Accounting and Information Systems

Dave Bagley
Clinical Associate Professor of Accounting
Office: BA 434
LLM, (Tax) University of Florida
JD, University of Idaho
BA, Brigham Young University
Dave loves teaching and learning from his students. He joined the ISU College of Business in 2015 and teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in the Accounting and Management departments. Dave earned his LLM (Tax) from the University of Florida, his JD from the University of Idaho, and his BA from Brigham Young University. His experience includes serving as a business and tax attorney and working at a bike shop.

Erik Boyle, PhD, CPA
Assistant Professor of Accounting
Office: BA 540
Erik joined the ISU College of Business in 2020. After spending several years working as an auditor for KPMG, he returned to academia and earned a PhD from the University of Utah. He teaches financial accounting in the undergraduate program as well as auditing and fraud in the graduate program. His research investigates audit quality and explores the relationship between auditors and clients. In his spare time, you can usually find him on the sidelines of some field or court cheering on - and sometimes coaching - his kids.

Brody Fitch, CPA, MAcc
Clinical Assistant Professor
Office: BA 435
Brody is a lifelong resident of southeastern Idaho and proud alumni of Idaho State University College of Business. After earning his undergraduate degree in accounting, he continued his education and completed a Master of Accountancy (MAcc), and became licensed as a CPA in the state of Idaho. Brody's experience includes serving as a manager with Cooper Norman CPAs & Business Advisors, an Idaho-based public accounting firm where he assisted clients with matters involving strategic tax planning, financial statement preparation, and business succession planning. Prior to his nearly six years with Cooper Norman, he worked as an accountant for the City of Pocatello where he was involved in the preparation of the government's Comprehensive Annual Financial Report (CAFR). Brody hopes to utilize his years of professional accounting experience to engage students in the classroom and assist them with career planning and placement. In his spare time, Brody loves to snow ski, mountain bike, and spend time in the great outdoors.

Jon Holmes
Clinical Assistant Professor of Informatics
Office: BA 541
MBA, Idaho State University
BBA, Idaho State University
Professor Holmes focuses on application development and implementation using Internet-based applications. He has been developing web projects and applications over the last 20 years. Homes has taught courses in both Informatics and Computer Science. He was formerly a Systems Analyst with the Informatics Research Institute. He has been involved in research projects that use the internet as a common platform.

Robert “Bob” Houghton, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Informatics
Office: BA 204
Ph.D., Utah State University
MS, Utah State University
BM, Utah State University
Dr. Houghton has served as both an Informatics professor as well as the previous systems administrator for the College of Business. In his role as a professor, Dr. Houghton takes his real world experiences and applies them in the classroom to help provide further insight to students. Through his research, Houghton works to find new ways of keeping data safe and accessible.

Dawn Konicek, Ed.D.
Clinical Associate Professor of Accounting
Office: BA 445
Ph.D., Northcentral University
MBA, University of Wisconsin Whitewater
BBA, University of Wisconsin of Whitewater
After pursuing her accounting degree, Dawn graduated cum-laude and began working for Ernst & Young. Her experiences with accounting firms ranges from fortune 500 companies to small mom and pop shops. She began her Master of Business Administration while working as a senior manager at a mid-sized accounting firm. Once she completed her masters she had about 14 years of experience in public accounting. She then began her teaching career at a community college in Janesville, Wisconsin. Dawn moved to ISU because she wanted to teach students to become CPA’s as opposed to bookkeepers.

Jerry Leffler
Clinical Associate Professor of Accounting
Office: BA 430
MBA, Idaho State University
BBA, Idaho State University
Jerry Leffler earned is BBA and an MBA with an Accounting Emphasis from Idaho State University. Jerry is a CPA licensed in Idaho and has worked for both small and large companies in his career. He teaches Managerial and Cost accounting along with Financial Accounting. Jerry was born and raised here in Southeastern Idaho and is happy to be returning to his roots.

Tom Ottoway
Professor of Informatics
Office: BA 533
Ph.D. Texas Tech University
BS, Wichita State University
Tom has a Ph.D. in Production and Operations Management and a Master of Science in Information Systems from the Rawls College of Business at Texas Tech University, as well as a Bachelor of Science in Computer Science from Wichita State University. Tom worked in aerospace, including more than six years with The Boeing Company, prior to pursuing his doctorate. He has held academic positions at the University of Montana and Kansas State University prior to joining ISU twenty-one years ago. Tom has three children (two who attended ISU and one who attended that silly school to the west that has a blue football field, he’s been disinherited) and two grandchildren.

