Cynthia Turner
Background
Cynthia W. Turner serves on the leadership team at Fisher as the associate dean of access, engagement and outreach and has become a widely sought-after facilitator and guest speaker on the topics of inclusive leadership and inclusive teaching and learning.
After joining Fisher in 2013 as a senior lecturer of accounting, she developed the award-winning Project THRIVE program, a diversity initiative designed to increase representation within the undergraduate accounting and management information systems department. In 2018, she was honored with Ohio State’s Distinguished Diversity Enhancement Award for her success in doubling the diversity within the undergraduate program in two short years.
In 2019, Dr. Cynthia Turner joined the leadership team at The Ohio State University Fisher College of Business as assistant dean and chief diversity officer where she was responsible for creating, leading, and executing the college's strategy for inclusive excellence. Cynthia’s strategic efforts helped double external funding for scholarships and inclusive initiatives; facilitated the development of a formal partnership with the city of Columbus to support pre-collegiate programming for its underserved and first-generation high school students; developed programming to engage Fisher’s diverse alumni, including the Alumni of Color Network Weekend and the Women’s Leadership Symposium; and created a new inclusive leadership course offering at Fisher. In her current role as associate dean, Cynthia continues to advance Fisher’s inclusive excellence initiatives while overseeing the coordination of access, engagement and outreach programs for important Fisher stakeholders.
Cynthia has an MA and PhD in accounting from The Ohio State University Fisher College of Business and a BS in accounting from North Carolina A&T State University in Greensboro, NC. She was the first African American woman to earn a PhD in accounting at Ohio State and the first African American woman to be appointed to serve on the leadership team at Fisher in 2019. In 2023, she was nationally recognized with a lifetime achievement award for advancing equity and inclusion throughout her career.
Cynthia spent 17 years on the faculty of the Department of Accountancy at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where she began as an assistant professor and was the associate director of the department’s undergraduate program. Cynthia is also an award-winning educator who teaches courses in cost accounting and information systems in the undergraduate program, as well as to graduate and executive education students at Fisher. As a researcher, Cynthia's scholarly work has been published in the Journal of Accounting Research and the International Journal of Accounting. Prior to beginning her academic career, Cynthia was a practicing accountant at EY.
Cynthia currently sits on the boards of the Big Brothers Big Sisters of Central Ohio and Women for Economic and Leadership Development. Cynthia is a certified public accountant (inactive) and member of the American Accounting Association, the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, and the National Association of Black Accountants.
AWARDS
- The Ohio Society of CPAs 2023 Power of Change Honoree
- Kenneth Bouyer Difference Maker in Diversity Award, Business School Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Collaborative, 2023
- Lifetime Achievement Award in Institutional Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, Academy of the Diamonds Awards, 2023
- EY Excellence in Teaching Award (MAcc Program), Fisher College of Business, The Ohio State University 2018-2019
- Distinguished Diversity Enhancement Award, The Ohio State University, 2018
- Undergraduate Service Award, Fisher College of Business, The Ohio State University, 2018
- Outstanding Faculty Award, Residence Halls Advisory Council, The Ohio State University, 2014
- Included (every semester) on List of Teachers Ranked as Excellent, University of Illinois, 2006-2009, 2012
- Outstanding Teaching Award for Small Classes, College of Business Council, 2002
Areas of Expertise
Accounting- Cost Accounting
- Financial Accounting
- Managerial Accounting
- Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in the Workplace
Education
- PhD, The Ohio State University
- MA, The Ohio State University
- BS, North Carolina A&T State University
Publications
- Cases in Financial Accounting. First Edition (Pearson Publishing, 2013), with J. Shapland.
- Shear Madness (McGraw-Hill/Irwin; Primis/Create, 2010), with J. Shapland.
- Turner, Cynthia and A. Ganguly. “Discussion of Arnold, Bernardi, and Neidermeyer: The Association between European Materiality Estimates and Client Integrity, National Culture and Litigation.” International Journal of Accounting. 36.4 (2001): 485-490.
- Turner, Cynthia. “Accountability Demands and the Auditor's Evidence Search Strategy: The Influence of Reviewer Preferences and the Nature of the Response.” Journal of Accounting Research. 2001.
Courses
- ACCTMIS 3300 - Cost Accounting
- Managerial decision making in organizations with an emphasis on the use of financial data; theory and practice of management control. Prereq: 2300 (212), BusMgt 2320 (330), 2321 (331), and BusMHR 2292 (BusAdm 499.01); or permission of instructor. Not open to students with credit for 525.
- ACCTMIS 6000 - Management & Control
- Fundamental role of uncertainty, risk and private information in accounting; emphasis on managerial decisions and control problems in organizations. Prereq: Enrollment in Master of Accounting Program. Not open to students with credit for 803.
- ACCTMIS 1200 - Project THRIVE Accounting Gigs
- An examination of the role of accounting in organizations and society, accounting fundamentals, careers in accounting and the professional skills required for success. Prereq: Enrollment in Project THRIVE program, or permission of instructor.