A noted expert on financial accounting and reporting, Thomas Linsmeier served for ten years as a member of the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB), which is responsible for establishing U.S. Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP).
FASB and SEC roles
As a member of the FASB, Professor Linsmeier voted on many accounting standards updates, including the new standards on revenue recognition, leases, and the measurement of credit losses (referred to as CECL).
Prior to his tenure at FASB, Professor Linsmeier held roles as chair of the Financial Accounting Standards Committee of the American Accounting Association (AAA) and as academic fellow and special consultant to the Office of the Chief Accountant at the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
Expert engagements and Congressional testimony
Professor Linsmeier has served as an expert in matters involving segment reporting and the consolidation of variable interest entities (VIE). He has also testified about derivatives, risk management, and other financial accounting matters at Congressional hearings.
Research on financial instruments, derivatives, and risk management
Professor Linsmeier is a prominent scholar in the areas of accounting for financial instruments, derivatives, risk management, and other standard setting issues. Professor Linsmeier’s articles have been published in leading journals, including The Accounting Review, the Journal of Accounting Research, the Review of Accounting Studies, Contemporary Accounting Research, and Management Science.
Academic appointments and American Accounting Association leadership
An award-winning educator, Professor Linsmeier previously chaired the Department of Accounting and Information Systems at Michigan State University. He has held professorial appointments at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and the University of Iowa.
Professor Linsmeier is a former president of the AAA Financial Accounting and Reporting section. The AAA has honored him with its Outstanding Accounting Educator Award.