To recognize her exceptional contributions to academic leadership, curriculum innovation, and corporate disclosure research, Gies College of Business at the University of Illinois celebrated the investiture of Nerissa Brown as the H.T. Scovill Professor of Accountancy on Nov. 13, 2026.
The H.T. Scovill Chair honors the legacy of Hiram Thompson Scovill, who was a member of the Gies Business accountancy faculty for 40 years and who helped lay the groundwork for establishing the Department of Accountancy. Scovill also co-founded the Beta Alpha Psi accounting student honor society, served as president of what is now the American Accounting Association, and was inducted into the Accounting Hall of Fame in 1954. He authored seminal textbooks on farm accounting to support regional agricultural communities.
“When I read Professor Scovill’s bio I thought, ‘this is exactly why I do what I do;’ it’s all about expanding access, promoting the field of accounting, and giving back to the community we serve,” said Brown, who was promoted to full professor in 2022 and named the College’s Executive Associate Dean of Academic Programs in 2025. “I am deeply grateful to the University of Illinois and Gies Business for believing in me and supporting my passions in paying it forward; it is a true privilege to carry on Scovill’s legacy.”
Driving strategic growth and educational innovation
Brown works alongside Dean Brooke Elliott and Executive Associate Dean Mark Peecher to advance the College’s strategic priorities and guide its academic and operational direction. As Executive Associate Dean of Academic Programs, she leads the College’s academic programming and educational innovation strategies, overseeing units responsible for designing and delivering high-quality learning experiences at scale.
Her priorities focus on preparing Gies Business for its next decade of educational transformation. Under her leadership, the College is expanding its graduate portfolio and scaling its undergraduate programs to welcome 1,000 new freshmen annually while preserving and strengthening the learner experience. Brown also oversees the College’s Access and Engagement unit and strategic enrollment initiatives designed to expand access to a Gies Business education across the state of Illinois and beyond.
As a leader of the College’s AI strategic priority, Brown is helping shape how Gies Business prepares students to succeed in an AI-enabled world. Her work focuses on threading AI fluency, critical thinking, and human judgment throughout the curriculum and the learner experience, while supporting faculty innovation in teaching, learning, and assessment. She also provides strategic leadership for initiatives such as the Gies AI Faculty Fellowship program and the launch of the Gies AI Hub, which supports the development of AI capabilities across the College.
“Nerissa Brown exemplifies the innovative spirit and visionary leadership that drive Gies Business forward,” said Dean Elliott. “Through her stewardship of academic programs, her dedication to expanding educational access, and her pioneering work integrating emerging technologies into the student experience, she ensures our learners are prepared to lead with purpose.”
Revealing the behavioral dynamics of corporate disclosures
Brown’s research examines how managers disclose accounting and financial information and how investors and other market participants use it. Her work integrates economic and behavioral theories to explore how incentives and cognitive biases – such as herd behavior and investor sentiment – influence corporate disclosure practices and investor decisions.
Brown’s extensive research portfolio includes influential studies on non-GAAP or adjusted earnings, evaluating when managers use these alternative performance metrics to better inform investors, and when they do so to put a favorable spin on their financial results. Her work also applies AI and machine learning techniques to improve the detection of corporate fraud and accounting irregularities. She helps shape the direction of accounting scholarship through her editorial leadership at top journals such as The Accounting Review, Journal of Business Finance and Accounting, and Journal of Financial Reporting.
Alongside her research and academic leadership responsibilities, Brown continues to actively engage with students. She developed and taught financial statement analysis in the online Master of Science in Accountancy (iMSA) program and co-leads professional development coursework for learners in the online MBA (iMBA) program. She also mentors doctoral students and junior faculty within Gies Business and across the accounting academy through her work with The PhD Project and the American Accounting Association.
A global journey to Illinois
Brown’s academic career began in Jamaica, where she earned undergraduate and master’s degrees in accounting from the University of the West Indies. She began her professional career as a financial analyst working alongside the CFO of GraceKennedy – one of the Caribbean's largest corporate conglomerates – where she analyzed potential acquisitions and helped roll out a new enterprise system. Inspired by her professors to pursue an academic career, she went on to earn her PhD in accounting from the University of Maryland in 2005.
Prior to joining the Illinois faculty in 2018, Brown held academic appointments at the University of Southern California (2005-2010), Georgia State University (2010-2014), and the University of Delaware (2014-2018). She also served as an academic fellow in the Office of the Chief Accountant at the US Securities and Exchange Commission. Her connection to Illinois spans more than two decades: She first met Dean Elliott in 2002 when they were roommates at a doctoral consortium, and they later became co-authors on several studies, including research on non-GAAP earnings disclosures and the use of textual analysis to detect fraud. Kevin Jackson, now Vice Provost of Undergraduate Education at the University of Illinois and Professor of Accountancy at Gies, was at that same doctoral consortium. The relationships she developed with Elliott and Jackson, along with the mentorship and professional network she gained through The PhD Project, helped shape her academic career and ultimately brought her to Illinois.
“Coming to Illinois felt like coming home,” said Brown. “I had known and worked with several colleagues here long before joining the faculty. What makes Gies Business special is the people and our shared commitment to excellence, innovation, and supporting one another. It’s an environment where I can continue to grow as a scholar and academic leader, while making a meaningful difference for our students.”