D. Eric Hirst is an assistant professor of accounting at the University of Texas at Austin, where he teaches courses in financial accounting and financial statement analysis in the MBA program. His current research focuses on how individual investors evaluate and use forward-looking information contained in management discussion and analysis (MD&A). Professor Hirst holds a Ph.D. from the University of Minnesota. His research has been published in Journal of Accounting Research, Contemporary Accounting Research, Auditing: A Journal of Practice & Theory, and Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes. He was awarded the Joe D. Beasley Award for Teaching Excellence in the University of Texas MBA Core in 1995.

Patrick E. Hopkins is an assistant professor in the Kelley School of Business at Indiana University, where he teaches topics in advanced financial accounting. He holds a Ph.D. from the Graduate School of Business at the University of Texas at Austin. His research has been published in such journals as the Journal of Accounting Research, Issues in Accounting Education, and Perceptual and Motor Skills. Professor Hopkins is a CPA.