CPE Instructors

Robert E. Barnhill III, JD, CPA, PFS, CFP

Mr. Barnhill is an attorney, certified public accountant, personal financial specialist and Certified Financial Planner® who practices in the Estate and Retirement Planning areas. He is also an adjunct professor at Texas Tech University in the Personal Financial Planning Department and conducts training sessions for various professional associations throughout the United States.

He holds the Toastmasters International Accredited Speakers designation for platform excellence and was named by the AICPA as the 1991-1992 Outstanding Discussion Leader for Texas. He was the 1996-1997 International President for Toastmasters International, a Past President of the West Texas Chapter of the Financial Planning Association and a member of the American Bar Association, AICPA and the National Speakers Association.

Dennis P. Benvie, MS, CPA

Dennis Benvie is a managing member of Surgent McCoy CPE, LLC. He has been instructing continuing professional education seminars for 18 years. He incorporates real-life examples and historical perspective to interpret tax concepts. He consistently receives high evaluations for knowledge and presentation skills, and has been recognized as The Outstanding Discussion Leader of the Year, awarded by the state of Indiana.

Prior to becoming a member partner of Surgent McCoy CPE, LLC, Dennis spent 15 years as a partner with a local Cincinnati CPA firm. He has 27 years of public accounting experience specializing in tax, accounting, and management advisory for closely held businesses and individuals. His background also includes association with a tax attorney's office and instructing accounting classes as adjunct accounting faculty of local state universities.

Mr. Benvie is a graduate of Miami ( Ohio) University, degree in Accountancy, and has also earned a Masters of Science in Taxation degree from the University of Cincinnati.

Andy Biebl, CPA

Andy Biebl is a principal in LarsonAllen LLP in New Ulm, Minnesota. Biebl has authored or been a contributing author for several tax publications for the American Institute of CPAs and Practitioner’s Publishing Company. He has extensive experience with agricultural taxation and has spoken at national agribusiness conferences on farm taxation issues. Biebl authors a monthly tax column in Progressive Farmer, a national farm magazine, and has testified before the U.S. Senate Ag Committee on taxation issues. As part of the LarsonAllen Agribusiness Group, they are involved authoring releases for Farm Tax Network, an email subscription service for accountants covering farm tax developments.

Michael D. Blackburn, J.D., CPA

Michael Blackburn is a shareholder in the Salt Lake City law firm of Blackburn & Stoll, LC where his practice focuses on tax planning, tax litigation, estate planning and general corporate work.

Mr. Blackburn served as president of the Utah Association of CPAs (“UACPA”) in 1999-2000, after having served as chairman of numerous UACPA committees and as a member of its Board of Directors for nine years. He serves as a current member of the Utah State Board of Accountancy. Mr. Blackburn served for five years as a Member of Counsel of the AICPA and for two years on the joint AICPA/NASBA Task Force on the Uniform Accountancy Act. He was selected as Utah’s Outstanding CPA in 1997 and was awarded the UACPA’s Distinguished Service Award in 2000.

Mr. Blackburn has also been active in legal activities having served as the Co-Chairman of Utah’s Task Force on Multidisciplinary Practice and as Chairman of the Estate Planning Section of the Utah State Bar. He was elected as a Fellow of the American College of Trust and Estate Council in 1991.

Mr. Blackburn is a frequent instructor who has taught more than 700 courses spread over more than 140 cities in 43 states during the last 15 years. He is a two-time winner of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants Outstanding Instructor Award, and various other teaching awards. He is a part-time faculty member at the University of Utah where he teaches courses on individual income taxation, tax strategies and tax controversy resolution. Mr. Blackburn has authored two books on estate and financial planning, has drafted several pieces of legislation, and has written numerous published articles and papers on a variety of legal and tax topics.

Fred M. Christensen, MBA, CPA

Fred Christensen is an accounting instructor at Boise State University. He has been a member of the faculty for 25 years teaching introductory, intermediate, governmental accounting and auditing. His most recent experience has been participating in the redesign of the introductory accounting classes. The accounting department received a grant from the National Center for Academic Transformation (NCAT) to partially fund the redesign. This is the first time that NCAT has funded an accounting program redesign.

Fred is also partner with a local CPA firm in Boise, Idaho, where his responsibilities include audits of affordable housing projects, not-for-profit entities, and employee benefit plans. He has extensive experience in the affordable housing industry.

Fred enjoys the interaction with fellow professionals that instructing affords him, and acknowledges that through classroom discussion he always learns something new for his own practice. Seminar participants praise his ability to take governmental and not-for-profit accounting and auditing topics and make them interesting.

Fred currently serves on the Peer Review Committee of the Idaho Society of CPAs. He has also served on the Quality Review Oversight Committee for the Idaho State Board of Accounting. He is a member out of the AICPA. He graduated cum laude from now University of the Utah with a bachelor of science in accounting and also earned his MBA there.

Lucy H. Clark, EA, JP

Now retired from the IRS, Lucy Clark served as the Technical Advisor for the National Office on Passive Activity Income and Losses (section 469) for the Examination Specialization Program for 13 years. A frequent lecturer both inside and outside the Service, Lucy is known for her ability to transmit complex law in layman's language. She was with the Service for 29 years and held positions in the past as a Field Group Manager, Tax Shelter Coordinator, PSP Programs Coordinator, and Revenue Agent. She holds degrees in Business Administration and in Theology.

Lucy is the primary author of the Passive Activity Loss Guide, which is widely used by IRS Agents and Tax Compliance Officers, as well as the public. She has also written significant technical information on the interest tracing rules and investment interest expense. Additionally, Lucy authored portions of the IRS TEFRA text, partnership text, information on LLCs, and portions of numerous IRS training materials.

She served as a member on each of the teams, which revised Schedule K-1 for partnerships, S corporations and trusts.

She lives in New Hampshire, is married, has two adult sons, and raises hybrid daylilies in her spare time.

Don Paul Cochran, JD, CPA, CFP, CRC

Don Cochran is a solo practitioner in Apple Valley, Minnesota. His 30 years of practice has been focused primarily in the areas of small business legal and tax consulting, and individual tax, estate, and financial planning.

Don has practiced law in both Iowa and Minnesota, was a CPA with the Small and Emerging Business practice of then Big 8 accounting firm, Touche Ross, in Bloomington, Minnesota, and was the Vice President of Tax and CFO with various privately and publicly held companies. He also served as an advanced sales consultant with Securian Financial, Nationwide Financial, and Pacific Life Insurance Company. He developed and provided continuing education on tax and legal planning strategies for small to medium size businesses and wealthy individuals, and worked with insurance wholesalers and financial advisors to understand and implement financial strategies geared towards asset preservation and income in retirement.

Don earned his undergraduate degree, a Bachelor of Science in General Science, from the University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa, and graduated from the University of Iowa College of Law with his Juris Doctorate. In addition to being an attorney and Certified Public Accountant, he maintains his designations as a Certified Financial Planner® and Certified Retirement Counselor®. He is a member of the Minnesota and Iowa State Bar Associations, and the Minnesota Society of CPAs.

Diane S. Conant, CPA

Diane Conant is a partner of the firm Conant, Nelson & Conant, Ltd., CPA's in Las Vegas, Nevada. She directs all auditing, accounting, and quality control functions within the firm and conducts numerous quality and peer reviews. She received her Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration, majoring in accounting from Cleveland State University.

Ms. Conant has served as Trustee and Chairman of Nevada CPA Foundation for Education and Research, a member of the UNLV Accounting Advisory Council, NASBA's CPA Examination Review Board and NASBA's Critique Program Task Force. She also served as a member and President of the Nevada State Board of Accountancy, and as a member of the Board of Directors and Treasurer of the Nevada Society of CPA's. Ms. Conant has served as a member of the AICPA Audit Committee, Finance Committee, Effective Legislation Committee, and the Board of Directors of the AICPA.

Diane has served as Chairman of both the Nevada Society Peer Review Committee and the AICPA Peer Review Board. She was extensively involved in developing the amended peer review standards issued in November 1993 and is a contributing author to the Guide to Quality Control. She serves on the PCPS Task Force on Adding Value to the Peer Review Process and is a technical reviewer for peer review services performed in Wyoming, Nebraska, Utah and Nevada.

Diane has been appointed a Chairman of the Accounting and Review Services Committee, a senior technical committee of the AICPA. She is a highly rated discussion leader for AICPA conferences and training sessions on issues relating to peer review and accounting and review services.

