Transcending Textbooks

When Tom Canace interviewed to join the faculty at Wake Forest School of Business 15 years ago, he was asked about his teaching and research philosophies. Canace’s answer: “Going above and beyond the textbook.”

For Canace, that means drawing on his research findings and his professional experiences in the business world when he’s in the classroom. The three realms are inextricably linked.

“I don’t just come in and teach out of the textbook. I bring my experiences to the students, and that adds to their education. My courses become a professional business lab, with my students going well beyond what they could learn in the book,” says Canace, who is associate professor of accounting and PwC Fellow for Teaching Excellence.

Canace’s career began as an auditor for PwC. He later earned an MBA and then worked in corporate finance for three Fortune 500 companies, including time as a division chief financial officer. Stints as an adjunct professor drew him back to academia for his Ph.D. in finance and accounting.

“As an adjunct, I realized I could make a big impact in the classroom, showing students what it’s really like to work in accounting and finance,” he says. “And, on the research side, I wanted to use my professional experience to generate questions for exploration. Almost every research project that I’ve worked on, in some way, leans on my professional experience.” Canace’s research delves into markets, mergers and acquisitions, corporate ownership and investments, financial disclosure, regulation, analysts’ forecasts — and the intersections and connections among those areas.

His current inquiries focus on companies’ R&D efforts and their investments, both in terms of human capital (such as salaries for scientists and researchers) and traditional capital (such as facilities and equipment). “We’ve been studying how firms might switch between the two types of investments for particular reasons, for instance whether they may be trying to manage their earnings or might be fueling innovation,” Canace says. “And now we’re digging even further into the integration of capital expenditures and R&D and how that impacts a firm’s innovation. We surveyed CFOs to better understand the magnitude and the importance of these capital investments.”

“What really excites me about it is that it’s novel — these are areas that have been untapped by academics, but they become very important in practice,” Canace says. “By studying this, it gives academics a better window into what practitioners and professionals are doing to fuel their businesses. And, as we do this research, we get insights that we hope will also help companies to learn what other companies are doing. So, it helps business practices, as well.” With his “going above and beyond the textbook” philosophy, Canace has tied his research and professional experiences back into his classroom instruction by writing vigorous case studies based on his work.

But not all of Canace’s research fits neatly into the curriculum. To expose students to more work that might be useful to them in their future careers, a few years ago he created a four-part coffee talk series. “For instance, two of those sessions are on mergers and acquisitions from my work experience and my research,” he says. “I find a lot of my students are very interested and they find this to be useful. They respond well because it’s recent and it’s relevant for them.”

This interplay between academic research, professional experience and teaching keeps Canace energized and engaged. 

“I knew early on that Wake was a perfect institution for my background because of its mix of high-quality research and high-quality teaching,” Canace says. “To be at Wake, you have to want to teach, and because the students are so bright, you have to bring your A game. But there are also demands for high-caliber research and, as much as I enjoy teaching, it’s not enough to fulfill me professionally. Wake affords me the opportunity to develop my research, expertise and specialization. It’s a high-caliber institution that really demands high quality on both the teaching and research side.”

Dr. Tom Canace

PWC Faculty Fellow for Teaching Excellence; Associate Professor of Accounting

(336) 758-5904 |

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