Susan Quaintance Ferguson, CPA, is a full-time lecturer in James Madison University's School of Accounting where she has taught accounting and ethics courses since 2007. She is an award-winning member of faculty, having earned the JMU Dean’s Impact Award for academic years 2014 – 2020 for “Outstanding Contributions to the College of Business and its Stakeholders.”
She was selected as a JMU College of Business Foundation Faculty Fellow for academic years 2016 – 2020 for exemplifying “the values of the College of Business: integrity, intellectual growth, community, engagement, innovation/collaboration.”
In 2017, Ms. Ferguson received the 2017 College of Business Accenture Professional Service Award. She served as a faculty fellow for JMU's Ethical Reasoning in Action collaborative from 2016 – 2019.
Ms. Ferguson’s previous experience includes working in public accounting for national and local firms, serving as Principal of Susan Q. Ferguson, CPA, and as controller for a multi-office law firm. She paused her professional career for a decade to stay home with her three young sons.
She served as a member of the Virginia Board of Accountancy (2015 – 2019), serving as chair during her final year. She remains an active participant of the VBOA's enforcement committee. Ms. Ferguson serves as a member of the National Association of State Boards of Accountancy’s education committee and previously served on its ethics committee.
Ms. Ferguson also previously served on the Virginia Society of CPAs Board of Directors and as the treasurer for the AVA Care of Harrisonburg clinic.
Some of Ms. Ferguson’s publications include Dependency Exemption Issues for College Students1 , Revisit the Use of Section 529 Plans for Funding College Expenses2 , and the Virginia Society of Certified Public Accountant’s Ethics 2013: Your License Depends on it! instructor and student manuals.
She earned a bachelor’s degree in accounting from the College of William & Mary and a master’s degree in accounting – tax consulting from the University of Virginia.