Joann Cross, CPA, CFP, CRC

Joann Noe Cross is Professor of Accounting in the College of Business Administration at the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh. She received her Ph.D. in Accountancy from the University of Illinois – Urbana. Professor Cross led the College of Business Administration’s successful AACSB Reaccredidation in 1999 and coordinated the College’s Wisconsin Forward Award application process in 2000. She is a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants and numerous other professional and academic organizations. Dr. Cross presents numerous AICPA accounting and auditing seminars around the country, speaks at various conferences throughout the year and maintains an active consulting practice.

MacRay A. Curtis, CPA

Mac has served in several leadership positions for the Utah Association of CPAs and the Northern Utah Chapter of the Association of Government Accountants including president of both associations. He is currently a member of the Utah Board of Accountancy. He enjoys reading, gardening, and traveling with his wife and children.

Lynda Dennis, CPA, CGFO

Before joining the City of Orlando, Lynda was the Chief Financial Officer for the Central Florida YMCA. Prior to that, she served as the Director of Finance and Administrative Services for the City of Oviedo, Florida for five years. Her experience includes working as an auditor for local and Big 4 firms with an emphasis in the insurance, government and not-for-profit sectors. Lynda also worked as the Special Projects Manager for the Dallas County Community College District and as a grader of CPA exams for the AICPA.

Lynda currently serves on the CPE Advisory Committee of the AICPA. She was a member of the Work/Life Balance and Women’s Initiatives Executive Committee of the AICPA from 1997 to 2000 and the CPE Advisory Committee from 2001 to 2005. Lynda worked with the Accounting and Financial Reporting Exam Subcommittee of the AICPA for a number of years as well. Additionally, she is active in the FICPA as a current member and former Chairman of the State and Local Government Section, a member of the Editorial Review Board, and serves on the Accounting Principles and Auditing Standards Committee for the FICPA. She previously served on the FICPA Government Standards Review Committee for two years, the Accounting Careers Committee, and the Not-for-Profit Conference Committee for two years. Lynda has also served on the CPE Committee of the Central Florida Chapter of the FICPA since 1989 and was President of the Chapter 2004 to 2005. She served as the Chairman of the Technical Resources Committee of the FGFOA in 1993/94 as well as in 2001/02 and was Chairman of the Certification Committee in 2000/01 for the Florida Government Finance Officers Association.

Randy Dummer, CPA

Randy instructs seminars for AICPA throughout the country in accounting and auditing topics.

Ilene Eisen, CPA, CITP, MBA

Ilene specializes in QuickBooks and MAS90 accounting software. She advises clients on the appropriate software, procedures, trains business owners and their staff in the proper use of software and procedures. Her client list includes Intuit, Caseware International, Pervasive Software, and the State of California.

Ilene has also taught thousands of CPAs and business owners at various seminars. Topics include QuickBooks, Excel, Accounting Software Issues, Information Systems Management, and Accounting Principles. She has taught classes at events staged by many organizations, including the, AICPA, Intuit, California Society of CPAs, K2 Enterprises, California State University at San Luis Obispo (Cal Poly SLO), California State University Monterey Bay (CSUMB) Chapman University – Monterey Campus, and New Horizons, among others.

Robert M. Gilwee Jr., CPA

Robert Gilwee is a tax partner in a local accounting firm with over 20 years of practice experience in taxation. His primary areas of expertise are income and estate taxation and international taxation. He has previously held positions with Price Waterhouse Coopers, KPMG Peat Marwick, and Deloitte and Touche. His background includes assistance in resolving tax-structuring issues using LLC’s, S-Corporations’, etc. He is a frequent discussion leader on a variety of taxation topics. Robert serves as an Adjunct Faculty member of the University of Baltimore and Villa Julie College and is an instructor in the Lambers CPA review course.

Mr. Gilwee is a recipient of the Top Manuscript Award from Price Waterhouse Coopers. He is a member of the AICPA and the Maryland Association of CPAs.

Gary Hotchkiss

Vern Hoven, CPA

Vern is a nationally recognized tax lecturer (averaging 100 days a year for CPAs, tax practitioners and REALTORS^® throughout the United States ) and has a Master’s Degree in Taxation from the University of Denver's School of Law (1985). Vern’s hallmark teaching style blends key information with a strong dose of humor and a high-tech presentation. Numerous state CPA Societies have named Vern their “Tax Instructor of the Year” and, during tax season, he is a favorite for interviews on radio (a regular on Real Estate Today), on television, and in newspapers. Additionally, Vern’s speaking skills earned him the coveted Certified Speaking Professional (CSP) designation from the National Speakers Association (one of 430 CSPs out of 3,730 NSA members as of 2006").

