Markus Ahrens joined the Accounting & Legal Studies Department at St. Louis Community College-Meramec in 2001 and currently serves as the Department Chair. Prior to his teaching career, he worked as an accountant for 15 years. Since 2006, Markus has taught as an adjunct professor in the Master of Health Administration Program at St. Louis University. In addition, Markus is a licensed Certified Public Accountant and a Chartered Global Management Accountant.
Markus is active in service learning and served as a Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) Site Coordinator for eight years. His primary research interests are experiential learning in accounting education and student engagement utilizing technology. Also, Markus co-founded TeachingandLearningToolbox.com, a free website dedicated to providing educators with up-to-date teaching and learning resources “where technology connects with pedagogy to raise the learning bar.” Markus has given over 100 academic presentations, mostly related to student engagement techniques. In addition, Markus has conducted faculty professional development workshops throughout the United States and in London.
Markus has received national awards for his teaching and his innovation in the classroom, including most recently, the 2017 Educator of the Year Award from the American Accounting Association Two-Year College Section. In addition, Markus is the proud recipient of the 2016 American Accounting Association / J. Michael and Mary Anne Cook / Deloitte Foundation Prize. The Cook Prize is the foremost recognition of an individual who consistently demonstrates the attributes of a superior teacher in the discipline of accounting. Markus has also received the AICPA Bea Sanders Innovation Award in Teaching Introductory Accounting Courses and the Innovation of the Year awarded by the League for Innovation.
Currently, Markus serves on the Board of Directors for the Missouri Society of Certified Public Accountants (MOCPA), is the Chair for the MOCPA Education Foundation Board and is a past Trustee for the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) Foundation Board. In addition, Markus is the 2017-2018 Council Chair for the American Accounting Association. Markus served as the 2014-2016 President for the Two-Year Section of the American Accounting Association and is the past-chair for the Conference on Teaching and Learning in Accounting. Furthermore, Markus is a past member of the AICPA Pre-Certification Education Executive Committee. In 2010, Markus served as president for the Missouri Association of Accounting Educators. Markus is a member of the Teachers of Accounting at Two-Year Colleges, Institute of Management Accountants and the Association of Experiential Education organizations.
