Karen K. Nelson

Karen Nelson is the Harmon Whittington Professor of Accounting and Accounting Area Coordinator. She earned her Ph.D. in accounting from the University of Michigan. She holds a bachelor’s degree (summa cum laude) in accounting from the University of Colorado and is a Certified Public Accountant in Colorado.

Karen joined the Rice faculty in 2003.  She teaches financial reporting in the MBA and Executive MBA programs where she has won many accolades for teaching excellence. Prior to her appointment at Rice, Karen was on the faculty of the Graduate School of Business at Stanford University.  She has also been a Visiting Professor at the University of Michigan.

Her research focuses on financial reporting and disclosure issues, including the role of regulators, auditors, and private securities litigation in monitoring financial reporting quality. She has held research seminars at over 40 leading business schools in the U.S. and abroad, and published in a variety of leading academic journals. Her research is cited by the AAA Research Impact Task Force on the role of academic accounting research on professional practice and has been featured in the financial press in publications such as The Wall Street Journal, Business Week, and Forbes. She is a member of the Editorial Advisory and Review Board of The Accounting Review.

Areas of Interests
financial disclosure and securities regulation
earnings quality and earnings management
economic consequences of accounting choice