Elliott named 11th dean of Gies College of Business

Dr. W. Brooke Elliott has been selected as dean of Gies College of Business and the Josef and Margot Lakonishok Professor in Business, pending approval by the Board of Trustees. Elliott will become the 11th dean in the 100+ year history of Gies Business and the first woman to ever hold that position. Her appointment will begin August 16.

Elliott currently serves as executive associate dean of academic programs at Gies and has been a member of the Illinois faculty for over 20 years. She is a tenured professor in accountancy and the EY Distinguished Professor in Accounting. She previously served as an associate dean overseeing online programs at Gies and, prior to that, was the first female head of the Department of Accountancy.

“Through a national search Professor Elliott’s dedication to and vision for the College’s future, along with the passion she brings to her current work, made her the clear choice to lead Gies College of Business. She is an accomplished scholar and an empathetic, transparent and collaborative leader, and I am confident she will lead the college toward continued success,” said John Coleman, Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs and Provost.

“I’m honored to be selected as the next dean of Gies College of Business,” said Elliott. “This College has an unbelievably rich history of excellence, and our best years are still in front of us. Our alumni base is more engaged than ever, and we have a culture of innovation that is unmatched. I’m excited to see what that future holds for Gies as we find even more meaningful ways to shape purposeful leaders around the world.”

During her time at Gies, Elliott led a group that designed the existing undergraduate core curriculum, served as the executive officer of the top-ranked Department of Accountancy, and created a collaboration structure across academic program units to facilitate operational and programmatic efficiencies and innovations. She has developed and taught several financial reporting and analysis courses to learners ranging from undergraduates to executives.

Her research focuses on determinants of investors’ use of accounting information in their investment-related judgments and decisions; the relation between accounting information/disclosures and investor sentiment; and managers’ strategic use of and investor response to non-GAAP (i.e. pro forma) earnings disclosures.

Elliott earned a Bachelor of Science in Accounting and a Master of Business Administration with an accounting focus from the Indiana University Kelley School of Business. She earned a doctorate in accounting from the University of Washington. She joined the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign as a faculty member in 2003.