, SAP, and cost accounting systems in Tyson’s foreign locations. Xi is a licensed CPA in the state of Arkansas and is a licensed CMA. Email: xai2@vols.utk.edu
Jason Ashby
Jason is a fourth-year doctoral student with research interests in financial reporting, voluntary disclosure, business combinations, and fair value accounting. His teaching interests are financial accounting and managerial accounting. Jason earned his bachelor’s degree, double majoring in accounting and economics, and his master’s degree in accounting from Brigham Young University in April 2017. Prior to starting the doctoral program, Jason taught a principles of accounting course at Brigham Young University and interned at Squire & Company PC in their advisory division. Jason also taught intermediate financial accounting while in the doctoral program. Email: jashby@vols.utk.edu
Jack Badger
Jack is a second-year doctoral student with research interests in financial reporting, capital markets and tax. He is also an Accounting Doctoral Scholars (ADS) Program Scholar. Jack earned his bachelor’s degree from the University of Mississippi in 2016, and he is a licensed CPA in the state of North Carolina. Prior to entering the Ph.D. program, Jack worked as a valuation consultant at DHG and as a tax associate at PwC. Jack’s current research projects include “Investor Response to Net Operating Loss Carryback Provisions” with James Chyz, and he is teaching Introductory Managerial Accounting at UT. Email: jbadger1@vols.utk.edu
Jason Bangert
Jason is a third-year doctoral student with research interests in financial reporting, capital markets and corporate governance. Jason’s current research projects include “Disproportionate Insider Control and the Informativeness of Stock Returns about Future Earnings” with Linda Myers and Roy Schmardebeck and “Interim CFO Successions: A Governance Failure or Strategic Succession Planning?” with Scott Johnson, Linda Myers, and Roy Schmardebeck. Jason earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in accounting from Truman State University in 2016 and 2017, respectively. He is a member of the American Accounting Association and a licensed CPA in the state of Missouri. Prior to entering the Ph.D. program, he was a tax associate at PwC in St. Louis, MO. Jason taught Intermediate Financial Accounting II while at UT. Email: jbangert@vols.utk.edu
Laurie Ereddia
Laurie is a third-year doctoral student with research interests in auditing, financial reporting and corporate governance. She earned her bachelor’s and master’s of accounting degrees at Kennesaw State University. Laurie is an Accounting Doctoral Scholars (ADS) Program Scholar. Prior to entering the Ph.D. program, she worked as an audit associate at Grant Thornton in Atlanta, GA, and as a controller for a small business. She also taught introductory accounting at Kennesaw State University. Laurie is a member of the American Accounting Association and is a licensed CPA in the state of Georgia. Laurie’s current research projects include “Attracting Female Directors in the U.S.: The Roles of Stakeholders, Boards and Executives” with Lauren Cunningham and “Beyond Financial Expertise: What Do Investors Value in Audit Committee Members?” with Lauren Cunningham and James Myers. Email: lereddia@vols.utk.edu
Travis Foshag
Travis is a first-year doctoral student with research interests in financial reporting and corporate governance. He earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in accounting from the University of Wyoming and the University of Montana, respectively. Prior to entering the Ph.D. program, Travis worked as an auditor at Deloitte and at a Montana-based accounting firm, as an accounting and compliance manager at a nonprofit financial institution, and as the lead accountant at a startup software company. Travis taught introductory and intermediate financial reporting courses to undergraduate students and an advanced financial topics course to graduate students at the University of Montana. He is a licensed CPA in the states of Colorado and Montana. Email: tfoshag@vols.utk.edu
Kory Maag
Kory is a second-year doctoral student with research interests in corporate governance and financial reporting. Kory earned his bachelor of business administration in accounting as well as a masters of financial management from Texas A&M University in 2020. In addition, he taught an entry-level business class to first-year students in 2016, 2017 and 2019. While at Texas A&M, Kory completed internships in internal audit and store operations at Academy Sports + Outdoors in Katy, TX, as well as an assurance internship at EY in Charlotte, NC. Email: kmaag@vols.utk.edu
Stefan Slavov
Stefan is a fourth-year doctoral student with research interests in auditing, financial reporting and corporate governance. His current research projects include “Audit Committee Chair Succession: Does Firm-Specific Knowledge Matter?” with Linda Myers and Roy Schmardebeck, and his dissertation is entitled “Do Big 4 Auditors Provide Higher Quality Audit Services in Initial Public Offerings?”. He earned his bachelor’s degree from the University of Kentucky in 2014 and his master’s degree from the University of Notre Dame in 2015. Stefan is an Accounting Doctoral Scholars (ADS) Program Scholar, a member of the American Accounting Association and a licensed CPA in the state of Kentucky. Prior to entering the Ph.D. program, Stefan was an audit senior with Deloitte in Cincinnati, OH. He has experience auditing both public and private companies, primarily in the life sciences and manufacturing industries. Stefan enjoys spending time with friends and family, soccer, college basketball, food, culture and exploring nature in East Tennessee. Stefan taught Introduction to Auditing while at UT. Email: sslavov@vols.utk.edu
Danielle Stanley
Danielle is a fourth-year doctoral student with research interests in taxation, corporate governance and financial reporting and disclosure. Danielle’s current co-authored research projects include “The Impact of TCJA on Executive Compensation” with LeAnn Luna and Kathleen Schuchard and “Do Film Tax Incentives Impact Film Quality?” with James Chyz and Roy Schmardebeck. Her dissertation is entitled “Shareholder Beware? Examining NOL Poison Pill Adoptions”. She earned her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in accounting from East Carolina University in 2012 and 2014, respectively. Prior to starting the doctoral program, Danielle worked as a Tax senior associate with Dixon Hughes Goodman. She is a member of the American Accounting Association and is a licensed CPA in the state of North Carolina. While at UT, Danielle taught Federal Income Taxation. Email: dstanl10@vols.utk.edu
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