Gary J. Previts, PhD, CPA, is coauthor of the widely referenced A HISTORY OF ACCOUNTANCY IN THE UNITED STATES and served as editor of the journal RESEARCH IN ACCOUNTING REGULATION (Elsevier) for thirty years. His numerous publications investigate the development of accounting thought and the regulation of accounting, as well as events, policy-setting entities and educational policies and practices.
Previts is the recipient of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) Gold Medal and also received the 2018 Lifetime Achievement Award from the American Accounting Association (AAA). He has served as president of both the Ohio Society of Certified Public Accountants (OSCPA) and the AAA, and as a member of the AICPA Board of Directors. He chaired the human capital subcommittee of the Advisory Committee on the Auditing Profession convened by the U.S. Department of Treasury.
Previts has conducted research for the AICPA Special Committee on Financial Reporting and the Business Reporting Research Project of the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB). He served as a member of the Advisory Council of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB) from 2007 to 2017. He is the editor of the Studies in the Development of Accounting Thought book series published by Emerald Press (U.K.).
Previts recently served as a technical advisor to the International Accounting Education Standards Board (IAESB) and as a sponsor’s representative to the “Pathways” Commission, a national body formed to study higher education for accountants. In 2014, he presented seminars at the Said Business School, Oxford University, UK, and the School of Business at Edinburgh University, Scotland. More recently he has presented at conferences in Italy and at Columbia University.
His teaching areas include undergraduate as well as masters and doctoral coursework.
PhD, University of Florida, 1972
MAcc, The Ohio State University, 1964
BBA, John Carroll University, 1963
Initially Appointed: 1979
Research
- Development of Accounting Thought and Institutions
- Regulation and Analysis of Corporate Disclosure
- Education Policy
Teaching
- Financial Accounting, Regulation, Disclosure and Analysis
- Accounting History
- Business History
Recent Courses and Syllabi
Course evaluation ratings (login required)
- Flesher , D. L., Previts, G. J., Flesher, T. K.
(2020).
In Cheryl McWatters (Ed.),
W. W. Werntz and the curious case of ASR No 78 (1957): insights and lessons for historians
(vol. 30 , issue 2, pp. 15).
Accounting History Review.
- Flesher, D. L., Previts, G. J., Sharp, A. D.
(2020).
In Stewart Jones (Ed.),
Accounting Discoveries from Archival Research: The Mobile & Ohio, an Antebellum Southern Railroad
(vol. 56, issue 1, pp. 140-163).
Abacus.
- Previts, BOOK SERIES EDITOR , G. J.
(2019).
Harold Cecil Edey: A Collection of Unpublished Material from a 20th Century Accounting Reformer VOLUME 23 AUTHOR: Martin E. Persson
Emerald Press, United Kingdom.
- Flesher, D. L., Foltin, C., Previts, G. J., Stone, M. S.
(2019).
A Comprehensive Review of the Evolution of Accounting Standards for State and Local Government Pensions and Other Post-Employment Benefits in the United States
Accounting Historians Journal.
- Foltin, C., Flesher, D. L., Previts, G. J., Stone, M. S.
(2019).
Federal Reserve Recalculation Doubles the State and Local Government Pension Deficit -- AGA and CFGM's Role in Offering Strategies for Managers and Policymakers
Journal of Government Financial Management.
- Previts, G. J.
(2018).
William A. Paton: A Study of His Accounting Thought, VOLUME 22, AUTHORS: Kelly Williams and Howard Lawrence
Emerald Publishing .
- Foltin, C., Flesher, D., Previts, G. J., Stone, M.
(2018).
Public Pension Underfunding
Strategic Finance (IMA).
- Flesher, D., Flesher, T., Previts, G. J.
(2018).
The Financial Accounting Standards Board: Profiles of Seven Chairs
(issue Vol 30, No. 1 , ).
Research in Accounting Regulation (Elsevier).
