Acclaimed scholar Andrew Call installed as dean of the USC Leventhal School of Accounting

After an on-campus interview last year to lead the USC Leventhal School of Accounting, Andrew Call returned to his home in Mesa, Ariz., and said to wife, Charis: “If there is a university in heaven, it will be like USC.”

It turned out to be a match made in heaven as Call was offered the position, accepted it and was formally installed as dean on Monday.

“This place is different, and I’m honored to be one of you and part of the Trojan Family,” Call said at an installation ceremony attended by USC President Carol Folt, Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs Andrew T. Guzman and many of the leaders of USC’s 22 other schools and academic units.

“Today we honor an exceptional leader, teacher and researcher who now leads one of our finest schools,” Folt said in her remarks at the event.

The proceedings inside the Town and Gown ballroom on the University Park Campus had the atmosphere of a warm family reunion. Call grew up in Southern California in Woodland Hills and Westlake Village. His wife, their four young children, his parents, three siblings and their spouses joined him for the ceremony, along with other relatives.

Call left his job at Arizona State University to return to California as the sixth dean in USC Leventhal’s 46-year history. During his remarks, he shared that the decision to move from Mesa was difficult for him and his family because they were happy on a personal front, he was fulfilled professionally and the family had just purchased what they thought would be their “forever” home.

“But the opportunity to be a part of the Leventhal School was too good to pass up — and my wife saw that,” Call said. “She has been such a strong supporter of my career, a trusted and insightful sounding board.”

Call then addressed his three sons and daughter directly: “You and your mom are what’s most important. Thank you for being brave on this journey. I know great things are in store for you here.”

Building on a legacy as USC Leventhal dean

At USC, Call now holds the Alan Casden Dean’s Chair of Accounting. In September, he succeeded William W. Holder as dean of USC Leventhal, a part of the USC Marshall School of Business. Holder retired after 13 years of service and has returned to a faculty position. He was recognized by Folt and later by Call as he sat in the audience at the installation.

“I recognize that in leading this school, I am standing on the shoulders of giants who built Leventhal into what it is today,” Call said. “I feel the weight of the responsibility to lead the school to continued prominence, continued excellence and continued impact.”

Since 2018, Call had been at the W.P. Carey School of Business at ASU as director of the school of accountancy. He is credited with recruiting and retaining top research and teaching professors and increasing the faculty’s racial and gender diversity.

“He quickly distinguished himself as a builder as much as a teacher,” Folt said in her remarks. “He transformed [ASU] into a research leader, increasing its productivity and overall profile.”

Folt praised Call as a highly published and acclaimed scholar with more than 20 academic awards and honors and pointed out that his most-cited paper — “Inside the ‘Black Box’ of Sell-Side Financial Analysts” — earned Call and his co-authors the Distinguished Contributions to Accounting Literature Award.

“We’re excited to have Andy bring that same drive, mindset and dedication to Leventhal,” she said.

Call graduated with a doctorate in accounting from the University of Washington after earning his Master of Accountancy and Bachelor of Science in accounting degrees from Brigham Young University. He began his career as an assistant professor of accounting at the University of Georgia.

He remains “bullish” about the importance of accounting as both an academic discipline and a profession for young people to pursue.

“Accounting remains an incredible foundation upon which to build a career, and not just a career in accounting, but really any career in business,” said Call, who referred to accounting as the “language of business” and the “foundation upon which so many business decisions are made.”

He described USC Leventhal as not only a great place to learn accounting, but as an institution that will have a leadership role in the future of the accounting profession.

“I view the emergence of technology, the rise of sustainability and the unmet demand for accounting talent as opportunities for the profession and for the Leventhal School,” he said.

Returning home to a proud family

Call’s parents, Brad and Ann Call, sat in the front row during the installation and beamed as their youngest child paid tribute to them.

At the reception following the program, Ann Call said in a brief interview: “I feel enormous pride. And my youngest son and my four youngest grandkids are moving home.”

Brad Call remarked that his son “has not lost his sense of values” as his academic career has continued to reach new heights.

“It warms my heart to see him take this marvelous position,” his father said. “I don’t know if there’s anything like it in the country, at any other university.”

Call had pointed out in his remarks that his father is a UCLA alumnus and that one of his older brothers is also a Bruin.

“When this opportunity came along, the possibility of me becoming a Trojan became a running joke in the family,” Call said. But when it came time for him to make a final decision, he said he looked in the mirror and said to himself, “It’s never too late to right a wrong. And after all these years, I’m tired of being the little brother. Fight on!”