Beverly Walther
Eric L. Kohler Chair in Accounting, Personnel Committee Chair
Beverly Walther is the Eric L. Kohler Chair and Professor in the Accounting Information and Management Department at the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University. Prior to joining Kellogg, Professor Walther worked for KPMG Peat Marwick.
Her research focuses on how accounting information is used by market participants. She has published articles in such journals as The Accounting Review, Journal of Accounting and Economics, Journal of Accounting Research, Journal of Financial Economics, and Review of Accounting Studies. She served as Editor of The Accounting Review, is currently on the editorial board of Contemporary Accounting Research, and routinely referees for the leading accounting journals. Her current research interests are in the area of sell-side security analysts, political connections, and managerial disclosures.
Professor Walther teaches Managerial Accounting and a Ph.D. seminar on empirical research in accounting. She was awarded the Sidney J. Levy Teaching Award in 1996, 2005, and 2011, and the Kellogg Research Mentorship Award in 2020. She is a Certified Public Accountant and a Certified Management Accountant. She received her Ph.D. in Accounting from The University of Chicago.
- Incorporation of accounting information in security prices; sell-side security analysts; managerial disclosures; political connections
- Managerial accounting; capital markets research in accounting
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PhD, 1996, Accounting, University of Chicago
MBA, 1990, Accounting, The Owen Graduate School of Management, Vanderbilt University
BS, 1990, Economics, Vanderbilt University, Cum Laude -
Professor, Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University, 2009-present
Associate Professor (with tenure), Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University, 2001-2009
Associate Professor (without tenure), Northwestern University, Kellogg School of Management, 1998-2001
Assistant Professor, Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University, 1995-1998 -
KPMG Peat Marwick, Tax Department, 1990
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Kellogg Research Mentorship Award, Kellogg School of Management, 2019-2020
Ernst & Young LIVE Research Fellowship, Kellogg School of Management, 2013-2016
Sidney J. Levy Teaching Award, Kellogg School of Management, 2010-2011, 2004-2005, 1996-1997
Oscar G. Mayer Fellowship, University of Chicago, 1994-1995
AAA Doctoral Consortium Fellow, American Accounting Asociation, 1993
Big Ten Doctoral Consortium Representative, Big Ten, 1992
Beta Gamma Sigma, Beta Gamma Sigma, 1991
University of Chicago Fellowship, University of Chicago, 1991-1994 -
Editor, The Accounting Review, 2008-2014
Editorial Board, The Accounting Review, 2014-2016
Editorial Board, Contemporary Accounting Research, 2014-Present
Editorial Board, The Accounting Review, 2002-2005
Workshop on Research Development (KPHD-520-0)
PhD students present new research ideas to faculty and students. Students must situate their ideas in a relevant literature, outline the type of results/analysis that the student expects to carry out, and most importantly, the potential contributions. Emphasis will be placed on the evaluating the viability of research ideas as job market papers.
Empirical Research in Accounting II (ACCT-540-2)
This course focuses on examining and evaluating the economic arguments underpinning capital-markets based, empirical accounting research. The course includes discussion and critical assessment of research designs and statistical methods used by accounting researchers with a focus on the appropriateness of the research question. Students are responsible for presenting research papers and preparing a final research proposal.
Managerial Accounting (ACCT-431-0)
This course covers firms' internal accounting systems and the information used within organizations for decision-making. It is essential for those students who plan to obtain a management role, work in consulting, or start their own company. The course is organized around the extensive uses of these internal accounting data. The course first covers the fundamentals of assessing the cost of producing a product, providing a service, or servicing a customer. It then moves to addressing issues, such as overhead allocation and shared costs, that can have significant effects on the calculation of product- and divisional-level profitability and managerial decision-making. In the second half of the course, forecasting and monitoring of results are covered, including a discussion of performance evaluation and transfer pricing issues surrounding the location of people and operations. The course is a combination of lecture and case-based discussions, with group cases and an individual in-class midterm and final exam.