Vern has served on many national boards, including the National Association of REALTORS^® Legislat Legislative Committee and the Federal Tax Subcommittee. He also served for two years as National Secretary and three years as National Director-at-Large for the National Real Estate Educators Association.

John P. Laschenski, CPA

Before founding his own CPA and consulting firm in 1981, Mr. Laschenski designed and managed the development of computer systems for the IBM Corporation and was a financial executive for the Xerox Corporation. He has been on the business school faculties of the Business Schools at the State University of New York at Geneseo, and of the Rochester Institute of Technology.

Mr. Laschenski holds an M.B.A. from the Rochester Institute of Technology, an M.S. from the University of Wisconsin, and a B.S. from Holy Cross College.

Rebecca Lee, CPA

She has served on numerous AICPA and state society committees including the AICPA Management Consulting Service Professional Practice Subcommittee and Small Business Consulting Practices Subcommittee and is a past member of the Institute's MAS Executive Committee and Personal Financial Planning Executive Committee. She has chaired both the Management Advisory Committee and the Personal Financial Planning Committee of the Alabama Society of CPAs. She currently serves on the South Carolina Association of CPAs' Continuing Professional Education Committee.

She holds a BS degree in Accounting from Jacksonville State University along with a Masters Degree in Accounting from Birmingham Southern College.

Ms. Lee is a discussion leader for all staff level audit training programs as well as, other technical courses. She is a frequent speaker at CPA conferences, and has lectured extensively in the area of management advisory services at professional meetings and seminars for state societies and the American Institute of CPAs. Ms. Lee has served as professor of management accounting in the graduate studies (Master in Public and Private Management) program at Birmingham-Southern College.

She is a member of the Alabama Society of CPAs, the South Carolina Association of CPAs and the AICPA.

Steven D. Lustig, J.D., CPA

Mr. Lustig has lectured throughout the United States for the AICPA, ABA, CPA firms, and national and local business organizations and has authored tax material and courses in closely held business areas, estate planning and negotiating with the IRS. Mr. Lustig is the recipient of the AICPA Outstanding Discussion Leader Award in years 2005 - 2008.

William F. Murphy, CPA, PFS, ABV, CVA

Prior to Mr. Murphy’s merger with Murphy, McClary, Stover, & Burnett, LLC, he was the owner of the firm Murphy & Company, P.C. Mr. Murphy was the former Director of Entrepreneurial and Tax services and was the majority Shareholder. Mr. Murphy was a former director with the Indiana Attorney General’s Office. He has been a lecturer on the accounting faculty at the University of Indianapolis and Marion College, which are located in Indianapolis, Indiana. Mr. Murphy has also been appointed to and currently serves on the Butler University Board of Visitors for the School of Business.

Mr. Murphy graduated from Butler University with honors in 1973. Admitted to practice as a Certified Public Accountant in the state of Indiana on December 7, 1977. Mr. Murphy has been associated with both local and national CPA firms with involvement and specialization in taxation, auditing, and small business development.

Thomas E. Newell, Jr., CPA

Tom served on the Georgia Society peer review committees from 1989 to 1993, in 1993 Tom was selected to be one of the technical reviewers for the Georgia Society and served as a technical reviewer for the Georgia Society for 9 years. Tom has also served several years on the accounting and auditing committee at the Georgia Society. Tom has been a frequent speaker for the Georgia Society of CPAs at the Southeastern Accounting Show, Tax Forum (A&A topics) and the Accounting Institute. Tom is also a discussion leader for various continuing education courses on A&A topics of compilation and review, nonprofit, audit & accounting, and peer review.

William F. O'Brien, MBA, CPA

Charles C. Owen, CPA, JD

Charlie speaks and writes nationally on a variety of legal and tax topics including tax planning, elder representation, wealth preservation planning, legal ethics, and tax-exempt organizations. Charlie excels at turning complicated tax laws into understandable, practical applications. He has conducted many courses throughout the country for the AICPA including AICPA’s Federal Tax Update, High-Powered Tax Planning Strategies for Your Best Client, and The Dos and Don’ts of Tax Practice – Sleeping Better at Night!

