Daniel Langelier, MBA, CPA, CMA
Senior Vice President, Bank of America
Teaching focus: Accounting, Finance

Where I Come From

I have worked in the banking industry for well over 30 years. As an undergraduate, I majored in accounting and finance. During the summers, while in college, I worked in the banking industry. When I graduated, the economy was not favorable for new college graduates. Fortunately, I was immediately offered a position by the bank where I had been working summers, the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CIBC) in Montreal, Canada.

I moved to Florida in 1981 where I earned my MBA in accounting and finance at the University of Tampa and continued my career in the banking industry. I worked for First Florida Bank and Barnett Bank, among others. Currently, I am a Senior Vice President at the Bank of America. For the last 20 years, I have been working on the resolution of very large commercial and corporate loans in various industries at challenge. I try to determine whether troubled loans can be turned around for the bank, refinanced elsewhere, or in the worst case, liquidated.

What I bring to class

What got me to where I am is a very strong background and formation in accounting and finance. In addition to my degrees, I am certified in public accounting, cash management and treasury management, and I have my real estate license. I continue to read a lot of professional journals, and take classes and seminars to keep current.

I have been teaching Keller graduate students continuously since 1999. I've taught them both onsite and online. The curriculum is basically the same no matter how it is delivered. There is actually more opportunity for discussion and contact online. A forum can not be dominated by a chatterbox, I have noticed that students who don't talk in a classroom may often open up online.

In the course of my working life, I have seen many success stories as well as failures. What I bring to class is both the context and the material of accounting and finance. I relate abstract theories to specific actions and strategies that were successful or not, and to things that the companies could have done differently. It adds perspective to the theories that students read about in the textbook.

Tracking changes in the profession

The field of accounting changes constantly, and has done so at an ever faster pace since 2000. We all know some of the changes that occurred as a result of large corporate failures, like those of Enron and Worldcom - the passage of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, increases in regulations and reporting for banks as well as corporations, changes in the SEC and monitoring.

Another consequence is that accounting as a profession is attracting more interest every year among students. This in itself will create more changes. For an example, an article in the Florida CPA Journal a couple of years ago projected that more than half of the current accounting faculty in Florida universities will reach retirement age within 5 years.

The CPA exam-and beyond

Most accounting students will take the CPA exam or other certifications, so the course material is closely tied to the exam. A lot of it comes from prior years' exams. In addition, my goal is to help students relate text book theories to what's happening in their company and the economy at large. I send them to talk to their CFO or treasurer about a class topic. Or the class will examine how accounting principles are being applied in real-world financial statements - how inventory is accounted for, for example.

I promote more discussion than lecture. I'm the type of teacher who constantly asks questions of the students: Where is your reference? How do you support it? What do you recommend doing, and why? Of course, I present the rules of accounting and clarify them, but students need to know why those rules exist, what their implications and impact will be. Understanding information is more important than memorizing it.

Call me, really

I have always liked teaching for personal reasons; it focuses me and forces me to keep current in my profession. I am a strong believer in education and training, and am motivated to assist people in that way.

Early in the term I tell students that if they have questions, they can contact me at any time via email or my home phone. I urge them to use the opportunity. Sometimes I have conversations with students who are trying to work out a problem in the book and call me. I have also guided students on how to work with their state on getting CPA certification, or what they should focus on when they interview with accounting firms.

Why Keller?

Keller Graduate School of Management is very well respected in the industry, especially where it has a physical presence. The Keller MBA is a very good and strong degree, very valuable. Bear in mind that a bachelor's degree is no longer a terminal degree in the accounting field. Virtually every state now requires 150 hours of academic credit, which is equivalent to a bachelors plus a fifth year of study, to qualify for a CPA license. That said, the Keller MBA is an excellent way to earn these credits and prepare for the CPA exam.

While the curriculum is similar to other graduate degree programs, Keller's approach emphasizes strong practical experience - both the teacher's and the student's real-world experience. The challenge in accounting is always how to apply your knowledge of the principles to the real world.