Accounting for the Next Generation
“Central did a great job of preparing me for my entire career and gave me lifelong friendships. I’m just really grateful that I chose Central.”
— Kevin Den Adel ’91
Story By: Grace Benson ’26
Kevin Den Adel ’91 is no stranger to the classroom. After graduating from Central College with a degree in accounting, Den Adel pursued a Ph.D. in accounting at the University of Iowa. Since then, the Pella native has held faculty positions at both Central and Iowa.
According to Den Adel, it all started in Pella.
“I was a big fan of Central growing up and went to a lot of football and basketball games,” he recalls. “I knew that the smaller campus would be the right fit for me as a person. Those are the primary reasons I chose Central.”
As Den Adel got to know campus from a student’s perspective, he began finding his place and discovering new passions.
“I was going to be a math major because I had always taken a lot of math courses in high school and did well with those. But then in my sophomore year, I took an accounting course and ended up liking both the quantitative aspect from the math perspective and the application in the business world. So, accounting became a good choice for those skills and interests.”
For Den Adel, relationships and opportunities for growth are what made his Central experience stand out. He became involved in different clubs and organizations and even traveled to Yucatán with the jazz band one year.
“I was involved in the student business organization, and I was in Student Senate my senior year,” he says. “It was really all the relationships with friends that made the Central experience a lasting memory for me.”
After Central, Den Adel passed the CPA exam and went on to work at a small accounting firm in Oskaloosa. He enjoyed his job, but he knew what he really wanted was more education.
“I felt that getting a Ph.D. was something I wanted, so I looked into doctorate programs. It was kind of similar to how I ended up at Central,” Den Adel admits. “I was very familiar with the University of Iowa and was always a big fan, so I looked into their Ph.D. program. It seemed like a good fit for me.”
The Central connections remained strong even as Den Adel began his six-year journey at the University of Iowa.
“Interestingly, when I joined the Ph.D. program at Iowa, there were two other Central alumni out of 12 total students,” he shares. “At that time, 25% of the Ph.D. candidates were Central accounting alumni. It was nice to have that that network there.”
After he finished his doctorate degree, Den Adel joined the accounting faculty at Purdue University. Three years later, an opportunity at Central opened when one of his former accounting mentors retired.
“I interviewed for the position, and then I spent seven years as a faculty member at Central from 2002 to 2009,” Den Adel says. “As a faculty person, you see a lot of the behind the scenes that’s necessary for the whole student experience. It was enjoyable being part of that.”
When the door opened for Den Adel to return to the University of Iowa, he moved to Iowa City and spent 13 years as director of the undergraduate program. He has worked as director of the Master of Accountancy program since 2022.
“At Iowa, I teach primarily undergraduate accounting majors, mostly seniors,” Den Adel shares. “Seeing students right before they graduate, you have a chance to really develop their skills. Being a graduate of Central where communication skills are essential, I focus a lot on writing skills and interpersonal skills.”
In fact, Den Adel’s investment in seniors earned him the University of Iowa’s 2023 Faculty/Staff Member Making Positive Difference in the Life of a Graduating Senior award. Every year, the University of Iowa surveys graduating students and ask them to identify faculty members who have had a positive impact on their college experience. Den Adel’s name came up several times in survey responses.
“It’s a good honor,” he acknowledges humbly.
Alongside his wholehearted commitment to students at the University of Iowa, Den Adel financially supports Central and serves on the economics, accounting and management department’s advisory council. He is now in the process of endowing a scholarship for Central students.
“When I was a student at Central, I was the recipient of significant scholarship funding, which was a big help to me,” Den Adel recalls. “In my current role at Iowa, one of the things I’ve been involved with every year is making decisions about accounting scholarships for students. I’ve seen firsthand how scholarships have big impacts.”
Den Adel views his current donations to Central and his future endowed scholarship as investing in the dreams of Central students. In fact, he considers giving to Central one of his favorite things to donate to each year. He hopes the scholarship will help persuade more students to call Central home.
“Central did a great job of preparing me for my entire career and gave me lifelong friendships,” Den Adel shares. “I’m just really grateful that I chose Central.”