Welcoming Dr. Daehyun Kim to MBS

The Maine Business School is pleased to welcome Dr. Daehyun Kim to the University of Maine! Dr. Kim, Assistant Professor of Accounting, came to academia from the world of investment banking, managerial accounting, and corporate finance. Finding a lack of work-life balance, Dr. Kim took the advice of his father to pursue his Ph.D. 

What is your area of expertise?

In terms of teaching, I teach managerial accounting. I have taught managerial accounting as a Ph.D. student at the University of Texas at Austin and as a professor at the University of Toronto. I have taught both at the undergraduate and MBA levels, and I thoroughly enjoy it.

For research, I am interested in how the boards of directors govern corporations. Boards are at the pinnacle of the corporate hierarchy, but not much is known about them because board meetings are private and confidential. It is interesting to uncover patterns of their behaviors by analyzing data on individual directors and board structures.

How did you get interested in your field?

You may think it odd that, although I am an accounting professor, I am not a CPA. I jokingly refer to myself as nCnPnA: non-certified, non-public, non-accountant. I have never worked in public accounting as an accountant, and I don’t know much about financial accounting rules. People often picture CPAs and public accounting when they think of accounting, but there is a much greater field in accounting in terms of career opportunities: managerial accounting! Managerial accounting is used by all organizations, for-profit or non-profit. To make profitable business decisions, to motivate people through compensation, and to plan the allocation of resources, organizations use managerial accounting. All the decision-making and control aspect of managerial accounting fascinates me. Moreover, I also worked as a financial analyst. A financial analyst is basically a managerial accounting specialist.

When I first joined the Ph.D. program at the University of Texas at Austin, I thought corporate governance was the most boring topic. However, I had a chance to work with a professor who works in the field and gradually gained interest in the topic. Now, it is the most intriguing topic for me as a researcher.

What classes do you teach at UMaine?

Managerial Accounting! You can meet me in ACC 202 and ACC 305.

What are your expectations of your students?

Challenge yourself. What you will gain in college is not the output (e.g., grades/GPA) but the process in which you obtain it. GPA is not a requirement to have a good, fulfilling career, but the work ethic and resilient attitude are.

Be ethical. Consider what you can lose by compromising the principles. Be a person that the future you can be proud.

Be independent and responsible. Don’t bring a secondary school mentality. You are an adult now. Don’t expect hand-holding in college; relying on that will only hurt you in the workplace.

What do you enjoy doing outside of academia?

Walking in the woods with my wife and our dog-daughter. This is why we moved to Maine! But my wife is a bit afraid of walking in the woods here, because she heard there are black bears in the Maine woods. I told her I see thousands of Black Bears on campus.

What advice do you wish you had received as an undergraduate student?

Experiment with many things. You are young and can afford to make mistakes because you will get many more chances. This applies to any aspect of life, and is also true for careers. If things don’t work out for you, you can always come back to school as a graduate student. I had three different jobs before I returned to school and found my calling as an academic.

Develop a philosophy of life. Deliberate on why you are in this world. What is the purpose of your life? The earlier you begin contemplating, the more meaningful your life will be.

What are your first impressions of Maine?

Trees, trees, trees! It was a clear day when my first flight to Bangor was descending, and all I could see were trees. I expected the greenery, but I did not expect this much greeeeenery.

People are so nice here. I appreciate the kindness and friendliness of Mainers. When I lived in big cities like Toronto and New York, I missed these little things that truly improve the quality of life.