Elliott installed as 11th dean of Gies College of Business

Dr. W. Brooke Elliott was installed as the 11^th dean of Gies College of Business and invested as the Josef and Margot Lakonishok Professor in Business, on September 12 in a ceremony held in the Lincoln International Atrium of the Business Instructional Facility. She is the first woman hold this position.

Elliott has been a member of the Illinois faculty for over 20 years. Prior to becoming dean she had been the executive associate dean of academic programs. Before that she served as an associate dean overseeing online programs at Gies and was the first female head of the Department of Accountancy. She is a tenured professor of accountancy and was the EY Distinguished Professor in Accounting.

“I think being a woman and being in this position really sets an example that anyone that is part of our community can accomplish what they set out to accomplish,” Elliott said. “To everyone here today, I feel your support and your love. And I am immensely grateful, because it is only together that we've accomplished what we have so far in this College and it's only together that will continue on that trajectory.”

During her time at Gies, Elliott led a group that designed the existing undergraduate core curriculum, served as the executive officer of the top-ranked Department of Accountancy, and created a collaboration structure across academic program units to facilitate operational and programmatic efficiencies and innovations. She has developed and taught several financial reporting and analysis courses to learners ranging from undergraduates to executives.

"We're going to create an unmatched learner experience," Elliott said. "I believe in continuous improvement, in ensuring that we understand where our learners come from, what their experiences look like, and how their experiences are different. We want to ensure that we put every learner on their path to purpose and that they can tell that story whenever they leave Gies."

“Dean Elliott exemplifies the multidisciplinary, borderless, and comprehensive approach to research, teaching, and meaningful public engagement, as defined by the 157-plus years of our history,” said University of Illinois Chancellor Robert Jones. “This new role is not only an affirmation of her previous work, but it also reflects our confidence that she will continue to be a collaborative leader who pushes us to think differently about how we deliver on our mission to promote research and scholarship within and across all of our communities, both globally and domestically.”

Her research focuses on determinants of investors’ use of accounting information in their investment-related judgments and decisions; the relation between accounting information/disclosures and investor sentiment; and managers’ strategic use of and investor response to non-GAAP (i.e. pro forma) earnings disclosures.

Elliott earned a Bachelor of Science in Accounting and a Master of Business Administration with an accounting focus from the Indiana University Kelley School of Business. She earned a doctorate in accounting from the University of Washington. She joined the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign as a faculty member in 2003.