USC University of Southern California

Conference Speakers

2019 Conference Speakers

Anthony V. Aaron
Director of the USC SEC and Financial Reporting Institute
USC Leventhal School of Accounting

Dennis Beresford
Executive in Residence
J.M. Tull School of Accounting, Terry College of Business, University of Georgia

Paul Beswick
National Office Partner
Ernst & Young, LLP

George Botic
Director, Registration and Inspections
PCAOB

Frank Brod
Chief Accounting Officer
Microsoft Corporation

Paul Brody
Principal, Global Innovation Leader
Ernst & Young, LLP

Susan Cosper
FASB Board Member, former FASB Technical Director and former Chair, EITF
Financial Accounting Standards Board

Brian Croteau
National Office Partner
PwC, LLP

James G. Ellis
Dean of the Marshall School of Business
USC Marshall School of Business

Patrick Gilmore
Deputy Chief Accountant, Division of Corporation Finance
Securities and Exchange Commission

Russell Golden
Chairman
Financial Accounting Standards Board

William W. Holder
Dean of the Leventhal School of Accounting
Alan Casden’s Chair in Accounting
USC Leventhal School of Accounting

Christine McCarthy
Senior Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer
The Walt Disney Company

Daniel E. O’Leary
Professor of Accounting
USC Leventhal School of Accounting

Marc Panucci
Deputy Chief Accountant, Office of the Chief Accountant
Securities and Exchange Commission

Josh Paul
Director of Accounting
Google, Inc.

Kevin Stout
Internal Controls and SOX Senior Manager
Google, Inc.

Valerie Szczepanik
Associate Director, Division of Corporation Finance, Senior Advisor for Digital Assets and Innovation
Securities and Exchange Commission

Scott Taub
Managing Director
Financial Reporting Advisors, LLC

Sagar Teotia
Deputy Chief Accountant, Office of the Chief Accountant
Securities and Exchange Commission

Lynne Triplett
Partner-in-Charge, Accounting Principles Group
Grant Thornton, LLP

Bettina Warburg
Co-Founder and Managing Partner
Animal Ventures LLC

Landon Westerlund
National Office Partner
KPMG

John White
Partner
Cravath, Swaine & Moore, LLP

Brian Wolohan
Partner, Audit Innovation and Strategy Group Leader
Grant Thornton, LLP

James L. Kroeker

bio James L. Kroeker was appointed a member and vice chairman of the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) on September 1, 2013. In the latter role, he assists the FASB chairman in representing the Board to external stakeholders and in conducting its internal operations, in addition to serving as a voting member of the Board.

Mr. Kroeker joins the FASB from Deloitte, where he served as the Deputy Managing Partner for Professional Practice. Prior to joining Deloitte in January 2013, he served as the Chief Accountant of the Securities and Exchange Commission from January 2009 until his departure in 2012. In this capacity, Jim served as the senior accounting professional for the Commission and the principal advisor to the Commission on all accounting and auditing matters. In his capacity at the SEC, he was responsible for resolution of a wide range of globally significant accounting and auditing issues.
Since joining the Commission in February 2007, Jim played a key role in efforts to improve the transparency and reduce the complexity of financial disclosure. He served as staff director of the SEC’s Congressionally-mandated study of fair value accounting standards, and he has led the efforts of the Office of the Chief Accountant to address the economic crisis, including steps to improve off-balance sheet accounting guidelines. Jim also served as the Designated Federal Officer responsible for the staff oversight of the SEC’s Advisory Committee on Improvements to Financial Reporting. He also was responsible for the day-to-day operations of the office, including resolution of accounting and auditing practice issues, rulemaking, and oversight of the FASB and PCAOB.

Prior to joining the SEC, Jim was a partner at Deloitte in the firm’s Professional Practice Network and was responsible for providing consultation and support regarding the implementation, application, communication and development of accounting standards, including disclosure and reporting matters. Jim was Deloitte & Touche’s representative on the AICPA Accounting Standards Executive Committee (AcSEC). He also served as a Practice Fellow at the Financial Accounting Standards Board.

Jim received a Bachelor of Science degree with an emphasis in accounting from the University of Nebraska in May 1992.

Susan M. Cosper

bio Susan M. Cosper is the FASB technical director and Chairman of the emerging Issues Task Force, a role she has held since February 1, 2011. Ms. Cosper has responsibility for managing all FASB’s technical projects and activities. Ms. Cosper has more than 22 years of diverse financial reporting and auditing experience. Prior to her appointment at the FASB, she was a partner with PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP (PwC). Ms. Cosper joined the Pittsburgh office of PricewaterhouseCoopers in 1992, where she performed audits of private and public companies in PwC’s Assurance practice. From 1998 to 2001, she accepted an international assignment in the Firm’s London office. There, she led global audit engagements and advised clients on international accounting issues. After her return to Pittsburgh, in 2005 she was selected for a three-year fellowship with the FASB, where she held the roles of practice fellow and senior practice fellow. Upon completing the fellowship, she became part of PwC’s national office and, served in PwC’s Financial Instruments, Structured Products, and Real Estate Group in New York City. She earned her B.S. in accounting from Indiana University of Pennsylvania and is a certified public accountant in the states of New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania.

John Bishop

John is currently the co-leader of the Financial Instruments team within the Accounting Services Group of PwC’s National Office. In that role he leads the group in advising the firm’s clients on a wide array of accounting and reporting matters. John is one of the firm’s experts in the accounting for derivatives, financial instruments, financing transactions (i.e. securitizations and leasing), consolidation and foreign currency matters. He has worked with and advised a variety of the firm’s clients including investment banks, commercial banks, private equity firms and companies in the merchant power, utility, real estate and retail industries.

Prior to his national office role, John served as the senior technical partner for the firm’s Capital Markets Accounting Advisory Services Practice (CMAAS). This is a specialty practice that assists our clients in dealing with accounting and reporting matters related to transactions and capital markets events. The group specializes in providing advice around financial instrument issues such as derivatives and hedging, financing arrangements and fair value measurements. Other areas of specialty are leasing, share based payments and advice around structuring joint ventures, leveraged recapitalizations, and other investment and acquisition events.

John holds a BBA in accounting from Hofstra University and an MBA in finance from New York University. John is a licensed CPA in the states of New York and New Jersey