Directors

Barbara M. Porco
Executive Director for the Center for Professional Accounting Practices

Barbara M. Porco has been a member of the accounting faculty at Fordham University’s Gabelli School of Business for over twenty years. She currently holds the positions of Associate Dean of Graduate Studies and Managing Director of the Responsible Business Center (RBC). Throughout her career, she has received several prestigious awards, including the American Accounting Association’s Ethics in Accounting Excellence Award, the National Teaching Innovation Award from the American Accounting Association, and recognition as one of Poets & Quants’ 50 Best Undergraduate Business Professors.

In addition to her doctoral degree, Dr. Porco possesses a post-doctoral master’s degree in sustainability and environmental management, along with a corporate sustainability and innovation certification from Harvard University, and the Wharton ESG Executive Certificate for Senior Leaders. She actively serves on the AICPA’s Assurance Services Executive Committee (ASEC), the Sustainability Assurance and Advisory Task Force, and the GHG Protocol Corporate Standard Technical Working Group as the academic representative.

Prior to her academic positions, Dr. Porco was a Tax Director and audit supervisor in the financial service group at PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC). She is the author of the multiple award winning “KPMG Ethical Compass: Integrity in Business,” a multi-series package of interactive instructional material that enables college professors to present ethics-related topics in their classrooms, including sustainability issues. Additionally, Dr. Porco’s textbook, “Sustainability Reporting and Disclosures,” is set to be published by McGraw-Hill in late 2025.

Hye Seung (Grace) Lee
Director of Research for the Center for Professional Accounting Practices

Grace Lee is an associate professor at the Gabelli School of Business and the Edward M. Stroz and Sally Spooner Endowed Chair in Accounting. She joined Fordham University in 2015 and currently teaches financial accounting and managerial accounting at the undergraduate and graduate levels.

Dr. Lee’s research interests are mainly centered on the effects of firm-level organizational and economic characteristics on financial reporting outcomes, the effects of financial and tax reporting on capital markets, corporate governance, and family firms. Her research has been published in The Accounting Review; Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis; Journal of Accounting, Auditing, and Finance; Journal of Business Finance and Accounting; Journal of Accounting and Public Policy; Journal of Corporate Finance; and Accounting Horizons.

Kelly Ann Ulto
Director of Teaching for the Center for Professional Accounting Practices

Kelly Ann Ulto is a clinical assistant professor at the Gabelli School of Business. She is a Certified Public Accountant. A former senior manager at KPMG in the financial service sector, she now specializes in teaching and training in the audit area to financial service organizations and Big Four accounting firms. She is currently an external professor for KPMG’s audit practice and serves as the master instructor for their national new hire audit training. She has received various awards and recognition for her teaching and serves as the faculty adviser for Fordham University’s chapter of Beta Alpha Psi. She is an active member of the AICPA and sits on various committees related to the CPA exam. She holds an MBA from Iona College and a BS from Fordham University.

Lonnie Kussin
Administrative Officer

Lonnie Kussin is the Senior Assistant Dean for the Gabelli School of Business in the Graduate Advising and Student Engagement Office.  Prior to Fordham, he worked as an account executive in the sports industry for the New York Islanders and later as a consultant for the Yankees Radio Network.  He recently completed his Educational Doctorate at Fordham's Graduate School of Education and holds an MBA from Fordham University and a BS from Cornell University.