Prof. Katherine SCHIPPER, Duke University 

Prof. Katherine Schipper is the Thomas F. Keller Professor of Business Administration at Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business. Prof. Schipper holds a BA degree summa cum laude from the University of Dayton, MBA, MA and PhD degrees from the University of Chicago and honorary degrees from Notre Dame University, the Norwegian School of Economics, the Stockholm School of Economics and the Singapore Management University. Prior to joining Duke University’s faculty, she was a Board member of the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB). She has also been a faculty member at Carnegie Mellon University and the University of Chicago. 

Prof. Schipper has published research papers on topics in financial reporting, corporation finance and corporate governance. She is a frequent speaker on matters related to international accounting convergence, financial reporting standard setting and financial reporting quality. She has been named the American Accounting Association’s Outstanding Educator and Distinguished International Lecturer, and has been elected to the Accounting Hall of Fame. She has served the American Accounting Association as Director of Research, as President and as President of the Financial Accounting and Reporting Section. She has served the International Association for Accounting Education and Research as Vice President-Research and she is currently serving as President. She is or has been a member of the governing boards of two public companies, a mutual fund and a not-for-profit entity.

Prof. Qiang CHENG, Singapore Management University

Prof. Qiang Cheng is Dean and Lee Kong Chian Chair Professor of Accounting at School of Accountancy at the Singapore Management University.  He joined Singapore Management University in 2011 as the Associate Dean (Research) at School of Accountancy. Prof. Cheng graduated from Tsinghua University, Beijing and received his PhD in the University of Wisconsin-Madison, US in 2002.  He has previously taught at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, the University of British Columbia, and the University of Washington. 

An award-winning researcher and teacher, Prof. Cheng has published over thirty articles in leading scholarly accounting and finance journals, including The Accounting Review, Journal of Accounting Research, Journal of Accounting and Economics, and Journal of Financial Economics. He conducts research on various financial reporting and disclosure issues, including how corporate governance and family ownership affect corporate decisions, how investors use accounting information for valuation purposes, how executives affect financial reporting and disclosure decisions for their self-interests, and how security analysts help disseminate information in the capital markets. His current research focuses on the impact of digitalization on corporate decisions and ESG-related disclosure issues.