Professor Helen Gernon, head of the Department of Accounting, has accepted an appointment as the associate dean for professional affairs for the University of Oregon's Lundquist College of Business. In this role, Gernon is overseeing the growth and development of experiential learning and integrated leadership education opportunities.

"The college is pleased that Dr. Gernon has accepted the appointment as associate dean for professional affairs," said Dean James C. Bean. "Her breadth of experience, energy, and vision will play a vital role in helping us achieve our ambitious goals of developing the experiential and professional aspects of our program in order to provide students with more experiential opportunities."

 Gernon received her Ph.D. from Pennsylvania State University and has an M.B.A. from Florida Atlantic University. Gernon has been with the Lundquist College of Business since 1978 and has won numerous awards for her teaching, research, and service. Her teaching interests include effective leadership, international accounting, federal income taxation, and managing and understanding cash flow from the entrepreneur's perspective. She is also co-author of Accounting: An International Perspective (with Gary Meek), now in its fifth edition. The book, which has been translated into six languages, provides a nontechnical overview of international accounting and covers both financial and managerial accounting topics.

As the associate dean for professional affairs, Gernon is leading an effort to expand the college's nationally recognized Lundquist Center for Entrepreneurship and the Warsaw Sports Marketing Center. She is also coordinating the creation of the Center for Sustainable Supply Chain Management and the Securities Analysis Center, and facilitating the expansion of the Leadership Center.

The Center for Sustainable Supply Chain Management will forge ties among research, curriculum, and practice to identify and promote best practices in environmental stewardship, product design, marketing, purchasing, manufacturing, logistics, and reverse logistics. The Securities Analysis Center will foster the study of security pricing, corporate governance, and financial reporting. Both centers will provide students with new opportunities to apply skills taught in the classroom to real business issues. They will also strengthen the exchange of information and interaction among faculty and students across departments.

Gernon will additionally oversee the growth of the college's Leadership Center, which is assuming a higher profile in providing students with the interdisciplinary foundations and skills necessary to succeed in college and beyond. Lastly, Gernon is responsible for the college's Career Services, which facilitates the career development needs of undergraduate and graduate students by working in partnership with employers and faculty.

"I am very pleased to accept the appointment and assume new responsibilities for helping the Lundquist College of Business achieve its goals," said Gernon. "The college's faculty and students are a dynamic group of people who are open to new ideas, and I look forward to working with them and the dean to develop our strategy."

Gernon is retaining her position as head of the accounting department during the academic year.