Deans and Administrators

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Michael A. Diamond

Vice President and Executive Vice Provost
University of Southern California

Michael A. Diamond serves as Vice President and Executive Vice Provost of the University of Southern California after being appointed Vice Provost for Planning and Budget, effective July 1, 1995. Prior to that he served as dean of the Leventhal School of Accounting and director of the school's SEC and Financial Reporting Institute from July 1987 through March 31, 1994. During that time period, the Leventhal School of Accounting was consistently ranked as one of the top five accounting programs in the country.

Mike is a leader in the accounting education reform movement. Because of his direction, the Leventhal School of Accounting at the University of Southern California is recognized as the pacesetter in accounting education change. He has lectured throughout the United States and in Europe and in China on accounting curriculum revision. His articles have appeared in Accounting Horizons, Journal of Accounting and Harvard Business Review. Mike has conducted several research projects sponsored by international accounting firms and the Financial Research Foundation.

Mike served as president of the American Accounting Association (1998-99). He has been active for over twenty years in that organization having served as president of the Accounting Programs Leaders Group, chair of the New Faculty Consortium committee and Director of Education in addition to participation on several other association committees. He is also active in the American Institute of CPAs and the California Society of CPAs.

Mike has taught at California State University, Los Angeles, and has been a visiting professor at the University of California, Berkeley and the University of California, Los Angeles, prior to becoming dean at the University of Southern California. He also has taught in executive education programs for a number of international accounting firms as well as Fortune 500 companies. Mike was the recipient of the California Society of CPAs Faculty Excellence Award for 1993 and was named as one of the 'Top 100 Most Influential People in Accounting,' in the 1997 issue of Accounting Today and again in the Fall 1998 issue.

In July 1994, Mike began a one-year consulting term with The Strategic Planning Partnership, an initiative of the Ernst & Young Foundation. This program assisted over 25 selected business schools and other academic organizations in strategic planning and change management processes.

Mike is a CPA and received his BA degree at the University of California, Berkeley, and his MS and Ph.D. degrees from the University of California, Los Angeles. He was born in Fresno, California. He and his wife, Elaine, have one son, Jacob.