Director's Welcome

Welcome to the Muma College of Business’ Lynn Pippenger School of Accountancy at the University of South Florida, the only school of accountancy named for a woman in the entire world! In recognition of Lynn’s $10 million gift to the school in February 2015, the USF Board of Trustees voted unanimously to rename the school in her honor. We are privileged that Lynn chose to invest so significantly in our accountancy programs. Lynn’s life story and her amazing history is inspiring and she wanted to give students the opportunity to succeed in accountancy as she did. Her gift accomplishes that goal and so much more. We will soon have some pages that summarize her amazing career, her accomplishments and her philanthropy to USF. Stay tuned!

Lynn saw the high quality of our accounting undergraduate and graduate programs, both of which have been ranked in the top 50 in the United States by Public Accounting Report. We have a strong history, strong CPA pass rates and we are known for excellence in teaching. Our faculty members are also known for their cutting-edge research, which has had direct impacts on the accounting profession. In the 2020 Brigham Young University accounting research rankings, we are ranked No. 3 in the nation in accounting information systems research and we have been ranked No. 17 in audit research for all previous years.

Our accounting honors society, Beta Alpha Psi, continues to be one of the best in the world. Our Delta Gamma chapter of Beta Alpha Psi is fairly young, launching in the 1970s (the first chapter launched in the early 1910s); yet, our chapter has earned the "superior chapter" designation for 42 consecutive years—longer than any other chapter in the world. And our chapter is the ONLY chapter in the world that has received the KPMG Gold Challenge Award since the award’s inception in 2009. I strongly encourage students, whether new to the accountancy major or enrolled in the Master of Accountancy program in the Lynn Pippenger School of Accountancy, to consider joining Beta Alpha Pi.

Last, but not least, I am pleased to highlight the fact that we are the only academic unit in the Muma College of Business that has two external advisory boards. Our Advisory Council consists of partners in the major international, national and regional accounting firms and C-level executives from a range of organizations in the Tampa Bay area. Our Accounting Circle alumni organization is comprised of graduates of our program who are eager to stay connected and give back to the school in a variety of ways. Students benefit from our thriving connections with accounting professionals in the Tampa Bay area in so many ways. They come to lecture in our classrooms, organize professional development workshops and arrange corporate tours and informal social events like picnics and other activities.

We truly have excellent programs in accountancy and hope you will become part of our community at the Lynn Pippenger School of Accountancy. And just one more thing…

…Go Bulls!

 Mark H. Taylor

Dan and Tina Johnson Distinguished Professor of Accountancy
Director, Lynn Pippenger School of Accountancy