Master of Taxation (MTax) Program

About the MTax Faculty

Jerome E. Apple, J.D., MTax, CPA, has been an Instructor in the School of Accountancy since 1982. He also served on the faculty as an Assistant Professor of Taxation during the late 1990s. Mr. Apple was a partner with Moore Stephens Apple from 1969-1996 and was employed in public accounting with the national accounting firm of Grant Thornton from 1966-1969. Mr. Apple teaches such courses as Corporate Tax I, Advanced Individual Income Tax, and S-Corporations. In addition to his teaching, Mr. Apple currently serves as Finance Director for the City of Fairlawn. He has published several articles on various topics in taxation.

Richard W. Burke, J.D., is a Lecturer in the School of Accountancy. He joined the law firm of Brennan Manna & Diamond in 2003, after practicing for several years with Stark and Knoll. He is recognized by various magazines as one of the best lawyers in America in the areas of Trusts and Estates. He specializes in such areas as asset protection and taxation, estate planning, and estate administration. He serves on the Board of Directors of several companies. Mr. Burke teaches Estate and Gift Taxation, as well as Estate Planning.

Steven A. Dimengo, J.D., MTax, CPA, is Lecturer in the School of Accountancy. He joined the law firm of Buckingham, Doolittle & Burroughs, LLP, in 1989 and was elected a shareholder in 1994. He is recognized by various magazines as one of the best lawyers in America and as one of the super lawyers in Ohio. He has extensive experience in the areas of sales and use tax, and is a frequent writer and speaker on topics related to sales and use tax in Ohio. Mr. Dimengo teaches State and Local Taxation.

Al Higgins, MTax, CPA, is Ernst & Young LLP’s International Tax Services group market leader for Northeast Ohio. Alan serves a number of U.S. and foreign based companies. He has over 27 years experience in taxation, the last 20 focused on international taxation matters affecting multinational enterprises. He has extensive experience in U.S. and foreign country transfer pricing matters, supply-chain planning, cross-border financing transactions, repatriation, and foreign tax credit planning. Alan has served clients in a variety of industries, principally manufacturing, food and beverage, pharmaceutical and medical devices, and natural resources. Alan has been a frequent speaker at seminars sponsored by the Tax Executives Institute, the World Trade Institute, and ATLAS/CITE, as well as an instructor in International Taxation classes for DePaul, the University of Cincinnati, and The University of Akron He has published or co-authored several articles on topics including source and character of income, Passive Foreign Investment Companies, transfer pricing, and financing and structuring cross-border investments. Alan became a Certified Public Accountant in 1983 in Alabama and is also certified in Ohio and North Carolina. He is a member of several professional organizations, including the American Institute of CPAs. He teaches Corporate Taxation courses.

David J. Lewis, J.D., CPA, is a Lecturer in the School of Accountancy. Recognized as one of the super lawyers of Ohio, Mr. Lewis is a former shareholder in the law firm, Buckingham, Doolittle & Burroughs (BDB), LLP. He joined the BDB in 1987, and specializes in taxation. He is currently with the law firm of Krugliak, Wilkins Griffiths & Dougherty Co., LPA. He has significant experience in advocating clients' needs before the IRS on civil tax examinations, appeals, and judicial proceedings. Mr. Lewis teaches Tax Practice and Procedure.

Alvin H. Lieberman, J.D., CPA, is Associate Professor of Accounting in the School of Accountancy. He is one of the founders of the MTax program and has taught Income Taxation of Decedents, Estates & Trusts and Estate & Gift Taxation. He has served as the program's coordinator since inception. He organizes the National and International conferences each fall.

Michael F. Urse, J.D., CPA, is a Lecturer in the School of Accountancy. He is a partner at PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, where he leads the International Tax Services group in Cleveland and serves as national leader of PwC’s U.S. Outbound team. The U.S. Outbound team designs and implements foreign debt restructuring and holding company solutions, and helps the firm’s U.S. clients optimize their use of foreign tax credits. Michael has extensive experience in the development of strategies to increase foreign source income, and to minimize foreign source expenses (stewardship and SG&A studies, CFC netting rule computations, interest and R&D expense apportionment, etc.). He has also has worked extensively on tax efficient foreign acquisition structuring and integration. Michael has over twenty-four years of international tax experience serving numerous U.S. and foreign-based multinationals. From July 1990 to September 1991, Michael was on special assignment in the firm’s New York office managing the U.S. international tax desk. Michael has made frequent speeches and has authored several papers on a variety of international tax subjects. He teaches international tax course at The University of Akron.

