Professors Beaver, Soliman, DeMarzo Honored by Students

Accounting professor William Beaver this spring completed a clean sweep of the teaching awards presented by Business School students when he was honored on June 2 by the PhD Student Association with its 2004 Distinguished Service Award.

In 1985 he received the MBA Distinguished Teaching Award, and in 1999 he was given the Sloan Teaching Excellence Award. The Joan E. Horngren Professor of Accounting, Beaver has been a part of the Business School faculty since 1969. His former students include two of the school’s current accounting faculty: George Foster and Mary Barth. Beaver also has received the American Accounting Association’s Outstanding Accounting Educator Award and its award for seminal contributions to accounting literature.

Doctoral students praised Beaver for his sound research advice and his .approachability. “He is so unpretentious and so approachable that it is easy to overlook how silly I must sound to someone who had dozens of publications in top journals before I even learned to walk,” second year student Yaniv Konchitchki said, reading from student testimonials.

In other awards, assistant accounting professor Mark T. Soliman received the 2004 Distinguished Teaching Award presented by MBA students. This year’s award, presented annually since 1982 by the MBA student Academic Committee, was based on an unprecedented 238 nominations from students throughout the Business School.

Students recognized Soliman for his “open door” accessibility, ability to communicate difficult concepts, eagerness to share his research, and sense of humor. “He pulled off a miracle ‘rookie season,” said one MBA student in nominating Soliman. “As a CPA who has taken dozens of accounting classes at top accounting programs, I can honestly say that he is the best accounting professor I’ve ever had. Ever.”

Finance professor Peter DeMarzo received the outstanding teaching award from students in the School’s Sloan Management Program. “Peter did an outstanding job teaching us financial theory in a very practical way,” said Sloan student Carlos Salinas in making the presentation. “I am sure he spent many hours building the class materials and the Excel models to explain options theory and bond pricing.”