Dave Tinius: SU's Luca Pacioli

Posted by Joseph Phillips, Jr. on Wednesday, July 1, 2015 at 2:30 PM PDT

Dave Tinius has been a member of our faculty since 1971 and retired at the end of this academic year.  Dave was a Professor of Accounting and instrumental in the founding and building of our accounting program.  The program has come a long way while Dave has been at SU, where today it is ranked as a Top 20 program by US News and World Report

Dave served as department chair for 18 years between 1977 and 2003, so no one has had more to do with the advancement of the program than Dave Tinius.

Dave is responsible for many of the distinguishing features of our Department of Accounting.  He founded our Beta Alpha Psi (BAP) chapter back in the 1970's, and today it has received Gold Chapter Awards for the last four years (awards that go to a few of the top chapters in the nation).  BAP is the accounting academic honorary, and Dave not only was critical to the development of our campus chapter, but in the 1980's he was highly active in BAP at the national level, serving on the Board of Directors and as BAP National President.  It was a critical time in the history of BAP, as there was a move to make BAP more dominated by the major accounting firms as opposed to a balance between academe and industry.  Fortunately, for thousands of accounting students, the latter approach prevailed and the distinctive professional formation that BAP promotes continues to this day.

Dave was also critical in establishing the Accounting Awards Banquet, which recognizes our outstanding accounting students and just celebrated its 43 rd  year, making it one of the longest on-going traditions at SU (see my blog on My 30 th  for more information on this tradition!). 

Dave was also involved in the founding of the Accounting Associates, which then because the Department of Accounting's advisory board.  The board has been a vital source of support for the department for many years, and the department would not be where it is today without the assistance of the board.

Other important accomplishments over the years included the founding of our Volunteers in Tax Assistance (VITA) program and our Master of Professional Accounting (MPAC) program.  The former assists hundreds of low income households with their federal income tax filing and garners them several hundred thousand dollars in tax benefits and savings.  The latter is one of our Top 20 programs!

And then there is the Pacioli Society.  This was an initiative to recognize the 500 th  anniversary of Luca Pacioli's publication of a treatise on double-entry bookkeeping.  This was an extraordinary undertaking led by Dave and colleagues Bill Weis and Chauncey Burke.  The Society produced a video, held international symposia in Italy, and published a new translation of the treatise, among other things, but perhaps the Society's proudest moment was the appearance of its story on the front page of the Wall Street Journal , later to be included in the anthology, "Dressing for Dinner in the Naked City and Other Tales" from The Wall Street Journal's  "Middle Column."  It also spawned a series of study tours to Pacioli's birthplace, Sansepolcro, Italy, which took place every summer for many years.

On June 30 th we held a gathering to honor Dave's many contributions to Seattle University and the legacy he has created through his work with our students and alumni.  Family, friends, alumni, and colleagues gathered at the La Spiga restaurant, with the Italian theme an appropriate reminder of Sansepolcro.

A number of colleagues stepped forward to offer commentary at Dave's expense.  Barb Yates, Professor Emerita of Economics, fellow department chair, and frequent collaborator on the Sansepolcro trips, noted Dave's persistence and determination, his attention to detail, his "suave" way of proceeding, and his ability to not only dream big, but to make those big dreams happen.

Bill Weis, once an accounting professor working with Dave in the Department of Accounting, but now Professor of Management, filled in some of the history, including Dave's impact on BAP at the national level, as well as important details about the Pacioli Society.  In particular, he assured the audience that when the impending anniversary was discovered by Bill, and the brainstorming got going, it was all in good fun and not meant to be serious.  Except Dave took it seriously, would not let go of it, dragged everyone into it, and the rest is history!  Bill finished out by naming Dave the "Pacioli of the Seattle University accounting program!"

Others spoke of Dave's integrity and honesty, his leadership ability and critical role in building up the accounting department, and his care for others. 

Throughout the evening the name of John Moga kept coming up.  John, a SU accounting alum and Managing Partner for Arthur Andersen in Seattle for many years, is a longtime supporter of our accounting program.  He provide critical support to our fledgling program, including convincing Fr. Bill Sullivan, SU president at the time, that it would be ok for the department to receive financial support from the accounting community.  If Dave was the academic leader of our accounting program, John Moga was the equally important professional community leader!

Thank you, Dave Tinius, for everything you have done for Seattle University and the Albers School, especially for your critical role in building up our outstanding accounting program!