Dr. Richard ‘Dick’ Riley, the Louis F. Tanner Distinguished Professor of Public Accounting, at the West Virginia University College of Business and Economics, has been chosen Educator of the Year by the West Virginia Society of Certified Public Accountants. The announcement was made at the organization’s 2014 annual meeting, and was based on Riley’s numerous national awards in instruction and research, as well as his dedication to the field of accounting and forensics.

Rileywas nominated by David Hill, partner and executive director of Arnett Foster Toothman. The West Virginia-based firm is one of the top 150 largest accounting firms in the United States.

“In talking with accounting students,” Hill said, “Dick’s name kept surfacing when I was recruiting those students. They kept saying how much they had learned from him and how much respect they had for him.”

Hill said the West Virginia Society of CPAs was one of the founders of the West Virginia Council of Accounting Educators. The council was established to address accounting education issues, job recruiting and the challenges facing accounting educators at the collegiate level, and brings the best educators to the forefront.

“This group, along with the West Virginia Society of CPAs, wants to make sure students are getting the best accounting education possible at the collegiate level, so this is a great honor,” Hill said of Riley. “The people who receive this recognition from WVSCPA are the ones who deliver the highest level of education to students, and the competition was very tough this year. There are a lot of great accounting educators in West Virginia, and Dick really deserves this honor and to be in that group of great educators.”

Riley, who has taught for 16 years at WVU, leads B&E’s Forensic Accounting and Fraud Examination (FAFE) program. The program has received national acclaim and has served as a model for the establishment of similar programs at colleges and universities across the country. Aside from the FAFE graduate certificate program, Riley has also taken leadership positions in the FAFE doctoral program and the Institute for Fraud Prevention, housed at WVU.

“Educating students in the area of accounting, establishing relationships with recruiters and working to help get our students rewarding jobs has really been a joy for me,” Riley said. “The FAFE program is very enjoyable for me from both the educating and practice sides of the equation.”

-WVU-

pg/07/23/14

CONTACT: Patrick Gregg, WVU College of Business and Economics
304.293.5131, Patrick.Gregg@mail.wvu.edu

Follow @WVUToday on Twitter.