New Professorships at the Institute for Accounting and Auditing

Caren Sureth-Sloane – Professor of Accounting

Caren Sureth-Sloane earned her Ph.D. in 1999 and completed her habilitation in 2003 at Bielefeld University. Since 2004, she has been a professor of business taxation at the University of Paderborn; she has been affiliated with WU as a visiting professor since 2010. Her research examines how taxation, tax complexity, and regulatory uncertainty influence investment and other business decisions. Since 2026, she has also served as Vice President of the German Research Foundation (DFG). Through a dual affiliation, Caren Sureth-Sloane combines her professorship at the University of Paderborn with a part-time professorship in the Department of Finance, Accounting, and Statistics.

Laurence van Lent – Professor of Accounting

Laurence van Lent earned his Ph.D. in economics from Tilburg University in 1999, where he subsequently spent many years engaged in research and teaching. Most recently, he was a professor of accounting and economics at the Frankfurt School of Finance & Management. In his research, he analyzes, among other things, how political risks, climate change, epidemics, and technological changes affect companies and financial markets. To this end, he uses computer-aided text analysis of corporate communications; another focus of his work is on incentive and performance evaluation systems in organizations. Laurence van Lent is taking on a part-time professorship in the Department of Finance, Accounting, and Statistics while continuing to serve as a professor at the Frankfurt School of Finance & Management.