The American Accounting Association recognized Joe Carcello with its Outstanding Auditing Educator Award and Distinguished Service Award during its mid-year meeting in January.
The award recognizes Carcello’s lifetime achievements teaching in the field. Six of Carcello’s colleagues from across the country co-authored the letter that nominated him for the awards, including Terry Neal, the current head of the accounting department at the Haslam College of Business at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville.
“Joe has had a truly remarkable career,” Neal says. “His efforts have impacted so many in such a meaningful way. These awards are a fitting tribute to him.”
In highlighting Carcello’s accomplishments, Neal pointed to the nomination letter.
Joe is a quadruple threat: (1) an outstanding and challenging teacher, (2) a leading auditing researcher, (3) a major voice on auditing and governance issues of the day, and (4) a great representative of the academic world as he serves on influential professional bodies.
Carcello taught across all levels of accounting courses at Haslam, retiring as the Ernst and Young and Business Alumni Professor in 2017. Dozens of student comments buttressed the nomination, almost all noting that although Carcello’s classes were extremely challenging, they also were highly rewarding.
“I’ve never had a professor like him and probably never will again,” one student wrote. “Because of how well-versed and expertly active he is in his field, he has the potential to be a very condescending authority figure. But, I never once felt belittled or felt like he had anything but the advancement of his students in mind in every aspect of his teaching.”
Carcello’s research focuses on auditing and corporate governance. His work, referenced in SEC and PCAOB publications, has been cited more than 10,000 times. He has frequently been quoted in the Wall Street Journal, the Washington Post, the New York Times and the Financial Times, among other major business media.
“He is almost always the first person to ask a question at a conference, and the question, while always polite, usually is quite challenging,” says Dana R. Hermanson of Kennesaw State University, a co-author of the nomination letter. “He loves to press key issues, whether the speaker is from a Big 4 firm, a corporation or a regulatory body.”
Carcello retired from Haslam in 2017. In addition to his teaching duties, he was head of the Department of Accounting and Information Management and served as executive director of the Neel Corporate Governance Center.
