Celebrating Professor Irene Wiecek's work, achievements, and retirement

Irene Wiecek, FCPA, FCA, a distinguished professor in accounting, has had a substantial impact on the accounting profession, education, and community here at the University of Toronto and beyond. Through many key roles and initiatives, Wiecek has shown her passion and ability to integrate accounting with other emerging societal concerns including sustainability and artificial intelligence (AI), both of which continue to emphasize the innovative thinking and drive Wiecek tirelessly brings to her work. Throughout her 30 plus years in accounting education, Wiecek, has been involved in numerous university, international and national accounting organizations and has co-authored many publications intended to aid both students and professors in understanding the fast-paced and continually innovative field of accounting.  

While obtaining her undergraduate degree and other professional designations, Wiecek quickly understood that her skills, interests, and future aspirations aligned with the field of professional accounting. Wiecek’s capacity for teaching, sharing knowledge, and helping others blossomed through her experiences in mentorship programs and volunteering, broadening her professional outlook in unexpected directions and leading her to positions that optimized her professional philosophies and skillsets. Reflecting on the unexpected turn her career took, Wiecek says that “the one thing that’s been constant that people identified for me was that I helped people [ ...] and that never changed”, and though dedication and conscientiousness were instrumental in her success, Wiecek found that through being open, her career naturally unfolded to meet her expectations and desires. It was the rewarding nature of helping others find their professional avenues and strengths that inspired Wiecek’s involvement in facilitating positive experiences in accounting, whether that be through her teaching approaches, textbook authorships, or increasing industry interaction with big data and AI technologies.  

One of the ways in which Wiecek has demonstrated her passion for enhancing accounting education is through co-authoring multiple publications and textbooks. What started out as a love for writing and a desire to have a more systematic and consistent impact on students culminated in co-authoring eight editions of the top-selling intermediate accounting textbook in Canada. With new and updated topics, as well as the integration of how emerging ideas and technologies are changing the field of accounting, these textbooks and publications have been incredibly valuable to both students and professors wanting to gain refreshing insights into the role of accounting in an evolving world.  As an example, Wiecek’s educational materials have helped countless faculty and instructors to bridge accounting education with sustainability and data analytics – two areas that are rapidly changing the way accounting is done. Bridging that gap between theory and real-world applications for professors and students has been an incredibly rewarding experience for Wiecek: she cites that “working together with other professors, connecting and learning from each other, and providing access to  solid material they can take into the classrooms with confidence” has been crucial in building a cohesive community of educators, industry professionals, and students.  

Over her long and impactful career, Wiecek has never backed down from challenges and changes that have come her way, as she thinks this a way to embrace one’s curiosities and explore the unique opportunities for personal and professional development. The advent of new technological frontiers in accounting is yet another new challenge Wiecek has enthusiastically embraced through pedagogical pursuits, helping to build competency maps for new accountants, and establishing the BIGDataAIHUB, a research cluster at IMI dedicated to promoting education and engagement around big data, data analytics, and AI. Though she may be professionally retiring, Wiecek still intends to be involved in many projects and initiatives centering around accountancy education here at the University of Toronto via a transitional role. Reflecting on her career and future, Wiecek says that “the concept of retirement is a little bit different in academia [...] because when you love what you do, you’ll continue to do it, one way or another.” With a constantly changing world that puts challenging academic demands on institutions, it’s professors like Irene Wiecek who push the field forward in positive directions so that emerging accountants and educators are better equipped for the roads that lay ahead.