Christopher Pearson, Ph.D., CPA
Assistant Professor of Accounting
Office: BA 541
Ph.D. University of Kentucky
MAcc, Southern Utah University
BS, Southern Utah University
Dr. Pearson is from Cedar City, UT, where he attended Southern Utah University for his undergraduate and master’s degrees. After completing his master’s degree, Dr. Pearson worked as an external auditor for Deloitte in Las Vegas, NV, before going on to complete a Ph.D. in accounting at the University of Kentucky. While at the University of Kentucky, he was the recipient of a college-wide teaching excellence award. He joined Idaho State University in the Fall of 2022 and teaches managerial accounting and accounting information systems. Dr. Pearson’s research interests lie primarily in understanding the factors that influence auditors’ judgment and decision-making.

Kevin Parker, Ph.D.
Professor of Informatics
Office: BA 534
Ph.D., Texas Tech University
MS, Texas Tech University
BS, University of Texas
Prior to joining academia, Dr. Parker developed software systems for Conoco, Inc., one of the top Fortune 500 companies. He was selected as the 2011 Faculty Member of the Year by the Associated Students of ISU, and was recognized as an Outstanding Master Teacher by ISU in 2011 and 2012. In 2002-2003 he also received the College of Business Outstanding Teacher Award. Dr. Parker’s research interests are in improved teaching of core IT courses, the impact of developments in the Information Systems of Curriculum and Emerging Systems Development Issues.

Bob Picard, Ph.D.
Nelson Family Endowed Professor Accounting Chair | Professor of Accounting
Office: BA 241
Ph.D., University of Kentucky
MBA, University of St. Thomas (MN)
BS, Northern Michigan University
Dr. Picard earned his doctorate in Accountancy from the University of Kentucky, his MBA from University of St. Thomas in Minneapolis, and his undergraduate accounting degree from Northern Michigan University. Dr. Picard recently completed a term on the AACSB Accounting Accreditation Committee and he continues to serve on accreditation visit teams. His experience includes serving as a supervising senior accountant with KPMG Peat Marwick’s private business advisory group, and as CFO of Towle Companies, a financial services group of companies in Minneapolis, MN. In addition to his professional and academic experience, Dr. Picard served as treasurer and Antarctic logistics coordinator with the 1990 International Trans- Antarctic Expedition led by Will Steger and Jean-Louise Etienne. Dr. Picard has received teaching awards from the University of Minnesota and the University of Kentucky and has twice been named as “Most Influential Professor” by ISU College of Business Outstanding Student Award recipients. In October 2018, he was named a TIAA Difference Maker 100 honoree as one of 100 educators across the U.S. honored for their work with nonprofit organizations in their communities. He is currently active in publishing business case studies focused on fraud.

Corey Schou, Ph.D.
Professor of Informatics
Office: BA 406
Ph.D., Florida State University
MS, Florida State University
BS, Rollins College

Kristen Thompson
Assistant Professor of Accounting
Office: BA 539
Ph.D. University of South Carolina
Kristen joined our Accounting Department here at ISU in 2022 after completing her PhD in Accounting at the University of South Carolina. Prior to her admission into the doctoral program, she spent two years working as an auditor for KPMG in Orlando, Florida. Kristen teaches Auditing at the undergraduate level, Accounting Theory in the MAcc program, and an MBA class familiarizing graduate students with financial statement analysis and decision-making. Her research focuses on personality traits, biases, and heuristics that can influence auditor behavior either positively or negatively. While not in the classroom, Kristen can be found with her husband and dog on one of the many trails around town, or down at Ross Park climbing rocks.

Justin Wood, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Accounting
Office: BA 525
Ph.D., University of Iowa
MBA, Brigham Young University
BS, Brigham Young University
Dr. Wood is from Las Vegas, Nevada. He earned his undergraduate degree in economics from Brigham Young University. After completing his undergraduate studies, he spent two years working as a manager in the homebuilding industry, and then another two years as an analyst for a mid-market private equity fund. Dr. Wood then completed an MBA at Brigham Young University and a Ph.D. in financial accounting at the University of Iowa before beginning his faculty career at Idaho State University in the fall of 2016. Dr. Wood's teaching and research interests are in financial accounting. He teaches introductory and intermediate accounting courses. Dr. Wood loves running, biking, and spending time with his family.