I earned Bachelor of Science (1971) and Master of Science (1975) degrees in Accounting from Colorado State University (CSU) in Fort Collins, Colorado. I stayed at CSU for my master’s degree because I thought I might want to teach eventually, and the accounting department had a great program for graduate teaching assistants, which allowed us to have our own classes, but provided assistance from senior faculty members to help ease us into college teaching. Before I finished my Master’s degree I went to work in the Denver office of Price Waterhouse & Co., then a Big-8 CPA firm. During this period I got experience in auditing and also was able to sit for and pass the CPA Exam.

Along the way I also spent time in the Peace Corp in Cali, Colombia, got experience as Supervisor of General Accounting in the home office of a national manufacturing and retailing company, spent 6 years as Controller of a large not-for-profit organization, developed a consulting practice using Cougar Mountain accounting software to assist over 60 businesses and nonprofit organizations with accounting systems design, implementation, training and support and, from January till August 2004 served as Controller/Chief Financial Officer for a large real estate development company in Denver, Colorado. I have been an accounting faculty member at Montana State University-Billings since 1978.

In 1993, I married Joanne Sheridan, now Professor of Accounting Emeritus and an Account Manager for the Anderson Zurmuehlen CPA firm. Joanne and I each have 2 children by previous marriages. Joanne’s children, Matt and Jon, live nearby and Matt has 2 young daughters, who are a joy to watch grow up. My son Joshua is an assistant editor for films and as of December 2005 is just finishing 18 months of work on the CS Lewis classic The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe. When not working on films he lives in Prague, Czech Republic. My daughter Sarah is in the Navy and lives with her husband in Norfolk, Virginia where she is in a special Navy program which allows her to attend nursing school full time at Norfolk State University.