- Previts, G. J., Flesher, D., Flesher, T.
(2017).
The Dockery Commission: Federal Government Accountability and the Origins of American Public Accounting
(vol. 1, issue 1, pp. 1-22).
Shanghai:
Research in Accounting History.
- Foltin , C., Flesher, D. L., Previts, G. J., Stone, M. S.
(2017).
In Joanne S. Barry (Ed.),
State and Local Government Pensions at a Crossroad
(vol. 87, issue 4, pp. pp. 42-51).
New York, NY:
The CPA Journal.
- Flesher, D. L., Previts, G. J., Samson (deceased), W. D.
(2017).
In Stewart Jones (Ed.),
Working on the Railroad: Public Accounting Talent in the United States—The Case of Haskins & Sells (Now Deloitte)
(vol. 53, issue 1, ).
Sydney:
ABACUS.
- Flesher, D. L., Previts, G. J., Sharp, A. D.
(2016).
In Cynthia Jeffrey (Ed.),
Antebellum Management Accountability at the Mobile & Ohio Railroad (1849-1862)
(vol. 20, issue 1st, pp. 95-114).
Bingley BD16 1 WA:
Research on Professionalism and Ethics in Accounting.
- Flesher, D. L., Previts, G. J.
(2016).
In Cheryl McWatters (Ed.),
Haskins & Sells 'Selected Papers'-- a profile in leadership thought (1955-1974)
(vol. 26, issue 3, pp. 333-350).
Milton Park, Abington, Oxfordshire:
Accounting History Review.
- Previts, G. J., , .
(2016).
In Sandra Livingston (Ed.),
History by the Numbers: What Accounting Can Tell Us About the Past --and the Present
(vol. 31, 1 ed., pp. 24).
Cleveland OH:
CWRU.
- Flesher, D. L., Previts, G. J.
(2016).
In Joanne S. Barry (Ed.),
A Historical Episode of Professional Skepticism: Looking Back at the Thomascolor Case
(vol. 86, issue 7, pp. 2--22).
New York, NY:
The CPA Journal.
- Flesher, D. L., Previts, G. J., Job, M. E., Sharp, A. D.
(2015).
One Accounting Firm's Contribution to World War II
The CPA Journal.
- Previts, G. J., Flesher, D. L.
(2015).
Financial Accounting & Reporting in the United States of American 1820- 2010: Towards Sunshine from Shadows
Routledge.
- Kramer, S., Previts, G. J.
(2015).
Ivar Kreuger and IMCO: A Case of Taxation of Fictitious Income
International Journal of Accounting.
- Flesher, D., Previts, G. J.
(2014).
In Stephen Walker (Ed.),
Haskins & Sells Involvement in World War I and Its Aftermatch
London:
Accounting History Review .
- Flesher, D., Previts, G. J.
(2014).
In Gloria Volmers, University of Maine (Ed.),
Preparing an Accounting Professional: The Articles of Clerkship of George Oliver May (1892-1897)
(vol. 41, issue 1, ).
The Accounting Historians Journal .
- Flesher, D. L., Previts, G. J., Moehrle, S. R.
(2014).
In Maria Murphy (Ed.),
A Profile of Ernest R. Breech: Pioneer Financial Executive and Chairman of the Board of Ford Motor Company
(pp. 6-8).
New York, New York:
The CPA Journal.
- Flesher, D. L., Previts, G. J.
(2013).
Donaldson Brown (1885-1965): The Power of an Individual and His Ideas over time
Birmingham AL :
The Accounting Historians Journal.
- Previts, G. J., Walton, P., Wolnizer, P.
(2012).
In Previts and Bricker, SDAT Series Editors, VOL 14D (Ed.),
A Global History of Accounting, Financial Reporting and Public Policy: Eurasia, Middle East and Africa
Emerald.
- Roybark, H., Coffman, E., Previts, G. J.
(2012).
