Karen K. Nelson

M.J. Neeley Professor of Accounting at TCU. Former Harmon Whittington Professor of Accounting and past Accounting Area Coordinator at the Jones Graduate School of Business at Rice University.

Karen previously served on the faculty at Rice University, the Stanford University Graduate School of Business, and as a visiting professor at the University of Michigan. She earned her Ph.D. at the University of Michigan and a bachelor’s degree (summa cum laude) from the University of Colorado. She also holds a CPA license from the state of Colorado. Professor Nelson’s research focuses on financial reporting and disclosure issues, including the role of regulators, auditors, and private securities litigation in monitoring financial reporting quality. She has held research seminars at over 50 leading business schools in the U.S. and abroad, and published in a variety of leading academic journals including The Accounting Review, Journal of Accounting and Economics, Journal of Accounting, and Review of Accounting Studies. Her research has been featured in the financial press in publications such as The Wall Street Journal, Business Week, and Forbes. She is an active member of the American Accounting Association and serves on the Editorial Board of The Accounting Review. She has taught financial accounting at all levels, and her students have honored her with numerous awards for teaching excellence. She currently teaches intermediate accounting to undergraduates and financial accounting to MBAs. She is a member of the Standing Advisory Group of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board.