Accounting Alum Connects Fundamentals with High-Level Insights as Executive-in-Residence
There are a lot of letters, numbers and acronyms used in an advanced-level tax course.
They’re not just corporate jargon: they’re important parts of the U.S. Internal Revenue Code, and they’re important for all kinds of transactions, including mergers and acquisitions (M&A) — and vital knowledge for those who want to pursue their CPA or other certifications.
Current LeBow tax and accounting students are seeing some of those concepts brought to life with help from Jack Buhsmer, BSBA accounting ‘81, who’s contributing insights from his decades in international tax planning and consulting as the Department of Accounting’s first-ever Executive-in-Residence.
“I’ve been blessed with a really long and interesting career, and it’s because I had a foundation in accounting from Drexel,” Buhsmer says. “That’s what got me everywhere I’ve been.”
After graduating from Drexel, Buhsmer earned his JD and LLM degrees from Villanova. He first worked as an international tax consultant with Price Waterhouse, then at Westinghouse Electric Corporation, before serving as a vice president with Fresh Del Monte Produce and Roper Technologies.
“I did M&A in my last job at a pretty high level,” he says. “That’s really my wheelhouse.”
Now based in Florida after a wide-ranging international career, including long stints in Hong Kong and the United Kingdom, he’s focused on giving back and educating future tax experts.
After giving a virtual guest lecture in Assistant Clinical Professor of Accounting Tom Baselice’s Advanced Federal Taxes course, Buhsmer came to campus for an in-person session where he shared a bit about his career path and the opportunities he sought out while tying his perspectives into concepts from Baselice’s class.
“Jack brought the tax topics we covered in prior classes to a whole new level by explaining how the concepts were applied in his career,” Baselice says. “He also gave very useful advice to tax and accounting students on becoming successful professionals.”
Buhsmer’s experience in foreign markets drew lots of interest, particularly from international students, and one piece of on-the-job advice prompted a flurry of nods and note-taking: “You have to be present and accountable, or they’ll find somebody else.”
“They were not asking undergraduate-level questions,” he adds. “Those were on the level of graduate tax students.”
Having assisted with Tom’s class and another section taught by Stacy Kline, CPA, associate dean for teaching and learning and clinical professor of accounting, Buhsmer has designs for how to build on these initial guest lectures.
“I’m working with Tom on how to amplify what we did this year by looking at a generic M&A deal — the kind of Fortune 100-level acquisition you’d read about in Bloomberg or the Wall Street Journal,” he says. “I want to take the students through the timeline of a merger or acquisition, looking at it from both the buy side and the sell side, including the due diligence that’s done and what roles are involved.”
“That’s a perspective not everyone has, but when you’re in a large company, that’s a vantage point that’s invaluable.”
Buhsmer’s term as Executive-in-Residence isn’t his first time in the classroom; before retirement, he provided occasional guest lectures at several universities in Florida before his appearance in Kline’s course. What he shared then were mostly “war stories,” as he calls them, relating high-stakes situations on the job. The volume of complements and questions from students afterward made it clear that his guest lecture was well-received, and he felt moved to name LeBow’s Accounting Department in his will.
“We are more than thrilled to have Jack back on campus and in the classroom,” says Curtis Hall, PhD, department head and associate professor of accounting. “Experiential learning is our north star at Drexel, and Jack exemplifies the successes that can start with that foundation. He has already inspired our students, not just with real-world examples, but as a demonstration of what our students can aspire to through hard work, determination and generosity.”
While introducing students to M&A concepts — the dynamics between target and acquirer, dueling forecasts and financial — Buhsmer is mindful of staying grounded in fundamental accounting principles.
“The principles apply to everyone from the smallest CPA firm to the largest multinational companies,” he says. “When you’re working in M&A, you’re testing the elasticity of those principles at the highest level.”
“I want to bring that all to life in the next course. When I’m talking about it, I feel like I’m back in it.”