In Stewart Jones (Ed.),
The First Quarter Century of the GASB (1984-2009) Part II: A Perspective on Standard Setting
(vol. 48, issue 2, pp. 147-198).
Sydney:
Abacus.
- Roybark, H., Coffman, E., Previts, G. J.
(2012).
In Stewart Jones (Ed.),
The First Quarter Century of the GASB (1984-2009) Part I: A Perspective on Standard Setting
(vol. 48, issue 1, pp. 1-30).
Sydney:
Abacus.
- Previts, G. J., Peter, W., Peter, W.
(2011).
In Previts and Bricker, SDAT Series Editors (Ed.),
A Global History of Accounting, Financial Reporting and Public Policy: Asia and Oceania
(vol. 14 C, ).
London:
Emerald.
- Previts, G. J., Walton, P., Wolnizer , P.
(2011).
In Previts and Bricker, SDAT Series Editors (Ed.),
A Global History of Accounting, Financial Reporting and Public Policy: The Americas and Public Policy: Volume A Europe
(vol. 14 B , ).
Emerald Press :
Emerald Press.
- Previts, G. J., Badua, F. A., Vasarhelyi, M. A.
(2011).
In Richard Fleischman (Ed.),
Tracing the Development of Accounting Thought
(vol. 38, issue 1, pp. 31-56).
Birmingham AL:
The Accounting Historians Journal .
- Previts, G. J., Peter, W., Peter, W.
(2010).
In Previts and Bricker, SDAT Series Editors (Ed.),
A Global History of Accounting, Financial Reporting and Public Policy: Europe
(vol. 14 A , ).
London:
- Previts, G. J., Matsumoto, Y.
(2010).
The Dual Audit System for Joint-Stock Companies in Japan
Accounting, Business and Financial History.
- Previts, G. J., Merino, B.
(1998).
A History of Accountancy in the United States
(pp. 576).
Columbus, Ohio:
The Ohio State University Press [Re-published in Chinese in 2007 under OSU Press contract].
- Previts, G. J.
In Gary John Previts, Volumes 1 through 30 (Ed.),
EDITOR, RESEARCH IN ACCOUNTING REGULATION
(vol. 28 (2016), 29 (2017), 30 (2018), April and October ed., ).
Kidlington, Oxford:
Elsevier Publishing.
- Flesher, D. (Author Only), Previts, G. J. (Presenter & Author), Flesher, T. (Author Only)
14th World Congress of Accounting Historians,
"Biographical Profiles of the Seven chairs of the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB)",
University G. d'Annunzio of Chieti- Pescara,
Pescara, Italy.
(2016).
- Previts, G. J.
14th World Congress of Accounting Historians,
"PLENARY ADDRESS "A Perspective on Learning from the Past"",
University G. d'Annunzio of Chieti- Pescara,
Pescara, Italy.
(2016).
- Flesher, D. L., Previts, G. J., Sharp, A. D.
Annual Meeting and Conference of American Acct Assn,
"Accounting for an Antebellum Southern Railroad: The Case of the Mobile and Ohio",
American Accounting Association,
Atlanta, Georgia.
(2014).
- Flesher, D. L. (Presenter & Author), Previts, G. J. (Presenter & Author)
Regional Meetings of the American Accounting Assn,
"The Clerkship of George O. May",
American Accounting Association ,
Southeastern Region; Ohio Region .
(2014).
- Previts, G. J.
Public Affairs Discussion Group CWRU,
"The Profession of Accounting: Where it came from, Where it has been and Where it is going.",
College of Arts & Sciences, Center for Policy Studies,
KSL Dampeer Room .
(2014).
- Lazdowski, Y. (Presenter Only), Previts, G. J. (Presenter Only)
40th Anniversary Research Conference,
"Highlights of the Academy's 40 Year History ",
The Academy of Accounting Historians,
Osh Kosh WI.
(2013).
