Online Bachelor's Degree: Accounting

Helen Pruitt works as a principal accountant examiner in the Chief Accountant's Office for a federal government regulatory agency in Washington, D.C., focusing on accounting policy related to derivatives, debt, and insurance accounting.

Pruitt earned an MBA from Amberton University and a bachelor's degree from University of Texas at Arlington. Her certifications include CPA, CFE, CITP, CFF, and AMP.

As associate professor and chair of the undergraduate accounting program at University of Maryland Global Campus, Sobieralski teaches financial and managerial accounting, government and not-for-profit accounting, auditing, and advanced accounting. She encourages students to explore and prepare for certifications such as the CMA, IIA, CISA, and CPA.

Sobieralski earned a Bachelor of Science in accounting and business administration from Saint Mary's College (Notre Dame), an MBA from Indiana University South Bend, and a Master of Science in accountancy from the University of Notre Dame. She is currently working on completing a PhD in educational leadership at Indiana State University. She brings over 12 years of experience teaching and learning at a distance and manages a curriculum of 21 courses in undergraduate accounting for UMGC.

Sobieralski is a long-time educator and a member of professional organizations including the Institute of Internal Auditors, the Information Systems Audit and Control Association, the American Accounting Association, the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners, and the Association of Government Accountants. She is a founding member of UMGC's student chapter of the Institute of Management Accountants.

Eric M. Sumners works as an analyst at the U.S. Department of Justice and holds certifications including CPA, CFE, CISA, CIA, and CFSA.

His article, “The Spinster and the Investment,” was published in the “Financial Statement Fraud Casebook: Baking the Ledgers and Cooking the Books.”

He earned a Master of Science in finance from University of Michigan at Dearborn and a Bachelor of Arts in accounting from Michigan State University.

David P. Weber teaches fraud investigation and forensic accounting. A Certified Fraud Examiner, registered private investigator, and attorney in private practice, he previously served as the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's assistant inspector general for investigations–the SEC’s chief investigator. He was responsible for the identification and reporting of misconduct involving the SEC's operations and programs, including agency misconduct in the Bernard L. Madoff and R. Allen Stanford investigations, the two largest Ponzi schemes in U.S. history.

Previously, he worked for the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, overseeing all banking enforcement activities and investigations involving state-chartered banks and bank failures for the western half of the United States. Before joining the FDIC, Weber served in the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, where he investigated and prosecuted landmark consumer protection and fraud cases.

Weber recently worked as the banking expert to assist the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists with the Panama Papers investigation, which was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Explanatory Journalism in 2017. In 2019, the investigation was made into a major motion picture, for which Weber served as the technical consultant and played a cameo role as an investigative reporter.

Weber earned a Juris Doctor from Syracuse University College of Law and a Bachelor of Science in criminal justice from Utica College of Syracuse University. He is admitted to practice law in Maryland, Virginia, the District of Columbia, and New York, before several U.S. district courts and the Supreme Court.

Joseph Whelan is program chair of undergraduate accounting at University of Maryland Global Campus. Besides managing the program, he teaches upper-level accounting and finance courses. These courses include business finance, intermediate accounting, international accounting, and advanced accounting. Professor Whelan received a Doctor of Management from UMGC. He earned a Master of Science in accountancy and an MBA in finance and investments at George Washington University and a Bachelor of Science in finance and investments at University of Maryland, College Park. Whelan is also a Certified Public Accountant.

Whelan has more than 40 years of experience in finance and accounting systems, international projects and markets, foreign direct investment, mergers and acquisitions, risk management, and business development and planning as a manager, consultant, administrator, and professor. His business experience has included serving as Manager of Planning and Analysis for LTV Aerospace and Defense Company, where he was responsible for corporate strategic planning and involved with marketing and project investment plans for Turkey, Japan, Korea, Greece, Eastern Europe, and Latin America. As manager of business development for LTV, he participated in expanding the company through joint ventures and acquisitions. Whelan was an associate and senior consultant at Booz Allen Hamilton where he provided financial and management consulting services to U.S. government and international clients. He also served as treasurer for the City of Hyattsville in Maryland and was responsible for all fiscal matters.