Michael Maher Receives Lifetime Achievement Award from AICPA

The American Institute of CPAs (AICPA) and the Management Accounting Section of the American Accounting Association (AAA)have announced their selection for the 2015 Lifetime Contribution Award.

Professor Maher was honored for his numerous years of research and teaching of management accounting issues. Sponsored by the AICPA, the Lifetime Contribution Award recognizes individuals who have made an important mark on management accounting education, research and practice.

AICPA technical manager Ken Witt, CPA, CGMA, presented the award at the 2015 AAA Management Accounting Section’s mid-year meeting.

“Professor Maher’s research in areas such as, antitrust issues related to the airline industry, the cost-effectiveness of online education, and corporate crime and misconduct have contributed to the growth of knowledge in management accounting,” said Valerie Rainey, CPA, CGMA, chair of the AICPA’s Business & Industry Executive Committee, CFO and senior vice president of corporate development and finance for INTTRA. “Recognizing the breadth and depth of Professor Maher’s work, this award is very consistent with the AICPA/CIMA’s CGMA joint venture mission to promote the science of management accounting on the global stage.”

Maher is a professor at the University of California-Davis Graduate School of Management, Davis, Calif. Maher focuses on the efficiency of recent developments in managerial accounting, including activity-based costing, benchmarking and theory constraints. He develops profiles on companies and managers that commit corporate misconduct, and studies and lectures on corporate ethics and the responsibilities of business and auditors to stakeholders.

Maher has authored more than 10 books on the principles and essentials of managerial accounting and written or edited chapters in more than 20 other publications. He has published more than 30 major articles in top academic journals. He teaches courses on managerial accounting and on using performance measurements and rewards to motivate people.

Maher has also received the AICPA Notable Contribution to the Literature Gold Medal award, Annual Professor of the Year (second year classes), University of California-Davis Graduate School of Management award and the American Accounting Association Competitive Manuscript award. Maher holds a B.B.A. from Gonzaga University, Spokane, Wash., and an M.B.A., and Ph.D. from the University of Washington, Seattle, Wash.