Bonita Peterson, associate professor of accounting, is one of three campus-wide recipients of the 2004 MSU Cox Family Excellence Award, given in recognition of creative scholarship and distinctive performances in teaching. She will receive an honorarium from the MSU Foundation as well as a stipend to be used for the purchase of books dedicated in her honor at MSU's Renne Library.

"I love working with students, as well as writing papers that have practical applications for the classroom and the accounting profession," Peterson said. "I feel very fortunate that the work I enjoy doing so much is valued by my supervisors, who nominated me for this honor, as well as by the university."

Known as a tireless researcher in the area of auditing and fraud detection as well as a master teacher, Peterson is dedicated to excellence and ethics in public auditing. A nationally recognized scholar, Peterson is said to construct "a seamless integration of scholarly pursuits with her senior- and graduate-level teaching."

Problem sets and other educational material in advanced auditing and fraud that she has developed have received national attention. Peterson's meticulous teaching is said to be a major factor in the high first-time pass rates of MSU accounting students on the CPA exam.

When asked if she has an idea on which book she may consider purchasing for the MSU library she answered, "Yes! Fraud books, fraud books, and a few more fraud books! There are about a dozen or so books on various fraud topics that I would like to see in the library."