Dr. Khondkar Karim (at right) with his family – (from left) wife Sayeda Yasmin-Karim, an MD, PhD and Radiation Oncology Researcher at Harvard Medical School; daughter Moureen, a sell-side fixed income security analyst on Wall Street and son Mahvi, a high school senior headed for the computer science program at the University of Maryland.

Dr. Khondkar Karim has had a powerful and far-reaching impact on the accounting profession through his research. The influential MSU alumnus approaches his work with the goal of its having practical benefits.

“I always keep in mind that the value of the research depends heavily on the application of the study,” he comments. “I define practical implications as having impact on policy makers, standard setters, analysts and academicians.”

That it does. One example is the U.S. General Accounting Office’s use of his research on the impact of regulatory change on accounting numbers for a report on the Dodd-Frank Act. Among his latest studies is an experimental project on the impact of artificial intelligence risk disclosure on auditors’ responsibility, a topic he recently presented in a webinar for the Center of Audit Quality. Other research areas include market based accounting, judgment decision making, corporate governance and accounting education.

Karim came to Mississippi State in 1991 after completing a BBA and MBA in accounting at Bangladesh’s University of Dhaka, followed by an MS in accounting at Eastern Michigan State. His EMU professors, who knew some of the MSU accounting faculty, had recommended Starkville as a good place for Karim to pursue his doctorate. Here, he focused on market based accounting.

He has served on the accounting faculties of Kentucky State University, Monmouth University, Long Island University-Post and Rochester Institute of Technology. In 2011, he joined the University of Massachusetts-Lowell, where he now serves as the Accounting Department Chair and a Professor. He has also been a Visiting Professor at the University of Glasgow, spending time in the summers supervising master’s level dissertations.

Karim has more than 80 papers and more than 100 conference proceedings to his credit. His studies have been published by the leading academic and professional peer reviewed journals, some of which include Accounting Organizations and Society, Behavioral Research in Accounting, Journal of Corporate Finance, Accounting Horizons, Journal of Accounting Auditing and Finance, Managerial Auditing Journal, Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting, Applied Financial Economics and Advances in Accounting Behavioral Research (AABR). He is now the editor of AABR.

As head of the accounting department at UMass-Lowell, Karim always strives to raise his division to the next level. He led the launch of a PhD accounting program in 2013 and chaired each of the first three students’ dissertation committees; currently, seven candidates are enrolled. Over the past year, he directed successful efforts to secure endorsements of the school’s accounting program by the U.S.-based Institute of Management Accountants (IMA) and the U.K.-based Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA). He also brings high profile professional figures – like AICPA President and CEO Barry Melancon and FASB board member Christine Ann Botosan – for a speaker series.

Despite the demands of his administrative and research roles, teaching never ceases to be a priority.

“I always want to make a difference in the lives of my students, and I always want to bring teaching innovation to the classroom,” states Karim, noting as an example that he spearheaded an initiative to implement data analytics throughout the curriculum.

He also makes time for professional service with the American Accounting Association, having recently completed a term as President of its Northeast Region.

Karim, a proud Bulldog, is profoundly grateful for the education and mentoring he received at Mississippi State. He especially notes Dr. Noel Addy, his dissertation chair, who was an influential and supportive guide; and Dr. Frances McNair, in whom he found a nurturing teacher and mentor.