Rita Cheng, chancellor of Southern Illinois University Carbondale, received the Enduring Lifetime Contribution Award from the Government and Nonprofit Section of the American Accounting Association. Dr. Cheng is the 15th person and the only woman to have received the award. Dr. Cheng served as president of the Government and Nonprofit Section from 2000 to 2001.
Dr. Cheng became chancellor of Southern Illinois University Carbondale in 2010. Previously, she was provost and vice chancellor for academic affairs at the University of Wisconsin Milwaukee. She served on the business school faculty there for 22 years.
Dr. Cheng earned an MBA at the University of Rhode Island and a Ph.D. from Temple University in Philadelphia. She is a certified public accountant and a certified government financial manager. She is the co-author of the textbook Advanced Accounting, now in its 11th edition.