Instant Family

Dr. Jones started on the road to his Ph.D. in 1993, after leaving his controller position at a prominent bank. At the first PhD Project Accounting Doctoral Students Association (DSA) meeting the next year, “I met so many people with the same experiences as me, it was like instant family. It was definitely a driving force to help me get through my doctoral process.”

In 1997, he received an offer to teach from Hofstra University and wanting to start making an impact while writing his dissertation, he accepted. “Working there and attending the DSA meetings each year kept me on track. I knew I would eventually finish my Ph.D.— it was just a matter of time.”

Dr. Jones finds that his freshman and sophomore students ask him about accounting as a major, and his juniors and seniors want to know about his work experience. “It’s really great to be able to mentor and guide students of all ages into the right academic and career choices,” he says. “I love my job!”

Students at Hofstra University elected Dr. Jones “Distinguished Teacher of the Year” in 2001, and the faculty elected him the recipient of the business school’s Outstanding

Teacher of the Year award. He is the only full time African- American accounting professor at Hofstra’s school of business.

The dream continues…

Now an Associate Professor at Hofstra, Dr. Jones has been published in several journals. He teaches in a university summer residency program that exposes high school juniors to career opportunities in accounting. During a recent sabbatical, he worked with a major accounting firm to design and present a professional education course on international accounting standards.