De Franco appointed Keehn Berry Chair of Banking and Finance

The A. B. Freeman School of Business at Tulane University is pleased to announce the appointment of Gus De Franco as the Keehn Berry Chair of Banking and Finance, effective July 1, 2026. Professor De Franco will also serve as Senior Associate Dean for Research and Accounting Area Coordinator.

A distinguished scholar and academic leader, Professor De Franco returns to the Freeman School after serving as the Emanuel T. Weiler Professor and Accounting Department Head at Purdue University’s Mitch Daniels School of Business. De Franco previously served as the KPMG Professor of Accounting at the Freeman School from 2016 to 2023.

As the Keehn Berry Chair, Professor De Franco will provide strategic leadership for the accounting area while fostering research excellence across the Freeman School. His appointment reinforces Freeman’s commitment to attracting world-class faculty who advance knowledge and prepare students for leadership in global business.

“We are delighted to welcome Professor De Franco back to Tulane and the Freeman School,” said Dean Paulo Goes. “His exceptional scholarship, proven leadership, and deep commitment to academic excellence will be invaluable as he leads our accounting area and advances our research mission.”

Professor De Franco's scholarly contributions have appeared in the discipline's most prestigious journals, including the Journal of Accounting & Economics, Journal of Accounting Research, and The Accounting Review, as well as the Journal of Financial Economics and Management Science. He currently serves as editor of Contemporary Accounting Research, completing his second term in this distinguished role.

His academic career includes appointments at leading institutions including the Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto, the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, and the MIT Sloan School of Management. Professor De Franco earned his PhD from Wharton, MBA from Harvard University, and HBA from Western University. Prior to academia, he acquired valuable industry experience as an equity research analyst at CIBC Capital Markets and a marketing product manager at Kraft Foods.