Inside: - UW-Milwaukee

Retirement
Accounting Professor Bill Taylor Retires
If you were ever in Bill Taylor’s
accounting or auditing class, you
probably know what it’s like to be
put on the spot. It might have been
momentarily uncomfortable. But, in the
end, you would probably say that you
were challenged.
“Bill Taylor has high expectations of his
students,” said Dean V. Kanti Prasad.
“And those expectations have earned him
the respect of thousands of UWM alumni
and Wisconsin CPAs.”
Dr. Taylor — or simply Taylor, as he
prefers — retired in December after 32
years of service to the school.
20 OUTLOOK
Bill Taylor
Michael Irwin (BBA-Accounting ‘92),
Chief Operating Offi cer of Webroot
Software Inc. in Boulder, Colorado,
describes the fi rst few weeks of Taylor’s
courses as “shock and awe” for students.
“But then it evolved into a highly engaged
dialogue between a professor and his
students, from which we all walked away
better,” Irwin said.
“When you have a professor like Bill
Taylor, he expects you to go into a
question deeply, to explain yourself, to
defend yourself, just as you would with a
client or in presenting expert witness
testimony,” said Eve Romersi (MS-Tax
’98), a Partner with Scribner Cohen &
Co. “That preparation is crucial. If you
can’t do that, you won’t be successful in
accounting.”
The recipient of the Business Advisory
Council Teaching Award and the
university-wide AMOCO Outstanding
Professor Award, Bill Taylor is the coauthor
(currently with Professors Paul
Fischer and Rita Cheng) of all nine
editions of Advanced Accounting, the
leading advanced text in accounting since
it was fi rst published in 1978. He was also
the president of the CPA Review of
Wisconsin, which prepared thousands of
students for the CPA exam.
Past President of the Wisconsin Institute
of CPAs, Taylor has served the community
as chairman of the board or director of
numerous nonprofi t organizations,
including The Riveredge Nature Center,
The Ozaukee Washington Land Trust, and
The Cedarburg Landmark Preservation
Society.
“Every semester, I’ve met 75 to 100
people, many of whom I continue to hear
from or have developed relationships
with,” Taylor told an alumni gathering in
November. “It’s been a tremendous
amount of fun and I’ll miss it.”
We’ll miss you, too, Taylor!