C.P.A. heads new Pace business school center

A former chairman of the private Financial Accounting Standards Board will head the newly created Center for Excellence in Financial Reporting at Pace University”™s Lubin School of Business.

Leslie F. Seidman will serve as executive director of the new center and guest lecturer at the business school on Pace campuses in White Plains and Manhattan.

“Leslie Seidman”™s depth of knowledge about accounting policy and her breadth of relationships across the profession are unsurpassed,” Neil S. Braun, dean of the Lubin school, said in the university announcement.  “We are thrilled that Leslie has chosen to make Lubin her home for her thought leadership and continuing contributions to the field.”

Leslie F. Seidman
Leslie F. Seidman

Seidman served as chairman of the Financial Accounting Standards Board from December 2010 through June this year. She previously was an auditor with Arthur Young & Co., a vice president of accounting policy with J.P. Morgan & Co., and a member of the FASB staff. Before joining the FASB, Seidman founded and managed a financial reporting consulting firm that served corporations, accounting firms and law firms. Pace officials said Seidman in her new role will stimulate discussion about current topics in financial reporting through conferences and other gatherings and lead other activities aimed at identifying best practices and promoting enhanced reporting.  She also will mentor advanced accounting students at Lubin and consult with faculty on relevant research and curricular topics.

Seidman in a prepared statement noted that Pace was founded as a school of accountancy and said the new center she heads will focus on “the enhancement of reporting practices for the benefit of the investing public.”

Seidman was named 2013 C.P.A. of the Year by the American Woman”™s Society of C.P.A.s. and was ranked among the top 10 most influential people in accounting by Accounting Today from 2010 to 2012. She authored the first three editions of “Financial Instruments: A Comprehensive Guide to Accounting and Reporting” and is a frequent speaker at conferences and universities.

She earned a master”™s degree in accounting from New York University Stern School of Business and a bachelor”™s degree in English from Colgate University.