Inside: - UW-Milwaukee

Accounting Alum Appointed to FASB
Addresses Fellow Alumni at November Event
8 OUTLOOK
Thomas J. Linsmeier
Thomas J. Linsmeier (BBA-
Accounting ’78) has been appointed to
the Financial Accounting Standards
Board (FASB) — the organization which
establishes standards of fi nancial
accounting and reporting that are
essential to the effi cient functioning of
the U.S. economy.
An award winning teacher and researcher,
with particular expertise in fi nancial
reporting for derivatives and risk management
activities, Linsmeier’s road to
accounting started at UWM, where he
earned a BBA in Accounting in 1978.
After receiving his MBA and PhD from
the University of Wisconsin-Madison, he
began his academic career at the University
of Iowa in 1985.
In 1994, he became an Academic Fellow
and Special Consultant in the Offi ce of the
Chief Accountant of the U.S. Securities
and Exchange Commission, where he was
responsible for formulating U.S. disclosure
rules for reporting market risks inherent in
derivatives and other fi nancial instruments.
He later joined the faculties of the
University of Illinois and Queen’s University
in Canada. Linsmeier recently left his
position as the Russell E. Palmer Endowed
Professor and Chairman of the Department
of Accounting and Information Systems
in the Eli Broad College of Business at
Michigan State University to accept the
FASB appointment.
Speaking at the Lubar School’s 40th
anniversary event for accounting and
taxation alumni, Linsmeier told the
audience that two key factors play into
the future of the profession. First, as
global integration of markets continues,
there will be accelerating demand by
investors for one set of international
fi nancial reporting standards. The second
factor, he said, is whether corporate
accounting scandals will continue to “rear
their ugly heads” — noting that such
scandals have occurred in the U.S. at the
end of every boom cycle starting with the
Crash of 1929.
Linsmeier highlighted three challenges
that his fellow alumni will face in coming
years.
First, he said, accounting professionals
need to strive to understand the changing
fi nancial reporting needs of investors —
including both debt and equity.
Second, accountants must educate them -
selves about fair value measurements and
accounting. “If we don’t,” he said, “our
profession — and profi ts — may be
controlled by the valuation profession.”
Last, he stressed the need to improve
audits to detect fraud, being “even more
healthily skeptical” at the end of boom
cycles.
“We come from UWM’s great accounting
program — with high education standards
and outstanding people,” he concluded.
“Meeting these challenges should be
easy!”