Kevin earned his PhD in Business Administration with a focus in Accounting from Haas School of Business at University of California, Berkeley. He received an MBA with distinction from NYU Stern School of Business and a Bachelor of Economics from Peking University. Kevin was an assistant professor of accounting at the University of Toronto and University of California Riverside before joining Santa Clara. Prior to joining academia, Kevin worked as a Senior Associate at PricewaterhouseCoopers in Beijing, Credit Analyst at WestLB AG in New York, and Equity Research Analyst at Barclays Global Investors in San Francisco. Kevin was a member of the Beta Gamma Sigma Honor Society. He passed the CFA Exam Level III and was a member of Chinese Institute of Certified Public Accountants.
Kevin Li’s research focuses on earnings persistence, earnings forecast, cost of capital, regulations and disclosure, accounting based valuation, and role of sell-side security analysts. More generally, he is interested in how accounting information is disseminated, evaluated and utilized by users like retail investors, institutional investors, and security analysts. His research has been published in top journals, including Journal of Accounting and Economics, The Accounting Review, Review of Accounting Studies, and Contemporary Accounting Research. His research has also received wide coverage from renowned news outlets, such as Bloomberg, CNBC, and New York Times. Kevin serves on the Editorial Boards of Review of Accounting Studies and The International Journal of Accounting.
Kevin’s teaching mainly focuses on financial accounting where he is able to take advantage of his previous work experience as an auditor and research analyst. He also frequently incorporates the findings from his research into teaching and provokes students to think independently. During the 2020-21 academic year, Kevin will be teaching Intermediate Accounting I and II (ACTG 130 and 131).
Kevin is married to Grace Zhang. Grace works for a hedge fund in Foster City. They live in Cupertino with their two children, Anya and Andrew. Kevin is an avid runner. He has competed in several half-marathon and marathon races. Anya has been a committed synchronized swimmer since the age of six. She is now a member of Santa Clara Aquamaids. Andrew enjoys reading and debate. He has also competed in several running races and junior triathlon races.