Paul Kelliher ’74 ’75 MBA in the Classroom: Accounting Practitioner Transitions Gracefully into Accounting Educator
Paul Kelliher with Isenberg School
student Laurel Gauthier
“Paul Kelliher ’74 ’75 MBA doesn’t teach out of our textbook; he introduces concepts and then illustrates them from what seems to be an endless wealth of his own experiences as an accounting professional,” observes finance major Laurel Gauthier ’07. Kelliher, a recently retired PricewaterhouseCoopers partner with thirty years experience at the firm, is teaching the intermediate-level accounting course, Financial Reporting I, which covers accounting for transactions as well as the preparation and interpretation of financial statements. Along with that, students gain an appreciation for the conceptual framework that underlies financial accounting as well as the challenges that accompany accounting standard setting. Just as important, emphasizes Kelliher, students—through class presentations and team assignments—get to practice their communication skills.
As a communicator, Kelliher himself is a splendid role model. “In the classroom, I constantly attempt to ‘read’ my students’ reactions when I’m introducing and explaining material. That feedback, which includes engaging the students verbally, allows me to adjust my explanations and examples to get my points across,” notes Kelliher, who for this interview, paused from his preparation of the next day’s class on depreciation, depletion, and impairments. “My goal,” he continues, “is that students ultimately go beyond the mechanistic application of accounting rules to understand their conceptual underpinnings. That will help them as accounting professionals to be more persuasive with their clients, although in today’s Sarbanes-Oxley environment, clients are less likely to debate as hard or as long with their accountants.
“Thirty years ago, as an accounting student at this university, I greatly appreciated the accounting department’s collegial, open-door culture. I valued it so much that I incorporated it into my professional life. Three decades later, I’m delighted to find that culture alive and well,” observes Kelliher, who is a long-time member of the School’s Business Advisory Council and its Accounting Alumni Advisory Committee.
“Education of clients and employees was an important facet of my work as an accounting professional. As a partner, being a mentor and a coach came with the territory,” he emphasizes. Kelliher’s intense mentorship and dedicated interactivity with his students has been more than evident to Gauthier. “When I sent him an email question about a take-home exam, he responded within a minute,” she notes. “When I worked on an inventory homework project as part of a student auditing team, he sent us email hints. The bottom line is I’m learning a great deal and learning it rapidly.”