Benjamin R. Silliman, Ed.D.

Dr. Silliman, Professor of Accountancy in the Peter J. Tobin College of Business, earned an Ed.D. in Higher Education Administration from New York University, Steinhardt School of Education in 2004. In addition, he holds a B.Accy and an M.Accy from the University of Mississippi, Patterson School of Accountancy (ranked 9^th nationally), a Master of Taxation from the University of Denver, a M.A. in Higher Education Administration from NYU, a M.A. in economics from Columbia University, and a M.P.A. from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, School of Government. Dr. Silliman is a licensed certified public accountant in both the State of New York and in the State of Colorado. Dr. Silliman joined the faculty of the Tobin College of Business in 2007 as an assistant professor of Accountancy; he received tenure and promotion to associate professor in 2011; and, in 2016, Dr. Silliman was promoted to full professor.

Prior to joining the faculty at St. John’s, he was a member of the faculty at Queens College/CUNY in the Department of Accounting and Information Systems where he taught intermediate and advanced financial accounting, government and not-for-profit accounting, and individual taxation. While at Queens College, Dr. Silliman was a member of the faculty Senate, assisted in revising the graduate curriculum, and served as an academic advisor to undergraduate students. Prior to St. John’s and Queens College, Dr. Silliman taught courses in accounting, college algebra, and business math on a part-time basis at Cornell University’s Industrial and Labor Relations School in New York City for seven years.

Dr. Silliman’s professional experience includes working as a budget and compliance consultant to the Vice President of Administration and Planning for the City University of New York for the eighteen years. In his earlier career, he was a Tax Consultant with Arthur Andersen & Co. in the San Francisco and Los Angeles offices. In addition, he worked as an internal auditor (cost verification) for NBC, and worked as an administrator and compliance officer for New York University and the State University of New York in the area of federal (Title IV) aid programs.

Dr. Silliman’s research interests include financial reporting, federal taxation, governmental accounting, and adult learning. He has published over 32 publications in various journals, including the CPA Journal, Journal of Business and Accounting, Journal of Accounting and Finance, Bank Accounting and Finance, Journal of Business and Behavioral Sciences, Journal of Student Aid, and Commercial Lending Review. In addition, Dr. Silliman wrote the chapter on International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) in GAAP 2021 Handbook of Policies and Procedures, by Siegel, J., Levine, M., Qureshi, A. and Shim, J. Dr. Silliman has presented several academic papers at annual and regional American Accounting Association (AAA) conferences. His grant-funded dissertation at NYU, “The Use of Federal College Tuition Tax Credits at Public Community Colleges: A Capacity-Building Policy Analysis,” was chaired by Dr. Joshua Smith, former Chancellor of the California community college system and former President of Borough of Manhattan Community College of the City University of New York.

Dr. Silliman has received eight (8) teaching awards, including the PWC Teaching Fellowship ($10,000), received eleven (11) research awards (St. John’s), including the Max Block Award by the Editors of the CPA Journal, and two service awards (John Dobbins Award) for outstanding work on faculty development and one for outstanding faculty advising for Beta Alpha Psi. Since 2014, Dr. Silliman has served as the faculty advisor to Beta Alpha Psi (Kappa Zeta Chapter on the Staten Island campus), the accounting and finance honorary. Dr. Silliman's Beta Alpha Psi students have placed first or third in three national competitions as well as placed in nine (9) regional competition wins since 2014—these were first time wins for St. John's University.

Dr. Silliman serves on the University Hearing and Deciding Committee, University Student Conduct Board, University Capital Planning Committee, Tobin College Recognition Award Committee, Tobin College Faculty Development Committee, Accountancy Department’s Personnel & Budget Committee and Graduate Education Policy Committee. He is also the Treasurer and officer in the faculty collective bargaining unit of the Faculty Association at St. John’s University.Financial accounting and reporting, business combinations, and government and not-for-profit accounting.

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