Rob Malone, J.D., is a Partner with Buckingham, Doolittle & Burroughs, LLP and serves as Chair of the Business Practice Group. He focuses his practice on a variety of tax matters and mergers and acquisitions, as well as trusts & estates. Mr. Malone has served as Chair of the Ohio State Bar Association Taxation Committee and as a member of the committees which drafted the Ohio statutes establishing a "bright-line" test for residency and creating Limited Liability Companies. He continues to serve on the committee that monitors and proposes amendments for Ohio’s Limited Liability Company legislation. Mr. Malone is a member of the faculty of The University of Akron MBA and Master of Taxation Programs teaching courses on mergers and acquisitions and partnership taxation. Mr. Malone earned his Juris Doctorate from The Ohio State University College of Law and his Bachelors degree from Mount Union College.

Bill Nolan, J.D., CPA is Executive Director - State and Local Tax at Ernst & Young. He has over 12 years of professional experience in the state and local taxation area. Bill received the Ernst & Young Outstanding State Desk (Ohio) award in 2006 and again in 2010. He earned his JD degree in 1996 from Case Western Reserve University and a BS in accounting from Cleveland State University. Bill has given several professional presentations and has published various articles on the topic of state and local taxation. Bill teaches State & Local Taxation.

Andrew Bernat, JD, MBA, MTax, CPA, is currently tax counsel at Sherwin-Williams corporate office in Cleveland. Mr. Bernat’s primary responsibilities include assisting the company in the resolution of federal, state, and local tax controversies; researching, planning, and structuring the company's mergers, acquisitions, and divestitures; and providing the company with a wide range of other tax and compliance advice. Previously, Mr. Bernat was an attorney with Buckingham, Doolittle & Burroughs, LLP where he handled federal, state and local tax controversies and transactional matters. He is a certified public accountant and an attorney admitted to practice in Ohio, the U.S. District Courts for the Northern and Southern Districts of Ohio, the Court of Federal Claims, the U.S. Tax Court, the U.S. Circuit Courts of Appeal for the Sixth and Federal Circuits, and the Supreme Court of the United States. He is a member of the Tax Executives Institute, Cleveland Tax Club, Mensa and the Tax Sections of the American and Ohio State Bar Associations, the American Institute of CPAs, and the Ohio Society of CPAs. Mr. Bernat earned a B.S.B.A. degree in corporate finance, magna cum laude, a B.S. degree in applied mathematics, a B.S. degree in statistics, a B.A. degree in economics, an M.B.A. with an accounting concentration, an M.Tax. degree, and a J.D. degree all from the University of Akron.

Jon Stefanik, an associate with the regional law firm of Buckingham, Doolittle & Burroughs, LLP, focuses his practice on tax planning for a variety of business transactions, as well as on federal and state tax controversies. Mr. Stefanik assists clients with entity formations, contract drafting and an array of other diverse business transactions. His experience includes analysis of a wide range of tax issues, including issues related to LLC and partnership taxation, estate and gift taxation, corporate taxation and state and local taxation. Mr. Stefanik earned his Juris Doctorate, Master of Taxation and Bachelor of Science in Accountancy from The University of Akron.

Erik Rosenfeld, CPA, is a partner specializing in international tax issues with the PwC Cleveland office. He has 10 years of work experience on primarily corporate tax matters involving U.S. based multinational corporations. Erik spent two years in PwC’s Washington National Tax Services office. He specializes in international tax planning issues for U.S. and foreign multinational corporations and teaches regularly at PwC’s national training courses for tax specialists. Erik teaches in the International Tax area.

Carol Ann Szczepanik, LLM (Tax), is the Senior Attorney (Criminal Tax), Office of Chief Counsel, Internal Revenue Service in Cleveland where she acts as the legal advisor to the Criminal Investigation field. She is involved in all aspects of tax crime and money laundering investigations. She works closely with the Economic Crime and Strike Force attorneys at the United States Attorney's office. Ms. Szczepanik teaches a special topics course relating to Tax Crime and Forensics.

Amber Whisenhunt, PhD Candidate, CPA, is assistant professor of accounting and taxation. She has over 6 years of experience in corporate taxation. Prior to joining the University of Akron, she taught taxation courses at The University of Oklahoma while she worked on her Ph.D.