{"id":7264,"date":"2024-04-25T11:13:44","date_gmt":"2024-04-25T16:13:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.acu.edu\/coba\/?p=7264"},"modified":"2024-04-25T13:53:06","modified_gmt":"2024-04-25T18:53:06","slug":"beyond-numbers-the-remarkable-journey-of-dr-john-neills-teaching-career","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.acu.edu\/coba\/2024\/04\/25\/beyond-numbers-the-remarkable-journey-of-dr-john-neills-teaching-career\/","title":{"rendered":"Beyond Numbers: The Remarkable Journey of Dr. John Neill’s Teaching Career"},"content":{"rendered":"

written by special contributor, Lance Fleming<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"Dr. John Neill took a most circuitous route to a 40-year career teaching accounting and finance at three universities, including spending the last 24 years at ACU.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

When Neill retires at the end of the 2023-24 school year, he will leave a large hole to fill in COBA. While not as gregarious as longtime colleague Bill Fowler \u2013 also retiring at the end of the school year after 40 years of service to ACU \u2013 Neill\u2019s steady hand, wise words, and unwavering loyalty to the mission of ACU and COBA will be missed.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

But had it not been for a simple twist of fate while he was a student at ACU, Neill might never have gotten into teaching, much less accounting and finance.<\/span><\/p>\n

Neill \u2013 who lived in Abilene as a child before moving away and returning \u2013 graduated from Cooper High School in 1977. He enrolled at ACU and graduated in 1980, then worked for Pennzoil in Houston before returning to ACU to study for a master\u2019s degree in Religious Studies.<\/p>\n

While at ACU, he was asked to serve as an adjunct professor for an accounting class while working on his graduate degree. Surprising himself, he fell in love with the classroom. So much so that when he finished his master\u2019s in 1984, he took off for Gainesville, Florida, where he earned his PhD in accounting from the University of Florida in 1990.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Leaving the corporate world behind and turning his focus to teaching, Neill made stops at Florida State University and Chapman University (Orange Country, California) before returning to ACU in 2000, where he finished his career.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI never really wanted to be a preacher, but I wanted to be a minister of some sort,\u201d Neill recalled. \u201cMaybe it\u2019s sort of the same mentality of teaching and preaching, but I\u2019m not sure about that. I taught some as a doctoral student at the University of Florida, and then my first job was at Florida State University. And as I went along, I realized how much I enjoyed being in the classroom.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cAfter being at Florida State, I went to Chapman University, a private school without the Christian\"\" emphasis,\u201d he said. \u201cI liked the small, private nature of the school, but I missed the emphasis on a Christian education. When I had the opportunity to come back home and back to ACU, I found some of everything I wanted.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The relationships with students and colleagues, and the opportunity to work in an environment that matched his beliefs kept Neill at ACU when he could have gone to other universities or numerous jobs in the private sector.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cOne of the main reasons I stayed at ACU is the mission,\u201d he said. \u201cI believe what we do and how we do it is important. The other reason is the colleagues I\u2019ve worked with over the years. I enjoy the people I work with in our department. When I went to school at ACU and began working here, people always asked why I stayed, and I always said it was because of the people and relationships.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

He was also working for a university that has built one of the top business schools in the country and was the recipient of a game-changing $29 million gift from the Bill and Janie Dukes estate last year that will revolutionize COBA in countless ways. Before that gift, though, Neill believed the business students graduating from ACU were as good as those graduating from any other school in the country.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve had some partners in some of the top accounting firms in the country come to campus and tell me, \u2018The students here (at ACU) are really good, but they don\u2019t think they\u2019re as good as they are,\u2019 \u201c Neill said. \u201cSometimes our students might be intimidated because they work with a bunch of people who went to Texas or Texas A&M or SMU or wherever, but they shouldn\u2019t feel that way because they have been well-prepared.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"\u201cWe have a good reputation of having prepared students who work hard, and we\u2019re proud of that,\u201d he said. \u201cI want our students to realize that they are getting a quality education, but the most important thing is the Christian ideals they\u2019re being taught \u2013 along with finance or accounting or whatever it might be \u2013 don\u2019t stop when they leave here. We all want them to find a church home wherever they are, be part of the community, and have a work-life balance. Work is important, but it can\u2019t be their entire life.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Neill said he would miss the chance to talk to students and give that kind of advice, along with words of wisdom on what ACU can offer students.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI’ve never taught freshmen; the classes I teach are traditionally a second-semester junior and a senior-level class,\u201d Neill said. \u201cBut when I was department chair, I met with the first-year students in a new student orientation setting. One of the main things I always told him was they would get a fresh start here. A person who was the most popular in high school might not be that here. Conversely, someone with a bad reputation could start over here. Or if a student\u2019s grades weren’t good in high school, they can turn them around here. I wanted to ensure they understood they had a fresh start here.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

