“It’s both humbling and exciting to be selected. It is a unique opportunity to gain insight into how Auburn and other leading academic institutions operate at every level.”

The Harbert College is committed to producing research that advances the academy, extends business thought, and shapes best practice.

Dr. Duane Brandon, Taylor Professor and Director of the School of Accountancy, was one of six faculty members chosen to represent Auburn University as a Provost Fellow for the 2020-21 SEC Academic Leadership Development Program.

The SEC Academic Leadership Development Program seeks to identify, prepare and advance academic leaders for roles within SEC institutions and beyond. It has three components: a university-level development program designed by each institution for its own participants; two SEC-wide three-day workshops held on specified campuses for all program participants; and a competitive fellowship designed to provide administrative growth opportunities for former fellows.

“It’s both humbling and exciting to be selected. It is a unique opportunity to gain insight into how Auburn and other leading academic institutions operate at every level,” said Dr. Brandon. “As a Director, you tend to focus more on how our current situation is impacting your stakeholders and programs. I’m expecting it will be eye opening to learn more about how other units at Auburn and elsewhere in the SEC are being impacted.”

Dr. Brandon, who was named SOA Director in Spring 2019, focuses research on auditor judgment, audit quality and auditor liability. His work has appeared in Contemporary Accounting Research, Auditing: A Journal of Practice & Theory, and the Journal of Accounting & Public Policy and Behavioral Research in Accounting, among others. He has received multiple internal and external research grants, including a grant from the Center for Audit Quality, with Dr. Jennifer Mueller-Phillips, Associate Dean for Academic Affairs, and Dr. James Long, Professor in the School of Accountancy.

“As a Director, you tend to focus more on how our current situation is impacting your stakeholders and programs. I’m expecting it will be eye opening to learn more about how other units at Auburn and elsewhere in the SEC are being impacted.”

Dr. Brandon has also been recognized for work in the classroom, including receiving the Lowder Teaching Award, twice earning the McCartney Award, Outstanding Master of Accountancy Teacher Award, twice earning Outstanding Teaching Award in the School of Accountancy, and twice recognized as a Camp War Eagle Faculty Honoree.

Before accepting the role as Director of the School of Accountancy last spring, Dr. Brandon served as Harbert College of Business Director of Quality Assurance for three years. A native of Chesapeake, Virginia, he earned a bachelor’s degree from Christopher Newport University, and both a master’s degree in accounting and doctorate from Virginia Tech. He has worked at Auburn since 2003.

Harbert College faculty members are no strangers to earning Provost Fellowships into the SEC Academic Leadership Program. Most recently, Joe Hanna, Associate Dean for Research and Faculty Affairs, was given the honor in 2019-20, and Shashank Rao, Associate Professor in Supply Chain Management, was a Provost Fellow in 2018-19.

Other Auburn University Provost Fellows for 2020-21 include Paul Holley, professor in the McWhorter School of Building Science in the College of Architecture, Design and Construction; Chris Lepczyk, professor of biology and wildlife conservation in the School of Forestry and Wildlife Sciences; Mallory Lucier-Greer, associate professor in the Department of Human Development and Families Studies in the College of Human Sciences; Elizabeth Hiltbold Schwartz, associate professor in the Department of Biological Sciences in the College of Sciences and Mathematics; and Bill Walton, professor in the School of Fisheries, Aquaculture and Aquatic Sciences in the College of Agriculture and Director of Auburn University’s Shellfish Lab.

“The Auburn Family is very proud of these six outstanding faculty members and congratulate them on their accomplishments,” said Bill Hardgrave, Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs. “Their dedication to achieving excellence in research and in the field enhances the university now and for future scholars and students.”