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Sean Hillison

Assistant Professor
Sean Hillison
3087 Pamplin (0101)
880 West Campus Drive
Blacksburg, VA 24061

Education

Ph.D., University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Specialization

auditing and financial accounting

Biography

Sean Hillison, Ph.D., CPA, is an assistant professor in the Department of Accounting and Information Systems. Dr. Hillison’s research interests include judgment and decision-making in auditing. His research, including studies on how management disclosure behavior affects auditors’ judgments and how auditors can better uncover corporate fraud, is published in Journal of Accounting Research and Contemporary Accounting Research. Dr. Hillison serves on the editorial board of Current Issues in Auditing, a scholarly journal devoted to advancing the dialogue between academics and audit practitioners. His academic honors include the 2021 Auditing Section Midyear Conference Best Paper with a Ph.D. Student Award and a Center for Audit Quality Access to Audit Personnel Grant.

Dr. Hillison joined the Pamplin College of Business in fall of 2017 after completing his doctoral studies at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He also holds a Master’s Degree and a Bachelor’s Degree in Accounting, both from the University of Florida. Prior to entering academia, Dr. Hillison practiced for nine years in Ernst & Young’s South Florida assurance group where he most recently served as an audit senior manager to various SEC registrants and private equity-controlled companies.