Teresa Thompson, Member at Large

 
 
 
   Teresa Thompson, CPA
   Accounting Faculty and Entrepreneurship Director
   West Valley - Mission College
   Saratoga, CA
   teresa.thompson@wvm.edu

Teresa Thompson had been a ballet dancer by training, but an injury forced her to place that path on hold. During her recovery time, she decided to explore higher learning and started at West Valley Community College in Saratoga, California. Not knowing which class to take, she took the first class listed on the course schedule (ACCT 010), Financial Accounting. She was hooked on the magical subject in that first semester. It perfectly paired with her ballet training -the balance, the focus, the precision! It was perfect! In fact, she loved it so much she started tutoring it at her college! She enjoyed teaching it so much and vowed to return at some point to education.

Teresa finished her community college coursework and then transferred to the University of California, Riverside where she majored in Business Administration with an emphasis in accounting (of course). After earning her undergraduate degree, she began work in the public accounting field and started studying for the Certified Public Accountant (CPA) exam.

After earning her CPA license, she decided to transition to the private sector. Having always had an interest in the automotive industry, (she can name just about any make/model out there) and she joined Hyundai Motor America. There she worked in both financial and managerial accounting for an international car maker. During this time, she returned to school to earn her master’s degree in business administration from the University of California, Irvine.

Teresa was able to enthusiastically return to teaching in 2007 and has taught a variety of accounting and taxation courses since then. In fact, Teresa now teaches at the community college she started at -West Valley College in Saratoga California. There she teaches accounting and oversees the school’s Entrepreneurship Center.

Over the years, Teresa has coauthored an accounting textbook and published several articles on pedagogy. Also, she has earned various accolades including the Excellence in Teaching award from Mission College, Excellence in Service to the Community award from Mission College, and the Gold Presidential Award for Community Service from the White House.