PhD. Students in Residence

Profile picture of Nico Arguello

Nico Arguello

Nico is a second-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 Ph.D. 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 Ph.D. Project (KPMG Foundation), an AICPA Fellowship for Minority Doctoral Students recipient and a Hispanic Scholarship Fund scholar.

Email: jarguell@vols.utk.edu

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Profile picture of Jack Badger

Jack Badger

Jack is a third-year doctoral student with research interests in financial reporting, corporate governance 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. Jack taught Managerial Accounting and Federal Income Taxation at UT.

Email: jbadger1@vols.utk.edu

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Profile picture of Jason Bangert

Jason Bangert

Jason Bangert is a fourth-year doctoral student with research interests in capital markets, financial reporting, corporate governance and tax. His dissertation, “The Disparate Effects of Non-Reliance Restatements on Retail and Institutional Investor Trading,” investigates how aspects of firm disclosure differentially affect the trading decisions of investors with varying levels of sophistication. His other research projects examine how ownership structure and executive employment arrangements influence manager incentives and the quality of the external information environment. “Disproportionate Insider Control and the Informativeness of Stock Returns about Future Earnings” is co-authored with Linda Myers and Roy Schmardebeck, and “The Determinants and Consequences of Interim CFO Appointments” is co-authored with Scott Johnson, Linda Myers and Roy Schmardebeck. Bangert 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. He taught Intermediate Financial Accounting II and Introduction to Financial Accounting while at UT. Bangert expects to complete his Ph.D. requirements by May 2023.

Email: jbangert@vols.utk.edu

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Profile picture of Audree Duncan

Audree Duncan

Audree is a first-year doctoral student with research interests in audit and forensic accounting. She earned her Bachelor of Business Administration in accounting (2021) as well as a Master of Accountancy (2022) from the University of Tennessee. After completing her undergraduate degree, Audree completed an internship in external assurance at PwC in Nashville, Tenn. Audree is a member of the Tennessee Doctoral Scholars Cohort as well as the American Accounting Association.

Email: adunca34@vols.utk.edu

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Profile picture of Laurie Ereddia

Laurie Ereddia

Laurie is a fourth-year doctoral student with research interests in auditing, corporate governance and financial reporting. She earned her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in accounting 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 at a small private entity. Laurie’s teaching experience includes two years as an adjunct instructor of introductory financial accounting at Kennesaw State as well as a lead instructor of undergraduate auditing at the University of Tennessee. Laurie’s dissertation is preliminarily entitled “Firm Transparency of Risk Oversight: An Examination of Cybersecurity Governance Disclosures.” Laurie’s other working papers 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. Laurie is a member of the American Accounting Association and a licensed CPA in the state of Georgia. She anticipates completing her Ph.D. requirements no later than summer 2023.

Email: lereddia@vols.utk.edu

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Profile picture of Travis Foshag

Travis Foshag

Travis is a second-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

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Profile picture of Kory Maag

Kory Maag

Kory is a third-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 master’s degree in 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, Texas, as well as an assurance internship at EY in Charlotte, NC. His current research projects include "Shareholder Proposal Pressure and Governance Disclosures" with Lauren Cunningham and Roy Schmardebeck. While at UT, Kory taught Intermediate Financial Accounting II.

Email: kmaag@vols.utk.edu

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Profile picture of Eric Stakebake

Eric Stakebake

Eric is a first-year doctoral student with research interests in financial reporting and capital markets. He earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in accounting from Brigham Young University in 2020. While at BYU, he taught an introduction to accounting course for undergraduate students. Prior to entering the Ph.D. program, Eric worked as a treasury analyst at Ancestry, where he was responsible for global cash forecasting and reporting.

Email: estakeba@vols.utk.edu

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