FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                        2000-109
                          

   DANIEL B. THORNTON APPOINTED ACADEMIC ACCOUNTING FELLOW

     Washington, DC, August 7, 2000 - The Securities and
Exchange Commission's Division of Corporation Finance recently
selected Professor Daniel B. Thornton as the Academic
Accounting Fellow for a one-year term beginning August 2000.
Currently, Professor Thornton is a professor at Queen's
School of Business in Canada. He is also is a voting member
of Canada's Accounting Standards Board and Associate Editor
of The Accounting Review and Contemporary Accounting
Research.

     Prior to joining Queen's University in 1993, Professor
Thornton held the Alberta Chartered Accountants'
professorship and was a Professor at the University of
Toronto. He has held visiting appointments at University of
British Columbia, Hong Kong Polytechnic University,
Concordia University and Osgoode Hall Law School. He holds a
Ph.D. from York University and B.Sc. and MBA degrees from
the University of Western Ontario.

     Before serving recently as President of the Canadian
Academic Accounting Association, Professor Thornton received
the Association's awards for both Distinguished Contribution
to Accounting Thought and Outstanding Educator and was
elected a Fellow of the Institutes of Chartered Accountants
(FCA) in two Canadian provinces, Ontario and Alberta.
Professor Thornton has appeared as an expert witness for
Canada's Department of Justice in tax cases involving
derivatives accounting, tax arbitrage and income
determination.

     Professor Thornton's current research interests include
various issues concerning market risk disclosures and
accounting for derivatives and contingent liabilities. His
research findings have been published in Contemporary
Accounting Research, The Journal of Business, Accounting
Organizations and Society, The Journal of Business Finance
and Accounting, Accounting and Business Research, Accounting
Horizons, and a number of other international journals.

     At the Commission, the Academic Accounting Fellow
serves as a research resource for the staff by interpreting
and communicating research materials as they relate to
various areas of interest to the SEC. In addition, the
Academic Fellow has been assigned to ongoing projects in the
Division of Corporation Finance, including rulemaking, liaison
with the professional accounting standards-setting bodies
and consultation with registrants on accounting and
reporting matters. Professor Thornton will replace the
current academic accounting fellow, Professor Patricia M.
Fairfield, who will return to Georgetown University.

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