Featured speakers
Adam Hesseltine
Director, PwC
Adam Hesseltine is a director in PwC’s Risk and Regulatory practice with more than eleven years of internal audit and risk and controls experience in the insurance industry. His background includes a variety of service lines, including design assessment and operating effectiveness testing of both business processes and IT general SOX controls, external audit, IT audit, GRC technology, and process improvement. Adam holds a bachelor of science degree in finance from Iowa State University and is CISA certified.
Adam has led complex projects related to internal audit modernization, control optimization, SOX 404, internal audit co-sourcing, and business process improvement. He’s experienced with domestic and global clients and served clients subject to IFRS, GAAP, and statutory reporting as well as SOX and NAIC Model Audit Rule control requirements. Adam uses AI to upskill his teams and bring better insights to his clients on a daily basis.
Michael Bootsma
Dean’s Teaching Fellow in Accounting, Iowa State University
Michael Bootsma is a licensed attorney, CMA, and CPA. He has held various positions in the area of accounting and law over the years, and currently teaches law, cost accounting, and taxation classes at Iowa State University. Michael graduated from Iowa State with a bachelor’s degree in accounting and finance. He earned juris doctorate and master of accounting degrees from the University of Iowa, and later earned a master of science in taxation and LLM from Golden Gate University.
Michael has published peer-reviewed research in the area of accounting and is the primary author and editor of the textbook, “Comprehensive Business Law.” He and his family live near Saylorville Lake where they enjoy many outdoor activities.
Jim Heldt
Manager, Accounting Operations US and Canada, John Deere Financial
Jim Heldt is the manager of accounting operations for the US and Canada at John Deere Financial. After his internship with John Deere while at Iowa State, he joined the company full-time and has over 16 years of experience within accounting and finance at the John Deere Intelligent Solutions Group, Des Moines Works factory, and John Deere Financial locations. His roles have spanned the areas of accounting, financial analysis, business counseling, system implementation, internal audit, and financial services. In his current role, he oversees the portfolio accounting processes for all John Deere Financial markets in the US and Canada.
Outside of Deere, Jim serves on the board of directors for Charter Bank, providing oversight and guidance to the strong community bank serving Waukee, Grimes, Ankeny, and Johnston. He also serves on the investment committee for the Education Leadership Initiative with United Way of Central Iowa and as a mentor for the Des Moines Area Community College Upward Bound program. Jim holds bachelor of science degrees in accounting and finance and an MBA from Iowa State University.
Christine Dension
Roger P. Murphy Professor in Accounting, Ivy College of Business
Christine Denison is an associate professor who holds the Roger P. Murphy Professorship in Accounting at the Debbie and Jerry Ivy College of Business at Iowa State University. She is also the director of instructor development at Iowa State’s Center for Excellence in Learning and Teaching. Christine teaches Intermediate Managerial Accounting, Accounting for Decision Making, and Accounting Communication and Analysis at Iowa State. Her research has appeared in journal such as The Accounting Review, Contemporary Accounting Research, and Issues in Accounting Education, and she is an editor for Issues in Accounting Education and the IMA Educational Case Journal.
Christine earned her undergraduate and master’s degrees from the University of Oklahoma and her PhD in accounting from the University of Iowa. Her work on generative AI includes numerous workshops and talks as well as interviews with outlets such as Iowa Public Radio and the Iowa State Daily.
Diane Janvrin
William L. Varner Professor in Accounting, Ivy College of Business
Diane Janvrin, professor of accounting, holds the William L. Varner Professorship of Accounting at the Debbie and Jerry Ivy College of Business at Iowa State University. She earned her master’s and PhD from the University of Iowa and her bachelor’s degree from Central College in Pella, Iowa.
Diane teaches and researches in accounting information systems, data analytics, and auditing. She has published in several highly respected journals, including Accounting Horizons; Auditing: A Journal of Practice and Theory; Journal of Information Systems; International Journal of Accounting Information Systems; Behavioral Issues in Accounting; Issues in Accounting Education; and Journal of Emerging Technologies in Accounting. A frequent speaker at academic and professional conferences, Diane also serves as an editor for Journal of Information Systems and an associate editor for Journal of Accounting Education.
Mike Howard
Hilsinger-Janson Professor in Management and Entrepreneurship, Ivy College of Business
Mike Howard is the Hilsinger-Janson Professor of Management and Entrepreneurship at the Ivy College of Business. He received his PhD in technology entrepreneurship and strategic management from the Foster School of Business at the University of Washington. He also holds an MBA with a concentration in finance and a bachelor’s degree in aeronautical and astronautical engineering, both from the University of Illinois at Urbana/Champaign.
Mike’s industry experience includes eight years in corporate finance with Intel, during which he worked as a senior finance manager in the Desktop Products Group, managing product cost forecasts and financial strategy for Intel’s long-term microprocessor product roadmap. In other roles, he supported the strategic analysis of Intel New Business Initiative projects, the integration of technology mergers and acquisitions, and served as the Intel corporate cost owner for the Pentium II processor. His research interests include entrepreneurship, technology and innovation management, CEO characteristics, and strategic alliances.
Lindsey Haley
Director of Membership and Business Development, Iowa Society of CPAs
Lindsey Haley is director of membership and business development for the Iowa Society of CPAs (ISCPA). She has worked in association membership the entirety of her career, spending the past eight years with ISCPA. Lindsey is responsible for the recruitment and retention of members, in addition to leading a team working to build the CPA pipeline through high school initiatives, college campus visits, and building relationships with high school business educators and college faculty. She also serves as ISCPA’s staff representative for diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging efforts.
Lindsey’s commitment to building and promoting the profession hits close to home – she’s married to a CPA. When Lindsey isn’t out and about encouraging students to consider the CPA or visiting with ISCPA members, she can be found running her two kids from one activity to the next.
Jenny McGarry
Senior Manager, Eide Bailly National Tax Office
Jenny McGarry, DBA, CPA has over 20 years of experience in the financial service industry including wealth management, banking, and public accounting and over ten years of experience teaching accounting, most recently at Western Illinois University. Throughout her career she has developed a strong interest in helping students and young professionals explore the tremendous opportunities available in the accounting industry. In her current role as a senior manager in Eide Bailly’s National Tax Office, she helps with tax communications and to develop and deliver firm-wide tax training.
In addition to staying active in her community, Jenny is currently a member of the ISCPA’s Career Awareness Committee, the Pathway’s Taskforce, and is a member of the board. She lives in rural DeWitt, Iowa, with her husband and four children.