- Knechel , R. (Presenter Only), Previts, G. J. (Presenter Only)
Reporting and Governance Academic Conference,
"Origins and Development of US Accountancy",
California State University-Fullerton,
Irvine CA.
(2013).
- Previts, G. J.
63rd Annual Meeting,
"Why Accounting Must Change!",
Southeast Region, American Accounting Association,
(2011).
- Previts, G. J. (Presenter & Author), Flesher, D. L. (Presenter & Author)
American Accounting Association Annual Meeting,
"Donaldson Brown (1885-1965): 20th Century Financial Manager: The Power of An Idea Over Time",
American Accounting Association,
New York City.
(2009).
- Previts, G. J.
Annual Saxe Memorial Lecture,
"21st Century Auditing Challenges",
Baruch College,
New York City.
(2008).
- Previts, G. J., Flesher, D., Sharp, A.
American Accounting Association Annual Meeting,
"Personal Property and the Mobile and Ohio Railroad in the 1850s: 'Emancipated by Force of Circumstances.'",
American Accounting Association,
Washington, D.C..
(2006).
- Previts, G. J., Flesher, D. L.
Accounting Hall of Fame and Academy of Accounting Historians Conference,
"Donaldson Brown, Innovator of the DuPont Formula: His Influence on Financial Management",
Accounting Hall of Fame and Academy of Accounting Historians,
The Ohio State University.
(2005).
- Previts, G. J., Flesher, D. L., Samson, W. D.
Annual Accounting, Business & Financial History Conference,
"The Railroad Influence on the Development of the American Accounting Profession,",
Centre for Business Performance,Institute of Chartered Accountants in England & Wales,
Cardiff, UK.
(2005).
- Previts, G. J., Kramer, S.
Southeast Region, American Accounting Association,
"The International Match Company Scandal: Rediscovered History",
American Accounting Association,
(2005).
- Previts, G. J.
Osaka City University Presentation,
"Pathways for Common Goals,",
Osaka City University,
Japan.
(2005).
- Editorial Review Board Member, Journal of Accounting and Free Enterprise , Florida Southern College, 2014 - Present
- Member, Advisory Committee on the Auditing Profession, United States Department of the Treasury, 2007 - 2008
- Officer, President/Elect/Past, American Accounting Association , 2007 - 2008
- Editorial Review Board Member, Accounting Historians Journal, 1993 - Present
- Editor, Guest/Special Issue, Abacus, 1988 - 2011
- Accreditation Team Member; Focus Group Advisory Member , AACSB, 1984 - 2017
- Officer, President/Elect/Past, Academy of Accounting Historians, 1973 - 1975
- Thomas J. Burns Biographical Research Award, American Accounting Association, Academy of Accounting Historians Section. (2017).
- Best Paper Award 2014 Accounting Historians Journal, The Academy of Accounting Historians . (2014).
- ANNUAL MANUSCRIPT AWARD , ABACUS. (2013).
- 125 People of Impact in Accounting: Leaders who left a mark on the profession , American Institute of CPAs. (2012).
- Distinguished University Professor, Case Western Reserve University . (2011).
- The Accounting Hall of Fame, The Ohio State University. (2011).
- Lifetime Achievement Award, The Association of Accounting and Finance Academics of Turkey. (2010).
- 2010 Outstanding Educator, The American Accounting Association. (2010).
- Gold Medal for Service, The American Insitute of CPAs. (2007).
- Gold Medal for Meritorious Service to the CPA Profession, The Ohio Society of CPA. (2002).
- Research Recognition Award, Weatherhead School of Management. (2000).
- Lifetime Achievement Award, Accounting Education, American Institute of Certified Public Accountants.. (1996).
- Theodore M. Alfred Distinguished Service Award, Weatherhead School of Management. (1995).
- Joseph A. Silvoso Faculty Award of Merit, Federation of Schools of Accountancy. (1991).
