Robert J. Freeman, Ph.D., CPA

Robert J. Freeman, Ph.D., CPA, is the Distinguished Professor of Accounting at Texas Tech University. He was a member of the Governmental Accounting Standards Board (GASB) from 1990-2000, and served as Vice Chairman during 1998-2000.. He frequently addresses regional and national meetings of governmental finance officers, public accountants, and accounting educators and has contributed numerous articles to professional journals such as The Journal of Accountancy, The Government Accountants Journal, Government Finance Review, Accounting Horizons, and International Journal of Governmental Auditing. He is the principal co-author (with Craig D. Shoulders) of Governmental and Nonprofit Accounting: Theory and Practice, 7th Edition, Revised (Prentice-Hall, Inc., 2003).

Dr. Freeman serves as an advisor to the Governmental Finance Officers Association (GFOA) Committee on Accounting, Auditing and Financial Reporting and as a member of the International Federation of Accountants (IFAC) Public Sector Committee (PSC) Consultative Group. He also has served as a governmental accounting advisor to several federal and state agencies, local governments, and public accounting firms. A charter member of the National Council on Governmental Accounting, he headed the NCGA GAAFR Restatement Task Force that led to NCGA Statement 1, Governmental Accounting and Financial Reporting Principles. He also served on the AICPA Government Accounting and Auditing Committee and as an Academic Fellow at the GASB, where he managed the codification of NCGA and AICPA pronouncements recognized as GAAP by GASB Statement 1 into the first GASB Codification of Governmental Accounting and Financial Reporting Standards. Prior to his appointment to the GASB, he served on several GASB task forces and as a member of the Governmental Accounting Standards Advisory Council (GASAC).

Dr. Freeman received the B.S. degree from Louisiana Tech University and the M.B.A. and Ph.D. degrees from the University of Arkansas. His professional affiliations include the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, American Accounting Association, Association of Government Accountants, and Government Finance Officers Association.