Hilary Wallace

Hilary Wallace is a 2026-2030 Self Graduate Fellow pursuing a Ph.D. in Accounting at the University of Kansas. A nontraditional student who returned to the classroom after raising her family in Millersburg, Ohio, she graduated from Ashland University Dauch College of Business and Economics with a bachelor's degree in Accounting in December 2023 and a master's degree in Business Analytics in May 2025 before beginning her Ph.D. at KU.

Working with her advisors Dr. Jeremy Lill and Dr. Amanda Winn, her research examines the unintended consequences of management control system design choices on employee effort and performance, with a goal of bridging academia and practice. Many studies stop at whether a control system appears to be working, but she is interested in the dark side effects that get missed when a design looks successful on the surface. Her goal is for these findings to have real impact in practice, informing how organizations actually design control systems.

After completing her Ph.D., Hilary aspires to become an accounting professor, continuing this work while training the next generation of accountants.

Mentor: Jeremy Lill, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Jack and Shirley Howard Mid-Career Professor