The Department of Accounting is pleased to announce that Anthony “Tony” Menendez joined LMU this fall as the inaugural George A. Dasaro Clinical Assistant Professor of Accounting. Tony teaches auditing and fraud examination courses, two areas in which he has extensive experience. His other research and teaching interests include business ethics.
Tony is best known as the “Accountant Who Beat Halliburton” and is widely recognized for his decade-long legal battle with the oil giant as a corporate whistleblower under Sarbanes-Oxley. Despite having no formal legal training, he prevailed in the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals as a pro-se litigant. His case has resulted in significantly increased protections for all corporate whistleblowers. In September 2015, Tony visited LMU as part of the Dreier Chair in Accounting Ethics Distinguished Speaker Series to share events leading up to the investigation and what it took to fight against a powerful organization.
“My visit to LMU was an incredibly rewarding experience and it inspired me to become a professor,” said Menendez. “The engagement of the LMU faculty and students was especially gratifying and the focus on leadership and ethics at LMU stood out. I am incredibly excited to join the accounting faculty and become a permanent member of the LMU family!”
Tony’s new title honors longtime accounting professor George Dasaro ’63, who passed away in 2017 after 40 years of service. With direction from George himself, the George A. Dasaro Endowed Fund in Accounting was established to provide financial resources to ensure that the programmatic quality he helped build remains strong for generations to come.
“I am delighted to share that the Professor George A. Dasaro Endowed Fund in Accounting has reached an important milestone of $500K,” said Dayle Smith, dean of the College of Business Administration. “We want to see that endowment continue to grow, but that level allows us to put the earnings of the fund to good use and hire outstanding faculty members like Tony.”
Tony brings nearly 25 years of professional experience to LMU. He most recently served as a litigation consultant, speaker and writer for the Financial Fraud Examiner LLC. Tony has also held senior positions in both the public and private sectors. He is the former controller of U.S. sales, service and marketing with General Motors; director of technical accounting research and training with Halliburton; and audit senior manager with Ernst & Young. He is a certified public accountant and certified fraud examiner.
A native of Texas, Tony earned a master’s degree in accounting from Texas A&M University-Commerce and a bachelor’s degree in accounting from the University of Houston. In 2017, he received the Accounting Exemplar Award from the American Accounting Association for notable contributions to professionalism and ethics in accounting.
