Meet Dr. Billy Brewster

Dr. Billy Brewster started his position as an assistant professor in the Department of Accounting at the McCoy College of Business in 2017. His research combines psychology principles with auditing practices in the accounting world. 

“I do experimental work based on cognitive psychology,” said Dr. Brewster. “We do cognitive psychology research in the accounting context. Our papers can be published in cognitive psychology journals, even management journals, but we tailor most of our research to accounting because it is our incentive to publish there. The people that trained me in Illinois taught me to conduct research in a way that it can be applied to a variety of disciplines.”

Dr. Brewster completed his bachelor’s and master’s in accounting at the University of Texas at Arlington and started working as a staff auditor at Grant Thornton upon graduation, then later an audit manager at Ernst & Young. 

He soon decided to go back to school and study at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign for a Ph.D. in accountancy. He worked as an assistant professor at a few universities — including both his alma maters and Mississippi State University — before joining the faculty at McCoy College. 

When looking at cognitive psychology in relation to accounting, Dr. Brewster conducts research looking for connections between novice professionals and expert professionals in the field. His goal is to find qualities in expert professionals that can be taught to newer accountants to improve career success. 

“Part of what we do is look at the expert and look at what makes the expert so good,” said Dr. Brewster. “It’s not just that they have spent ten years in a job — there’s something subtle they have picked up. We’re trying to figure out what makes them so good and what little mechanisms go on in their brain. Once we find those mechanisms, we look at how to exploit them to make novices better.”

He enjoys working with colleagues with similar expertise, but also those who can bring a unique perspective from interdisciplinary studies. His strength is bringing innovative ideas to the conversation and exploring topics that are not talked about much in accounting research. 

Outside of McCoy College, Dr. Brewster is a fan of college sports and is always rooting for the University of Illinois. He also enjoys working on target practice at the shooting range and keeping up with the landscaping in his yard. He and his wife recently adopted an energetic, Siberian cat nicknamed Alexei, which short Alyosha, a favorite character from a Russian novel. ✯