Academic Degrees
JD, Law, DePaul University
MBA, Finance, DePaul University
MS, Taxation, DePaul University
BS, Accounting, Northern Illinois University
Professional Certifications
Certified Public Accountant
Biography
David J. Roberts is a professor emeritus at the School of Accountancy & MIS. Prior to transitioning to emeritus status in 2019, he received multiple awards for teaching excellence. His teaching focused on tax, financial and managerial accounting at the undergraduate and graduate level.
In his long career at DePaul, Roberts was involved in helping prepare thousands of students for the CPA exam. After taking the CPA review course at DePaul, he received an Elija Watt Sells Honorable Mention from the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants for his performance on the CPA exam. He went on to teach in the DePaul CPA Review for more than 30 years, and has written questions that have appeared on the CPA exam.
Roberts holds a bachelor's degree in accountancy, summa cum laude, from Northern Illinois University. He received the Master of Science in Taxation, with distinction, from DePaul, graduating with the highest grade point average in his MST graduating class. He also holds an MBA in finance with distinction from DePaul. Roberts received the JD with honors, finishing No. 2 in his graduating class from the DePaul College of Law. On the IRS Special Enrollment Examination, he placed among the top 20 candidates tested in the nation for the year that he took the exam.
Before coming to academia, he worked briefly as a revenue agent for the IRS and in industry as a tax accountant and assistant tax manager. He has also done tax training for a large CPA firm and tax consulting.
Roberts's articles have appeared in a variety of publications including Tax Notes, The Journal of Taxation, Strategic Finance, The Tax Executive, Challenge, The CPA Journal, State Tax Notes, TAXES—The Tax Magazine, The Journal of Family Law, Personal Financial Planning, ICPAS Newsjournal, The Review of Taxation of Individuals, Taxation for Accountants and Accounting Today. In addition, he has written commentary pieces that have been published in various newspapers around the country.