Professor Eric Chan teaches Managerial Accounting (ACC 312H) for the Business Honors Program at UT – the second class in the introduction to accounting sequence. Chan’s schooling has brought him around the world: from his hometown in the bustling city of Hong Kong, to grade school in England, undergraduate studies at The University of Maryland, Ph.D. studies at The University of Pittsburgh, and finally to his professorship at The University of Texas at Austin.
This semester is Dr. Chan’s third semester at McCombs, and he currently teaches three sections of BHP classes. Chan enjoys that managerial accounting focuses on a company’s management structure, with a strong focus on behavioral elements, as opposed to a focus on strict financial structure. Chan finds it very fulfilling to see young students evolve as they learn, and grasp more in-depth concepts within the material he teaches.
Dr. Chan loves teaching, but it is not all that he has done. After graduating from The University of Maryland with his bachelor’s degree in Accounting and Finance, Chan received his Certified Public Accounting license and worked as a senior auditor for Ernst and Young for four years. While he saw his department as incredibly important for the health of a business from an audit perspective, Chan ultimately did not see himself pursuing this path decades in the future. Instead, Chan desired a path of further learning, achieved through academia. This inspired him to attend The University of Pittsburgh where he received his Ph.D. in Accounting, allowing him to explore different fields of accounting and economics.
In addition to teaching, Dr. Chan spends much of his time conducting research on behavioral and experimental economics, performance management and evaluation, and promotions and incentives. Chan says that he is most proud of his dissertation paper that he wrote while pursuing his Ph.D. The paper, titled “Promotion, relative performance information, and the Peter Principle,” focuses on how employers make promotion decisions differently depending on relative information provided to workers. In fact, Chan was honored with the Best Dissertation Award of his 2016 Management Accounting Section, and he hopes that he will be able to publish his findings soon.
After teaching at The University of Pittsburgh, Chan took a leap and moved to Texas to become an assistant professor at McCombs due to its stellar #1 Accounting department, the distinguished professor colleagues, and the unprecedented access to research UT provides. When asked about long-term plans, Chan said that he does envision himself at UT in 40 or 50 years’ time, believing that he will still love accounting as the practice changes over time.
Dr. Chan loves discussing all things accounting and economics, so stop by his office hours (even if you’re not in his class!) on TTH 2:30-4:00pm at CBA 4M.234. If you want to get to know Dr. Chan a little bit better, but already understand the fundamentals of managerial accounting, consider asking him the following questions:
- What is your favorite type of music, modern and old-school? (note: Dr. Chan likes to begin class with nostalgic early-2000’s music)
- Out of the many places you have lived, where has been your favorite?
- If you could have an alternative career, what would it be?