Professor Steve Loeb's Contributions to Accounting Ethics
Topic of New Journal Article

For Dr. Stephen Loeb, Ernst & Young Alumni Professor of Accounting and Business Ethics, ethics isn't just his job, it is a part of his psyche. Each decision he makes is carefully contemplated, with absolute respect and consideration to moral principles. Ethics is something that Loeb was thinking about long before it was in vogue to do so. That's why he has been cited over and over again and is internationally known in the area of accounting ethics. There are few professors who have been at Smith as long as he has, since 1970, and earlier this year his contributions to the field of accounting ethics were immortalized in a journal article.

Steven M. Mintz, area chair and professor of accounting at California Polytechnic State University's Orfalea College of Business and a professional acquaintance of Loeb's, acknowledges the impact of Loeb's research and wrote an entire article devoted to "Loeb's Contribution to Accounting Ethics Education and Research." (Research on Professional Responsibility and Ethics in Accounting, Volume 11, p 31-46, Elsevier Ltd., 2007)

"As Loeb pointed out years ago, ethics is not viewed as a primary area of accounting teaching and research and that neglect is a risky career strategy," says Mintz in the article. The purpose of Mintz's paper was to look back at Loeb's 1988 article entitled "Teaching students accounting ethics: Some crucial issues," and see how Loeb's goals have guided subsequent research, and how new meaning has come forth in the aftermath of accounting scandals and the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002.

"I'm very honored by what Professor Mintz has said about my work," says Loeb. "I hope to continue my research in accounting ethics."

Loeb's work has appeared in many journals, including The Accounting Review, Journal of Accounting Research, The Journal of Accountancy, Issues in Accounting Education, The Journal of the American Medical Association, Journal of Business Ethics, and Accounting Horizons. Loeb has served as a member of the Maryland Association of CPAs' Board of Directors and as regional (Mid-Atlantic) vice president of the American Accounting Association. He chaired several national committees of the American Accounting Association. Among Loeb's many awards are the Maryland Association of CPAs' Outstanding Accounting Educator Award. He chaired Smith's accounting faculty from 1973-82 and 1987-95. He currently serves as the Academic Integrity Officer of the Smith School.

Loeb organizes Smith's popular Business Ethics Lecture Series, which kicks off on Feb. 7 with KPMG's Scott Avelino, who will talk about social audits, in Van Munching Hall's Frank Auditorium, 5:30 - 7 p.m.

▓ Alissa Arford-Leyl, Office of Marketing Communications