Saleha Khumawala

Professor - Musa and Khaleda Dakri Endowed Chair in Economic Inclusion, Executive Director of the Dakri Center for Economic Inclusion and Founding Director of the SURE℠ Program

Saleha Khumawala

Bio

Ph.D., University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 1978, Accounting. CPA (Texas), CGMA. She teaches and does research in the field of Government and NonProfit Accounting and Social Entrepreneurship and is the founding director of the SURE℠ (Stimulating Urban Renewal through Entrepreneurship) Program. She has widely published in prestigious journals such as The Accounting Review, Journal of Accounting and Public Policy, Journal of Accounting, Auditing and Finance, Accounting Horizons, Advances in International Accounting, Journal of Public Budgeting Accountability and Financial Management and others, made numerous presentations at national and international conferences and is an active member in several academic & professional organizations. She has successfully led the Study Abroad Programs to India since 2002 for students, faculty and administrators at the University of Houston. She is also the coauthor of Government and Not-for-Profit Accounting: Concepts and Practices, 10th edition, John Wiley & Sons, and coauthor of Governmental Accounting, Bloomberg's Tax & Accounting Policy & Portfolio Series and is an active member in several academic & professional organizations and served as the President of the Government and NonProfit Section of the American Accounting Association in 2007-2008. Dr. Khumawala has received numerous awards and accolades including the Piper Professor 2018 award, the enduring life-time achievement award from the GNP section of the American Accounting Association in 2021, the Inspiring Programs in Business award in 2023, the Excellence in Pedagogical Innovation award from USASBE in 2024, and in 2026 the Global Impact Award for Societal Impact from the AACSB and Community Leadership Award from the Houston Business Journal. Dr. Khumawala is also an advisor to several nonprofit organizations in Houston and serves on the Board of directors for Pennies for Education and Health.

SURE℠ Program: Stimulating Urban Renewal through Entrepreneurship

SURE is an innovative experiential educational model that creates a unique ecosystem by partnering UH students, aspiring local entrepreneurs, and executive business leaders. The key focus is for our students to develop an entrepreneurial mindset and cultivate the human centric skills they need for the future of work that cannot be replaced by an algorithm. Simultaneously it uplifts the community (a huge societal impact), all within the confines of a classroom.

Impact (as of 2025)

600+ students trained in human-centric skills

2,300+ Local entrepreneurs educated

1,426 Businesses launched/grown

$57MM Annual Revenue Generated by SURE℠ Trained Business Owners

10,130 Hours of One-on-One Business Consulting provided by UH Students in the SURE Program every year with an economic value of $1,620,800.

3,300 Total Jobs created by SURE℠ Trained Entrepreneurs

$501,095,100 Total Economic Impact* of the SURE Program

*Based on the World Bank figure of GDP per person employed

Learn more at Dakri Center for Economic Inclusion.

Research Interests

  • Social Entrepreneurship
  • Accounting for Not-for-Profit entities
  • Governmental Accounting

Selected Publications

  • "Donor Use of Nonprofit Financial Information" 2023 (with Arpita Shroff) In Research Handbook on Nonprofit Accounting, edited by L.M. Parsons and D. Tinkelman. Northampton, MA. Edward Elgar Publishing.
  • "Cultivating University and Community Partnerships" 2023 (with Mitchell Berg, Mike Greco and Maddi Menich). PM Magazine. https://icma.org/articles/pm-magazine/cultivating-university-and-community-partnerships June 2023
  • "Real Effects of Governmental Accounting Standards: Evidence from GASB Statement No. 53 - Accounting and Financial Reporting for Derivative Instruments" (with Tharindra Ranasinghe and Claire Yan). Journal of Accounting and Public Policy, Vol. 39, No. 5, 2020, pp 106-119
  • Accounting for Governments and Organizations in the Public Sector in India (with Arpita Shroff) The Routledge Handbook of Accounting in Asia. Routledge. (2017), pp 193-205
  • "Why Hedge? Extent, Nature, and Determinants of Derivative Usage in US Municipalities," (with Tharindra Ranasinghe and Claire Yan). Journal of Accounting and Public Policy, Vol. 35, No. 3, 2016, pp 303-325
  • "Executive Compensation and Regulation Imposed Governance: Evidence from the California Nonprofit Integrity Act (2004)," (coauthored with Sandip Dhole, Tharindra Ranasinghe and Sagarika Mishra). The Accounting Review, Vol. 90, No. 2, 2015, pp 443-466

Contact Info

Phone:
 713-743-4829 
Email:
  saleha@uh.edu
Room:
 MH 325A
Website:
  Visit Web Site

Courses

  • Government and Nonprofit Accounting
  • Brainstorming to Bankrolling: Beyond the Classroom
  • Principles of Microfinance
  • International Business: Experience in Emerging Market Economies

Education

Ph.D. Accounting
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill