6.13.2007 - 02:27pm ET

(CSRwire) WILTON, CT- June 13, 2007- Representing more than 80 of the country's top accounting Ph.D. candidates, the 37th Annual American Accounting Association (AAA)/Deloitte/J. Michael Cook Doctoral Consortium will convene this week in Tahoe City, California to offer learning and mentoring opportunities through presentations, small group discussions and informal networking opportunities.

"With critical shortages of accounting Ph.D.s facing the profession, programs like these provide important exposure and encouragement for some of the brightest minds in accounting today who are certain to provide skilled leadership to the profession in the coming years," said Shaun Budnik, President of the Deloitte Foundation and partner, Deloitte & Touche USA LLP. "The annual Doctoral Consortium provides a valuable mentoring opportunity for graduate students as they advance toward Ph.D. status while allowing them to engage and share concepts with professors, peers and some of the leading minds in accounting education."

Sponsored by the Deloitte Foundation, the AAA/Deloitte/J. Michael Cook Doctoral Consortium is dedicated to the review and discussion of accounting research, as well as educational issues addressing Ph.D. candidates' special needs. Each year the AAA appoints a distinguished committee of accounting faculty and, teaming with the Deloitte Foundation, invites top scholars to present their recent findings aligned to individual specialties in research and teaching.

"This is perhaps the most important event organized by the AAA every year because of its focus on the next generation of accounting professors and the chance to discuss research ideas with them," said Jonathan Glover, Professor of Accounting at Carnegie Mellon University, who is the 2007 Doctoral Consortium Committee Chair. "This program is implemented at a critical junction of the students' doctoral studies—they are ready to tackle their dissertations, to further develop their research, and to begin to advance their teaching skills. We are all extremely appreciative to the Deloitte Foundation for its involvement with and sponsorship of this event."

Each year since 1971, the Consortium has brought together leading accounting doctoral students and distinguished faculty from U.S. and international universities to share their experiences, ideas and research on important issues in accounting research and education. The annual program is sponsored by the Deloitte Foundation through a contribution from Deloitte & Touche USA LLP and J. Michael Cook, former Deloitte & Touche Chairman and CEO, and his wife, Mary Anne.

About the Deloitte Foundation

The Deloitte Foundation is a not-for-profit organization that supports teaching, research, and curriculum innovation in accounting, business, and related fields within the U.S. The Foundation, founded in 1928, supports an array of national programs, which are relevant to a variety of professional services, and which benefit undergraduates, graduate students, and faculty. For more information, please visit the Deloitte Foundation web page at www.deloitte.com/us/df.

About Deloitte

Deloitte refers to one or more of Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu, a Swiss Verein, its member firms, and their respective subsidiaries and affiliates. Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu is an organization of member firms around the world devoted to excellence in providing professional services and advice, focused on client service through a global strategy executed locally in nearly 150 countries. With access to the deep intellectual capital of 120,000 people worldwide, Deloitte delivers services in four professional areas - audit, tax, consulting, and financial advisory services - and serves more than one-half of the world's largest companies, as well as large national enterprises, public institutions, locally important clients, and successful, fast-growing global growth companies. Services are not provided by the Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Verein, and, for regulatory and other reasons, certain member firms do not provide services in all four professional areas.

As a Swiss Verein (association), neither Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu nor any of its member firms has any liability for each other's acts or omissions. Each of the member firms is a separate and independent legal entity operating under the names "Deloitte," "Deloitte & Touche," "Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu," or other related names.

In the U.S., Deloitte & Touche USA LLP is the member firm of Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu, and services are provided by the subsidiaries of Deloitte & Touche USA LLP (Deloitte & Touche LLP, Deloitte Consulting LLP, Deloitte Tax LLP, Deloitte Financial Advisory Services LLP and their subsidiaries) and not by Deloitte & Touche USA LLP. The subsidiaries of the U.S. member firm are among the nation's leading professional services firms, providing audit, tax, consulting, and financial advisory services through nearly 30,000 people in more than 80 cities. Known as employers of choice for innovative human resources programs, they are dedicated to helping their clients and their people excel. For more information, please visit the U.S. member firm's website at www.deloitte.com/us.

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