It was that style that stuck out to Dr. Brad Crisp (\u201893), the Dean of COBA when thinking about Neill and his impact on the students who have gone through the Mabee Business Building.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cJohn Neill is a genuine, personable guy with a sneaky sense of humor,\u201d Crisp said. \u201cHe has done an excellent job for us and his students. I remember his presence, and I think the students appreciated him. He\u2019s somebody who is one of those people at the center of living out the commitment we have for our students.\u201d<\/span>
\n<\/span>
\n<\/span>Neill\u2019s relationships with students and colleagues were changed in 2020 by COVID, the global pandemic that thrust millions into online education, whether they were ready for it or not. It also pushed Neill to begin thinking about his retirement, perhaps sooner than he had planned.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cTeaching during COVID was very tough,\u201d Neill said. \u201cWhen we came back, everyone was socially distanced, so it was hard to get to know students. I taught some students who never saw me without a mask, so they probably never really knew who I was. It was difficult to reach students. I taught some classes I didn\u2019t get to know well and didn\u2019t like that.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

That desire and ability to relate to students and colleagues has always stood out about Neill, said Dr. David\"\" Perkins, the Chairman of the Accounting Department. Perkins first met Neill when the former was a doctoral student at Texas A&M. The chairman of the Accounting Department at A&M asked him to take a prospective faculty member to dinner, mainly because he was a member of the Church of Christ, as was the prospective faculty member, who happened to be John Neill.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Neill didn\u2019t take the job at Texas A&M, but years later Perkins was hired at ACU and the two began a longtime relationship as friends and colleagues.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cAlthough John’s career took a different path, we eventually became colleagues teaching accounting at ACU,\u201d Perkins said. \u201cJohn is recognized as an excellent teacher, scholar, and a humble colleague and friend. He has been very gracious in helping me transition into the role of department chair when he decided to step down after leading the department for several years. John will be difficult to replace. We have been blessed to have him serve ACU, and it\u2019s been an honor to call him a colleague and friend.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

A lifelong learner and teacher, Neill plans to do plenty of learning in the days immediately following his final day at ACU. He and his wife are taking a month-long trip to Japan, a vacation canceled in 2020 because of COVID.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI love to travel, and you can always learn something, no matter where you go,\u201d Neill said. \u201cWhether you get in a car and drive for three hours or get on a plane or ship and go somewhere across the world, you can learn something about it. We\u2019ll have the chance to experience a different culture, and I want to see what that\u2019s like. I want to see it. To experience it. To keep growing and learning.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

written by special contributor, Lance Fleming Dr. John Neill took a most circuitous route to a 40-year career teaching accounting and finance at three universities, including spending the last 24 years at ACU.\u00a0 When Neill retires at the end of the 2023-24 school year, he will leave a large hole to fill in COBA. While […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5020,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[818,2090,386,6633,6627,154272,1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7264","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-academics","category-accounting","category-alumni-spotlight","category-coba-faculty","category-faith-infusion","category-macc","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.acu.edu\/coba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7264","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.acu.edu\/coba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.acu.edu\/coba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.acu.edu\/coba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5020"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.acu.edu\/coba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7264"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.acu.edu\/coba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7264\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7272,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.acu.edu\/coba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7264\/revisions\/7272"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.acu.edu\/coba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7264"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.acu.edu\/coba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7264"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.acu.edu\/coba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7264"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}