KENNESAW, Ga. | Apr 1, 2025

The American Accounting Association (AAA) has named Kennesaw State University Dinos Eminent Scholar Chair of Private Enterprise and Professor of Accounting Dana Hermanson as one of the two 2025 AAA Presidential Scholars.

Each year, the president presiding over the association’s Annual Meeting selects typically one or two Presidential Scholars to lecture on a topic of their choosing at the event. Hermanson plans to speak about enhancing the impact of accounting research by moving beyond specific findings to offer implications, recommendations, and other insights to a wider audience than just other professors.

“Publishing exclusively in the handful of ‘elite’ academic journals is a huge constraint on our ability to impact society,” said Hermanson, who teaches in the Coles College of Business. “I am committed to reaching a broad audience, including my students, with a variety of insights.”

As the 15th most-published accounting researcher in the world from 1990-2024, according to Brigham Young University’s 2024 Accounting Research Rankings, Hermanson is a major factor in the wealth of research pouring out of KSU’s School of Accountancy. His work has been cited over 20,000 times and focuses largely on fraud, corporate governance, auditing, and accounting education.

“Dr. Hermanson is one of the most prolific accounting researchers out there,” said Robin Cheramie, dean of the Coles College. “His recognition as a 2025 AAA Presidential Scholar is much deserved. It’s an honor to have him on our faculty.”

Hermanson’s 500-plus publications include commentaries in peer-reviewed academic journals, such as one entitled “‘Model 2’ — A personal journey in pursuit of creativity and impact” published in Critical Perspectives on Accounting. The article advocates for a less traditional accounting research path, including publishing in practitioner journals. Hermanson also has published more than 70 letters to the editor in The Wall Street Journal.

“As somebody who has studied auditing, fraud, and other issues for decades, I have quite a few opinions on things,” he said.

Part of the challenge in reaching non-academic audiences, Hermanson said, is that many universities do not recognize work published in practitioner journals. KSU does. Hermanson recently received the Coles College inaugural Practitioner Paper Award for an article that offers a framework for building defenses against fraud. It was published in Strategic Finance, the flagship publication of the Institute of Management Accountants.

“At KSU, we’ve got the freedom and flexibility to do so many different things with our research,” he said. “KSU is wide open, and that’s a wonderful model.”

Hermanson is a longtime member of the AAA and went to its Annual Meeting as a child with his father, Roger, who was also an accounting professor. It used to be the big family event, he said. Today Hermanson’s wife, Heather, is director of the Master of Accounting program at KSU, and his sister, Susan, is an accounting professor at the University of North Carolina Wilmington.

“This honor is beyond anything I could have expected. In fact, the hotel where the meeting will be held in Chicago is the same hotel where the meeting was held in 1981, when I was 17 years old and there with my family,” Hermanson said. “To think I’d be back 44 years later to give a talk like this is unbelievable. This is a unique opportunity, having the attention of AAA members to talk about expanding our research insights, audiences, and ultimately, impact.”

– Story by Amber Perry

Photo provided

A leader in innovative teaching and learning, Kennesaw State University offers undergraduate, graduate, and doctoral degrees to its more than 47,000 students. Kennesaw State is a member of the University System of Georgia with 11 academic colleges. The university’s vibrant campus culture, diverse population, strong global ties, and entrepreneurial spirit draw students from throughout the country and the world. Kennesaw State is a Carnegie-designated doctoral research institution (R2), placing it among an elite group of only 8 percent of U.S. colleges and universities with an R1 or R2 status. For more information, visit kennesaw.edu.