New dean installed at Leventhal


By
 in

William Holder, the Ernst & Young Accounting Professor at USC, was installed as the sixth dean of the USC Leventhal School of Accounting on Tuesday evening during a reception at Town & Gown.

As the second person to receive the Alan Casden Dean Chair, Holder replaced Randolph Beatty, who stepped down last June after 10 years of service.

The ceremony was attended by deans of various USC schools, as well as Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs Elizabeth Garrett and members of the Leventhal family.

“What this installation ceremony means is that all of these people honor Leventhal,” Holder said. “It signals the significance of this school and our ability to live up to the quality and pace of the other USC schools, which is very rapid.”

Holder was recognized by Accounting Today as one of the 100 most influential experts in the field of accounting in 2001 and 2002. Holder began teaching at USC in 1979, after teaching at Texas Tech University. A certified public accountant in both California and Oklahoma, he has published multiple books and journal articles featured in Journal of Accountancy, The Accounting Review and The CPA Journal.

Though the USC Leventhal School of Accounting’s undergraduate program has been ranked fourth in the nation by U.S. News & World Report, Holder is approaching his new position with a predetermined set of goals.

“In the coming years, we are most excited about establishing a state of the art curriculum that will be emulated by schools around the entire country,” Holder said “The aspirations of Leventhal are to provide intellectual leadership.”