When Professor John Simon joined the NIU College of Business in 1973, the pre-internet business world was much different than it is now. Pencils, erasers, manually constructed workpapers and adding machines were the tools used to produce and audit financial statements. The principles and standards for financial reporting, as well as the technology used to prepare and audit financial statements, have evolved over his decades of instruction, and Simon has proudly held the title of resident financial reporting and accounting expert for both for-profit, and nonprofit and governmental organizations.
“Back then, I was looking at this as a two- or three-year job. I was thinking, ‘I’ll take it year by year, and see where it goes,” Simon said with a smile.
Over the last five decades, Simon held the Coopers & Lybrand LLP Professorship from 1992-1997 (before the merger with Price Waterhouse). He served as the director of our Master in Accounting Science (MAS) degree program for many years and as the director of the NIU CPA Review Program from 1980 to 1990. He taught in our NIU CPA Review program from 1976 through 2005. His expertise and outstanding teaching were an anchor in the college’s early days, as the Department of Accountancy built its reputation for excellence.
In the 1980s and 1990s, NIU’s Department of Accountancy made waves with its incredible CPA pass rates, encouraged by Simon’s coordination of the CPA Review.
“From the late 1970s to the 2000s, we generally had about 150 students who came to the CPA Review classes. Some were from far away, even Iowa, and they came to an auditorium in Wirtz Hall,” Simon recalled. “There were two reviews — one for the NIU students and one for the general population.”
The course for NIU students was a three-hour accountancy elective that met three times a week for three hours each meeting. Simon taught most of the classes, but experts were brought in to teach specialized topics in business law, auditing, income tax and managerial accounting. In the class, exams were given that simulated all four parts of the CPA exam, and Simon saw his students’ CPA scores skyrocket as a result.
Simon said, “Back then, the CPA exam was a 19-and-a-half-hour exam given over three days that covered accounting theory and practice, auditing and business law. The simulated exams given in class were structured the same way as the real exam, and our students gained confidence that they could handle the time pressure and knowledge requirements needed to be successful on the real exam.”
“From 1983 through 1986, we had the No. 1 CPA pass rate in the United States, which was publicized in the Wall Street Journal in March of 1985,” Simon said. “Back then, the nation’s overall first-time pass rate was 10-15%, but NIU’s was close to 70%!” NIU students also received many Elijah Watts Sells Awards during the 1980s. These awards were national in scope and were given to students who passed all four parts of the CPA exam with scores no lower than 90% per part.
Simon said, “What was so astonishing about our students was that we usually had around 12-15 Elijah Watts Sells Award recipients each year. Nationally, only about 120 Elijah Watts Sells Awards were given for each exam, and we had more award winners than every other state in the nation.”
In the 1980s, John Wiley & Sons, a New York publishing company, published the No. 1 CPA textbook in the nation, and Professor Patrick Delaney, a member of our faculty, was the lead author on the text.
“Dr. Delaney asked me to contribute to his text in two ways—by writing text that covered financial accounting and reporting for governmental and nonprofit organizations and by developing simulated questions that covered these topics,” he said. Simon was also asked to write scripts that covered topics on the accounting practice and theory exams. These scripts were then produced by John Wiley & Sons on audio cassette tapes which were sold to the public.
“Back then, cars had cassette players, so I created tapes to help students with their review. Lots of people would sit in their cars or at their desks with the tapes playing. It helped them memorize what they needed to know,” he said. “With the textbook, I could see my own stuff in print, and people would give me good comments on it. Plus, it helped my teaching.”
While he officially retired in 2000, Simon has continued to teach financial accounting at both the undergraduate and graduate levels ever since, gaining nearly 52 years of experience at NIU. However, when he first began, Simon was unsure which career path he would take.
Growing up in Joliet, Illinois, Simon was asked to join the Honors Group at Joliet Catholic High School, where he learned two languages — Latin and German — and took advanced math and English courses.
“It was the late 1950s, and with the Russians launching Sputnik, there was a feeling that (America was) behind educationally in science. I had done very well my freshman year, so I was asked to be a part of this program at the expense of any extra time or electives during my school day,” he said.
However, Simon suffered a severe case of rheumatic fever as a sophomore, causing him to be homeschooled for one year. His medication caused him to develop a stomach problem that limited his diet to pureed foods.
“I wound up not being able to leave Joliet for college, so I went to Lewis University and majored in accounting,” he said.
Simon went on to earn his master’s degree from the University of Illinois in 1967, passing the CPA in 1966. He then worked as a CPA doing audit work in Joliet until 1969 while teaching accounting classes at Lewis University on the side and opening his own tax practice from his home.
“I was a teacher and a practitioner at the same time,” Simon said. “I had to make a decision — which career path was I going to choose? Should I be a CPA doing audits, a tax specialist with my own business or should I become a professor?”
In 1969, Simon applied for the Ph.D. program at University of Illinois, wanting to give teaching a shot.
“I figured, if it doesn’t work out, I have these two other paths I can do,” he said, “but once I got to the point where I was in the program for two years, I was 100% invested in teaching.”
Prior to coming to NIU, Simon had seven years of collegiate teaching experience at Lewis University, Illinois State University and University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.
“I liked teaching because I was helping people,” he said. “In all of accounting, you’re helping people in different ways. But in teaching accounting, you can see the way you’re helping people easier because you’re helping people start their careers. I could share my knowledge with people, but I didn’t lose it, I kept it. So, it’s a gift I can give while keeping it. And it’s fun to see them reach out and say I’m having a good career.”
Simon is quick to note that the accountancy faculty and staff have made a difference in his career.
“We have a good faculty that is very collegial. We don’t seem to have cliques,” he said. “Some universities have a lot of egos, where people think they’re doing better than others, and there is not as much of that here. Our department has more of a team feeling.”
After his long career, Simon has a unique insight into how business students have changed over time.
“Even though we thought the ’70s and ’80s were moving quickly, they were nothing like they are today,” he said. “I think people now are less focused for long time periods, so you have to be aware of that when you’re teaching. You have to vary how you teach. You cannot just lecture, so I try to bring in lots more life experiences and stories and make up examples of things we are covering.”
And while time brings change, some things never do. For instance, Simon’s accountancy colleagues and students still rely on him to bring knowledge and passion to the classroom.
“John is someone who is so committed to his work,” said Department of Accountancy Chair Brad Cripe. “He has put his heart into his teaching, both in the classroom and in the CPA Review Program. We have been so fortunate to have John’s leadership and dedication for more than five decades, and this kind of outstanding devotion to our students is what the College of Business is all about. We want to thank John for all he has done for countless Huskies throughout the years.
