PhD
Accounting
Students in MIT Sloan’s Accounting research group are encouraged to transcend traditional accounting boundaries by integrating comprehensive knowledge of economics and finance into their studies on contemporary financial reporting, disclosure, and contractual issues. The group’s rigorous curriculum, which includes seminars in accounting and finance, equips students with the economic acumen akin to that of MIT Sloan’s Finance PhD candidates. Leveraging the expertise of distinguished faculty members like Michelle Hanlon, whose research focuses on taxation and its intersection with financial accounting, S.P. Kothari, known for his contributions to finance and accounting, and Andrew Sutherland, who explores regulatory impacts on audit markets, students engage with cutting-edge research that is highly relevant to academics, practitioners, and standard setters.
Research from Accounting Faculty
Breaking Barriers, Building Impact: One Alumna's Path from Software Engineer to Executive Leader
Anita Carleton, MIT EMBA ’18 and Division Director at Carnegie Mellon University’s Software Engineering Institute, shares how the MIT EMBA transformed her leadership approach, accelerated her career, and prepared her to lead national software engineering, cybersecurity, and AI initiatives in support...
The 10 principles of finance
With technology and policy developments roiling finance, it’s a good time to revisit the fundamentals. Here are 10 core concepts from MIT Sloan Nobel laureate Robert C. Merton and co-authors.
Achieve big value with smaller AI efforts
Organizations see success by starting with smaller AI transformations. Aiming for incremental value builds a foundation for sustainable results.
Top 10 Alumni Stories of 2025
In 2025, the MIT Sloan alumni community stayed busy finding a cure to pediatric brain cancer, publishing new research on leadership, and more.
Select Accounting Faculty
Full-Time Faculty
Paul Asquith
Gordon Y Billard Professor of Finance
Paul Asquith is the Gordon Y Billard Professor of Finance and a Professor of Finance at the MIT Sloan School of Management. Asquith is a specialist in corporate finance and a media source for the field of corporate finance and control, including…
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John E. Core
Nanyang Technological University Professor of Accounting
John E. Core is the Nanyang Technological University Professor and a Professor of Accounting at the MIT Sloan School of Management. Core has broad research interests in executive compensation and executive stock and option incentives, corporate…
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Michelle Hanlon
Deputy Dean for Faculty and Research
Michelle Hanlon is the Howard W. Johnson Professor, a Professor of Accounting, and Deputy Dean for Faculty and Research at the MIT Sloan School of Management Hanlon’s primary teaching at Sloan is the Taxes and Business Strategy class. She has won…
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S.P. Kothari
Gordon Y Billard Professor of Accounting and Finance
S.P. Kothari is Gordon Y Billard Professor of Accounting and Finance at MIT’s Sloan School of Management. Professor Kothari has senior executive experience in government, academia, and industry with expertise in strategic and policy issues,…
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Example PhD Thesis Topics
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Gabriel Voelcker (2024)
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Rachel Yoon (2023)
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Samuel Anderson (2022)
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Brian Baik (2022)
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Ki-Soon Choi (2022)