DePaul Professor Honored as a “Powerful Woman in Accounting”

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DePaul University Associate Professor of Accountancy Kelly Richmond Pope has made the national list of the “2020 Most Powerful Women in Accounting” issued by the American Institute of CPAs and CPA Practice Advisor. An “academic all-star,” as DePaul Magazine calls her in its Fall 2020 issue, Pope teaches in DePaul’s School of Accountancy & MIS, part of the Driehaus College of Business.

Pope is an active leader in the accounting profession, known for her research in forensic accounting and fraud, which she shares with students. She produced two award-winning financial crime documentaries— “Crossing the Line: Ordinary People Committing Extraordinary Crimes” in 2012 and “All the Queen’s Horses” in 2017—that are used as educational tools in universities and corporations across the country.

Pope also appeared on the TEDxDePaulUniversity stage in 2017 to give her talk “How Whistle-Blowers Shape History,” which went viral and was ultimately selected to appear on the official TED Talk website. Then in 2019 she received a grant from the DePaul Academic Growth and Innovation Fund, which she used to create an e-learning platform called Red Flag Mania.

Launched earlier this year, Red Flag Mania is an innovative tool that provides an immersive game-based experience for students to learn about and detect fraud. Universities around the country have implemented it in their accounting courses and Pope has conducted several professional development workshops around the use of this tool.

“Kelly’s passion for her work is apparent in everything she does,” says Ray Whittington, director of the School of Accountancy & MIS. “It’s not surprising to us here at DePaul that she has received this honor. She makes a great impact on the professional community but she is also a brilliant professor who has made her mark at our university. We’ve very proud of her.”

“It’s such an honor to be the only academic represented on the list,” Pope says. “I’ve loved the field of accounting since I was 15 years old taking my first accounting class as a freshman in high school. To see my career come full circle like this makes my heart sing.”

The Most Powerful Women in Accounting Awards are given annually to women leaders who are making an impact on the profession and advancing the presence and influence of women in the accounting ranks. Pope is one of 25 women nationally to receive the 2020 award. See the full list of the 2020 award recipients here.

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