Pair of accounting alumni receive awards from the American Accounting Association

Friday, August 7, 2020

A pair of Oklahoma State University School of Accounting alumni are being recognized by the American Accounting Association with national awards at the 2020 AAA annual meeting.

George Krull, who earned a master’s degree in accounting from OSU in 1966, is the recipient of the 2020 Lifetime Service Award for his dedication to accounting education and practice.

Dr. Lauren Cooper is being recognized with the 2020 Accounting Horizons Best Paper Award as a co-author on the article “Robotic Process Automation in Public Accounting,” published in December 2019. She is a three-time OSU graduate, earning a bachelor’s degree in mathematics (2008), and master’s and doctorate degrees in accounting (2010 and 2015).

“I am thrilled to see George and Lauren recognized with these prestigious AAA awards,” Dr. Audrey Gramling, head of the OSU School of Accounting, said. “We appreciate both of them for more than just their hard work and accomplishments. We also celebrate their character and the positive effect they have had on others in the accounting profession. What is especially noteworthy to me, is that these two alumni span five decades at OSU and both are exemplary in demonstrating how we continue to build the future of accounting at OSU.”

Krull served as a partner in the executive office of Grant Thornton LLP. After retirement, he remained active with the academic and professional accounting communities. He was an executive-in-residence and professor at Bradley University, where he received emeritus status in 2011.

More recently, he served as interim chair of the accounting departments at Oklahoma State University, the University of North Texas and Saint Louis University. Krull has provided extensive service to the AAA, the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) International, the Association of International Certified Professional Accountants (AICPA), and the Pathways Commission.

In 2014, he was one of 100 distinguished graduates of the OSU Spears School of Business recognized during the school’s centennial anniversary celebration, and in 2015 was inducted into the Spears Business Hall of Fame. In 2016, he received the AAA’s Outstanding Service Award, and in 2017, Krull received the AICPA’s Gold Medal Award of Distinction.

Cooper is an assistant professor of accounting in the John Chambers College of Business and Economics at West Virginia University. Her primary research interests are in the areas of corporate taxation, robotic process automation and corporate social responsibility.

Cooper’s research has been accepted for publication at Accounting Horizons, Business & Society, and Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting. She teaches individual and corporate taxation as well as financial accounting courses in the undergraduate and master’s programs at West Virginia.

Cooper and co-authors D. Kip Holderness Jr., Trevor Sorensen and David Wood will receive a unique glass art piece and a $2,500 cash prize as winners of the award.

Both Cooper and Krull will receive their awards virtually during the AAA annual meeting Aug. 10-13.

Contact: Terry Tush | Director, Marketing and Communications | 405-744-2703 | terry.tush@okstate.edu