Accounting and Risk Advisory and Assurance Advisory Boards

Members of Albers' Risk Advisory and Assurance Advisory Boards are composed of top professionals from blue-chip companies, as well as leading academics with deep knowledge of this specialist field.

  1. Albers School of Business & Economics
  2. Departments
  3. Department of Accounting
  4. Accounting and Risk Advisory and Assurance Advisory Boards
An aerial view of Seattle's buildings downtown

Fusing Academic Rigor with Professional Expertise

Both the Albers’ Accounting Advisory Board and the Risk Advisory and Assurance Board play pivotal roles in bridging academics and real-world practice at Seattle University. Our boards, comprised of experienced professionals and accredited scholars, provide strategic guidance to ensure our curriculum remains cutting-edge and our students are career-ready. Their collective expertise and insight are vital to our mission of preparing ethical, inclusive, and innovative leaders to meet the exciting challenges of the accounting profession head-on. 

Accounting and Risk Advisory & Assurance Boards

Justin Nikbakhsh (Chair)
VP, Financial Operations
Weyerhaeuser

Angela Bever
Senior Manager
Deloitte

Lisa Cooke
Principal
Clark Nuber

Zahra Hirani
Former Senior Director/CFO
Boeing Capital Corporation

Sheila Lozan
Sole Proprietor of CPA Firm/Program Chair
Bellevue College

Stephen McDonald
Senior Tax Manager
Amazon

Carlene Merlino
Managing Director, Assurance
PricewaterhouseCoopers

Kelsey Reynolds
Managing Director, Audit 
KPMG

Michelle Steffin
Former EVP, Accounting
Tattooed Chef

Pooja Sund
Engineering Finance Leader
Microsoft

Li Tan
Global Corporate Controller
Shape Technologies

Niranjan Chipalkatti
Chair, Accounting Department
Seattle University

Joseph Phillips, Jr.
Dean, Albers School of Business & Economics
Seattle University

Brian Foster (Chair)
Consulting Partner
ServiceNow

Austin Bailey
Internal Auditor - CPA
Russell Investments

Timothy Boyle
Founding Partner, Chief Compliance Officer
The Boyle Group Wealth Management

John Clements
Partner, Pacific NW Risk Assurance Leader
PwC

Syeda Iram Jafry
Senior Manager
PwC

Usama Jamaal
Director, Audit Programs
Alaska Airlines

Michael Kinsley
Senior Program Manager
T-mobile

Steve Mar
Director
Intraprise TechKnowlogies LLC

Annette Mumford
SVP &Chief Audit Officer
HomeStreet Bank

David Niess
Senior Manager, Internal Audit
Premera Blue Cross

Nitin Nigam
Director - Risk Consulting
RSM US LLP

Shillpa Pai Ivanick
Partner
Deloitte

Vijayant Sitani
Chief Audit Executive
Paccar

Jennifer Yang
Information Technology Internal Auditor
Costco

Dennis Applegate
Assistant Clinical Professor
Seattle University

Niranjan Chipalkatti
Chair, Accounting
Seattle University

Joseph Philips, Jr.
Dean
Seattle University

Gabriel Saucedo
Associate Professor
Seattle University

Sarah M. Bee
Professor Emerita 
Seattle University

Jerry Vergeront
Associate Vice President & Information Security Officer
Seattle University