Benjamin C. Ayers, director of UGA’s J.M. Tull School of Accounting, has been named to the Earl Davis Chair in Taxation.
Ayers is the first professor to be appointed to the position, which reached its goal of a $2 million endowment in 2008 and was approved as a new faculty chair by the board of regents this spring.
“Ben Ayers is recognized nationally for his research in taxation and is well known for his teaching and service as director of the Tull School of Accounting,” said Robert T. Sumichrast, dean of the Terry College of Business. “He will continue to enhance the University of Georgia as a scholar and educator, in keeping with the legacy of Dr. Davis’ outstanding reputation.”
Ayers was named director of the Tull School in 2005 and is the sixth person to hold the title of director since the school was founded in 1977.
He joined the faculty of the Tull School in 1996, after completing his doctoral degree at the University of Texas. He received his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in accounting from the University of Alabama and has worked as a tax consultant.
An expert in taxation, Ayers is one of only two professors nationally to have been awarded both the American Accounting Association’s Competitive Manuscript Award and American Taxation Association’s Outstanding Manuscript Award, which he has won twice.