Meet Our New Faculty: Brian White

Brian White is an associate professor of accounting at Johnson.

Meet Brian White, one of the newest faculty members from across the SC Johnson College of Business, and learn about his area of expertise, research focus, courses he will be teaching, and other interests.

Brian White | Associate Professor of Accounting | Johnson

What are your research and teaching areas of focus?

My research focuses on the judgment and decision-making of investors, managers, and others in a variety of accounting-related contexts. My current projects focus on questions of interest to accounting standard setters and capital markets regulators. My teaching has been mainly to an MBA audience, to whom I’ve taught courses on financial accounting and financial statement analysis.

What class(es) will you be teaching this year?

I’m teaching the core financial accounting course in the Executive MBA Americas program this summer, and I’ll be teaching a PhD seminar on behavioral research in accounting in the second half of the fall semester.

What attracted you to the Cornell SC Johnson College of Business and to the Samuel Curtis Johnson Graduate School of Management, specifically?

The combination of our incredible students, faculty colleagues known for their world-class research and teaching, and the natural beauty of the Finger Lakes region made moving here very easy. 

When did you know you wanted to be a professor?

I grew up in an academic family, so I was very familiar with what it meant to pursue an academic career, but it took me quite a while to realize it was the path for me.  Finally, in 2007, after selling the business that my wife and I spent ten years building, I decided that research and teaching were how I wanted to spend the rest of my career. 

What’s the best book you’ve read this year?

I usually have at least a couple of books on the go, so it’s hard to pick a favorite. I try to read a mix of fiction and non-fiction, but I really love a good novel. So far this year, Cloud Cuckoo Land by Anthony Doerr was the one I just couldn’t put down.

What do you do to recharge?

Triathlon is my main hobby, so I spend a lot of time swimming, cycling, and running. I also love cooking and eating meals with my family.