Featured Faculty: Wendy Donohoe
This year’s featured faculty is Wendy Donohoe. The following is her message:
Greetings to all our readers!
It’s a pleasure to write to all of you- so many of whom were my students. This is my 21st year teaching at Santa Clara University and I still truly love my work here.
My career in accounting started here in Santa Clara University’s MBA program. I graduated in 1978 and worked at Intel in internal audit, then Deloitte in Audit- and then decided to accept an offer from then Main Hurdman (now KPMG) to begin a career in taxation. I earned a Masters in Taxation from Golden Gate University in 1988. By 1984, when our son was born, I was asked to be the CFO of a family business in San Francisco- a position I still hold to this day.
As that business transitioned to from an active to a passive business model, I made a decision to look into teaching accounting. I taught at Evergreen Valley College and San Jose State University before being offered a teaching position here at SCU. While the main classes I teach now are Intro to Managerial Accounting and Personal Financial Planning- I’ve taught our Financial Accounting, Auditing and Taxation classes as well. I also developed meaningful curriculum for Accounting Interns very soon after my arrival here, and have been the Director of Academic Internships for the Department for 19 years.
Perhaps one of the more unique elements of my role here at SCU is that I also serve and was a founding member of the Drahmann Academic Advising Center. It’s been in this role as University Advisor that I have come to truly understand a “student point of view”, and that has made a very positive difference in the way I teach. It has also educated me as to how students- and especially Accounting majors-can leverage different programs throughout the University as second majors, or a major with complimentary minors. I believe my training here has delivered real value added to our students.
I’ve been truly blessed to have had such meaningful experience in so many areas of the accounting profession. It helps me to understand the many opportunities that can be possible for our students and to work with them in developing their best and most meaningful outcomes. Teaching at Santa Clara University has provided me the perfect, full circle experience for my career; I am so very grateful!