Pat Turner

Pat Turner loves Colorado and teaching accounting. Born and raised in the east, Pat and her family moved to Colorado in 1969 when Pat’s dad, an engineer with Bell Labs, was transferred from Holmdel, New Jersey, to Denver. Pat experimented with several lines of work and fields of study, but in the late seventies, she discovered a passion for accounting. Pat earned a bachelor’s degree in finance from CU Denver and a master’s degree in accounting from CU Boulder. She passed the CPA exam in 1981, winning the Silver Medal for the highest score in Colorado and the Elijah Watts Sells award for being among the 100 highest scorers in the U.S. After five years in public accounting with Arthur Andersen in Denver, Pat moved to Steamboat Springs to practice with a local firm as their tax manager. When CMC advertised a full-time faculty position to teach accounting and business, Pat jumped at the chance and discovered another passion—for teaching. After teaching a variety of accounting, business, and computer classes, Pat embraced the new interactive video system that CMC initiated in 1994 and began reaching out to accounting students at all the CMC campuses and sites. The accounting program really took off! Pat was able to teach accounting courses exclusively now and connected with aspiring CPAs across the college district. After assisting in development of CMC’s BSBA program, Pat developed the BSBA with an accounting emphasis and rolled the new program out in fall 2013. An immediate success, the four-year accounting program continues to grow and provide those aspiring CPAs with the courses they need to sit for the CPA exam in Colorado. After 27 years as an accounting teacher, Pat is stepping down to pursue other interests, but her passion for teaching accounting continues. With the Next Generation CPAs scholarship, Pat will continue to encourage and support aspiring CPAs in Colorado who choose to pursue their dreams at CMC.