FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                        2001-44



      BETTY CHAVIS APPOINTED ACADEMIC ACCOUNTING FELLOW
               DIVISION OF CORPORATION FINANCE


     Washington, DC, May 10, 2001 --The Securities and
Exchange Commission's Division of Corporation Finance
recently selected Professor Betty Chavis as the Academic
Accounting Fellow for a one-year term beginning August 2001.
Currently, Professor Chavis is chair of the accounting
department at California State University, Fullerton.  She
is also the Co-director of the Center for the Study of
Emerging Financial Markets at CSU Fullerton.  Prior to
joining the faculty at CSU Fullerton in 1996, Professor
Chavis was an assistant professor at the University of
Wyoming, an assistant professor at California State
University Los Angeles and a lecturer at the University of
Southern California.  She also conducted summer seminars on
International Financial Statement Analysis and International
Business at Lingnon College in Guangzhou, China and Saratov
University in Russia.  She holds a Ph.D. from the University
of Southern California, an MS in Accountancy from the
University of Denver, and a BS from Kent State University.
She has served as president of the Western Region of the
American Accounting Association.

Professor Chavis's current research interests include
quality of earnings issues involving revenue recognition
concerns and the value relevance of the measurement of
assets and liabilities.  She also researches in the areas of
international accounting and tax.  Her research findings
have been published in The Journal of Accounting, Auditing
and Finance, The Journal of International Taxation, The
Journal of Financial Statement Analysis, and a number of
other 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 office, including rulemaking,
researching financial reporting issues in connection with
Division policy or program initiatives, and consultation
with registrants on accounting and reporting matters.
Professor Chavis will replace the current academic
accounting fellow, Professor Thornton who will return to
Queen's School of Business in Canada.



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