Charlie earned B.S.B.A. and J.D. at the University of Arkansas. The Arkansas Society of CPAs named Charlie as its Outstanding Discussion Leader for 1996 and 1998. Charlie was selected by his peers as one of “Arkansas’s Best Tax Lawyers,” in the Arkansas Times, July 2002. He is also a recipient of the Arkansas Bar Association’s “The Best of CLE” 1997 to 2006 and was named “The Best of The Best CLE” in 2000.

Ron Roberson, CPA

Ron Roberson is a very popular speaker covering individual and business tax topics across the country. For several years, Ron has taught thousands of tax professionals about the latest tax law changes, tax planning opportunities, and tax problem areas. Ron’s energetic, easy to understand and humorous presentation style has made him a crowd favorite.

Ron began his accounting career in the early 1980s with the international accounting firm Deloitte Haskins and Sells. Since 1986, he has owned a CPA firm located in the rural California community of Twain Harte, near Yosemite National Park. Ron is a very active CPA, and draws extensively from his practice to provide practical, real-world examples and solutions for seminar attendees, making complex tax topics easily understandable.

Ron is also a prolific author. He has written and edited numerous tax training manuals for a national CPE provider. His articles focus on such hot topics as business entity selection, taxation of corporations, partnerships and LLCs, and individual income taxation. Ron is also a regular guest on an internet radio broadcast dedication to issues of taxation.

Mark Vanden Berge, CFO

In addition to his work in public accounting, Mr. Vanden Berge is CEO and president of VBI Company, Inc., which is an independent commodity brokerage firm located in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. VBI has nine branch offices serving clients in the Midwest. In addition to offering the typical retail brokerage services, VBI is very active in the managed futures industry, which is experiencing significant growth as a viable alternative investment to the typical equity and fixed income investment vehicles. Mr. Vanden Berge has passed the Series 7 Securities exam as well as holding the Series 3 license. He was also involved in taking a telephone company public and was involved in an IPO roll-up with several other companies in 2000. Additionally, he has had ownership interests in trucking and freight companies, retail sales businesses, and software companies. This broad background has provided Mr. Vanden Berge with a wide range of experiences in the areas of taxation, business, and finance.

Mr. Vanden Berge is a graduate of Northwestern College.

Arthur Joseph Werner, J.D., M.S. (Taxation)

Art is currently a shareholder in the lecture firm of Werner-Rocca Seminars, LTD. His areas of expertise include business, tax, financial, and estate planning for high net worth individuals. In addition, Art is an adjunct professor of taxation in the Master of Science in Taxation program at Philadelphia University. He received his Bachelor of Science in Accounting and his Master of Science in Taxation from Widener University. He holds a J.D. in Law from the Delaware Law School and is a member of the Pennsylvania Bar.

Art lectures extensively to certified public accountants, enrolled agents, insurance agents, and financial planners in the areas of estate planning, financial planning, and estate and gift taxation. He has presented well in excess of 1,500 seminars over the past fifteen years. Art has been rated as having the highest speaker knowledge in his home state of Pennsylvania by the Pennsylvania Institute of CPAs, awarded the AICPA Outstanding Discussion Leader Award in Nevada, the Florida Institute of CPAs Outstanding Discussion Leader Award, and the South Carolina Association of CPAs Outstanding Discussion Leader Award.

Edward K. Zollars, CPA

Ed Zollars is in public practice in Phoenix, Arizona as a partner with the firm of Thomas, Zollars & Lynch, Ltd.  He has been in practice for over twenty years, specializing in tax issues for closely held businesses and individuals.

Ed has been professionally involved with both tax and technology issues, combing the two disciplines in starting the first tax podcast (Ed Zollars Tax Update, produced weekly dealing with current tax issues.  He has been a member of AICPA Tax Division Committees dealing with tax and technology issues, and was the Tax Section’s representative on three occasions to the AICPA’s Top Ten Technologies project.  Ed is also a member of the Phoenix Tax Workshop’s Advisory Committee, and currently serves on the Tax Legislation Liaison Committee for the Arizona Society of CPAs.

Ed has written articles published in Practical Tax Strategies and the Tax Adviser. He has been a frequent contributor to a number of professional tax discussion groups, and served as systems operator on the AICPA’s Accountants Forum in the mid 1990s.

He has spoken regularly on tax and technology topics since 1996, speaking before conferences sponsored by the AICPA and a number of state society of CPAs.