Bret Johnson

George Mason University Costello College of Business Faculty Bret Johnson
Titles and Organizations

Associate Professor, Accounting
Additional Roles: 
Academic Director, Master's in Accounting

Contact Information

Email: bjohns37@gmu
Phone: (703) 993-8185
Office Location: Enterprise Hall 236
Office Hours: By appointment

Biography

Bret A. Johnson joined the accounting faculty at Mason in 2015 after completing his PhD at The Ohio State University. He also holds a master’s and bachelor’s degree in accounting from Brigham Young University.

His professional experience includes working as a senior auditor for Ernst & Young and as a staff accountant at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Johnson is a CPA licensed in Virginia. His research and teaching interests are in financial accounting, particularly focused on disclosure and regulation.

Research Interests

  • SEC Reporting and Regulation
  • Financial Accounting and Disclosure

Education

  • PhD - Accounting, The Ohio State University
  • MS - Accounting, Brigham Young University 
  • BS - Accounting, Brigham Young University 

Research and Awards

Research:

  • "Protecting Wall Street or Main Street: SEC Monitoring and Enforcement of Retail-Owned Firms” Review of Accounting Studies, 2022
  • “SEC Comment Letters on Form S-4 and M&A Accounting Quality” Review of Accounting Studies, 2022.
  • “Information Leakage Around SEC Comment Letters” Management Science, 2022.
  • “Is There Information Content in Information Acquisition?” The Accounting Review, 2020.
  • “The Switch Up: An Examination of Changes in Earnings Management after Receiving SEC Comment Letters” Contemporary Accounting Research, 2020.
  • Bret Johnson on Google Scholar

Awards:

  • 2022 MSA Outstanding Faculty Award
  • MSA Faculty of the Year 2021
  • SEC Academic Fellowship 2020-2021
  • MSA Faculty of the Year and Online Faculty of the Year 2019
  • Philip A. Blanchard Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Education 2018
  • Outstanding Professor in Major 2016-2017

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