Knechel named to Dutch Foundation for Auditing Research’s board
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Dr. W R Knechel, the Frederick Fisher Eminent Scholar Chair at the Fisher School of Accounting, was named to the board of the newly-created Dutch Foundation for Auditing Research (FAR).
FAR, which officially launched on October 20, was created to provide “a unique collaboration between science and practice, strengthening the learning curve of the audit industry and its stakeholders, feeding accountancy education, and sustainably bolstering the accountancy research community in the Netherlands and abroad.” Because of significant changes in the audit industry, FAR aspires to “enhance the knowledge of what makes a good audit today and on improving audit practices sustainably.”
FAR’s board consists of an independent chair, four independent academic scholars, and five representatives of the world’s largest affiliated audit firms. Dr. Knechel, one of the independent academic scholars, is the only U.S. representative on the board.
Dr. Knechel, who serves as Director of the International Center for Research in Accounting and Auditing at the Fisher School, is one of the world’s leading scholars in the audit research community, and his international experience in this field is extensive. He holds formal teaching positions at Catholic University of Leuven (KU Leuven) in Belgium and the University of Auckland in New Zealand, and has served as a visiting professor at many of Europe’s most prestigious universities in Belgium, Denmark, Germany, Netherlands, Norway and Slovakia.
Dr. Knechel has published more than 50 research articles in numerous academic journals including the Journal of Accounting Research, The Accounting Review, Accounting Organizations and Society, Contemporary Accounting Research, Decisions Sciences Journal, Accounting Horizons and Issues in Accounting Education.
Dr. Knechel was recognized as the American Accounting Association’s (AAA) 2015 Outstanding Auditing Educator, one of the AAA’s most prestigious awards that celebrated his years of scholarly endeavors in research and teaching. He has also received the Vernon Zimmerman Best Paper Award at the Asia-Pacific Conference on International Accounting Issues (2012), and the Best Manuscript Award at the European Audit Research Network Bi-Annual Conference (2007). Dr. Knechel has also been named the Warrington College of Business’s “Distinguished International Educator Award” multiple times.
Dr. Knechel received his Bachelor of Business Administration from the University of Delaware in 1977 and his Ph.D. from the University of North Carolina in 1981.
