- Ph.D. Virginia Commonwealth University - Accounting (Finance minor), 2011

- M.Sc. Cairo University - Accounting (Finance minor), 2004

- B.Com. (Valedictorian, Honor) Cairo University - Accounting (Finance minor), 1997

Dr. El Mahdy’s research covers diverse topics related to earning quality, corporate social responsibility, executive gender, forensic accounting, internal control, accounting education, corporate governance, healthcare, minority-owned small businesses, and information technology. She is particularly interested in conducting research that benefits various stakeholders of the firm and makes a difference in their decisions. Her publications have appeared in Accounting and Finance, Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting, International Journal of Accounting and Information Management, Journal of Forensic and Investigative Accounting, and others. Her intellectual work was featured/cited by The Division of Economic and Risk Analysis (DERA) at the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Bloomberg, WalletHub, NerdWallet, Credit Card Insiders, CLS Blue Sky Blog at Columbia Law School, and the Global Financial Markets Center at Duke Law School, among others.

El Mahdy has 25 years of teaching experience in the USA and overseas. She taught at Georgetown University, American University, Cairo University, and Virginia Commonwealth University. She spent the first 10 years of her academic career teaching Accounting Information Systems and then financial accounting and reporting to undergraduate, and graduate students. In 2021, she was named a finalist for the Community Innovator of the Year Award (Instructional Category) at Morgan State University. In the same year, she was also awarded the PowerLIVE Faculty Award (Greater Than) due to her commitment and contribution to her students' academic success.

El Mahdy is a Certified Fraud Examiner (CFE), and Certified Advanced Tax Preparer and Reviewer. She strives to give back to her community, profession, and institution. She frequently volunteers during tax seasons with the CASH Campaign of Maryland to prepare or review taxes for low- and medium-level taxpayers in the state of Maryland. She is currently serving as the Vice-President of Karina Association, Inc., a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization in the state of Maryland that provides art therapy and vocational training to youth of all abilities.

El Mahdy received numerous awards and recognition for teaching, research, and service over the years. She is on the Editorial Advisory Board of the Journal of Forensic & Investigative Accounting (JFIA) and the Editorial Board of the Corporate Governance and Sustainability Review Journal (CGSR). Since 2020, El Mahdy has been honored to receive invitations to speak at events and forums, locally and internationally, on topics related to Gender Equality, Cyber Violence, and the Advancement of Women’s Rights in the Digital Age. Notably, she was humbled in 2020 when she received an eminent guest speaker invitation to speak at the Bhagat Phool Singh Mahila Vishwavidyalaya University, the first women's only state university in North India that provides education from KG to Ph.D. degrees.  

Research Interests:

Real Earnings Management; Information Asymmetry; Internal Control Quality; Forensic Accounting; Voluntary Disclosure; Corporate Governance; Blockchains; Information Technology; Accounting Education; Corporate Social Responsibility.

Publications:

• Wood, D. A., M. Achhpilia, M. T., Adams, [et al. including El Mahdy, D.]. (2023). The ChatGPT Artificial Intelligence Chatbot: How Well Does It Answer Accounting Assessment Questions? Issues in Accounting Education. https://doi.org/10.2308/ISSUES-2023-013

• El Mahdy, D., and Alali, F. (2023). Female CFOs and Managerial Opportunism. Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11156-022-01124-1. (In press).

• Rankin, K., El Mahdy, D., and Rau, S. (2023). It’s not a secret anymore! – PRC company and audit firm collide. Issues in Accounting Education. https://doi.org/10.2308/ISSUES-2021-047
• El Mahdy, D., Hao, J., and Cong, Y. (2022). Audit Committee Financial Expertise and Information Asymmetry.  Journal of Financial Reporting and Accounting. (in print).  https://doi.org/10.1108/JFRA-12-2021-0440
• Yang, L., and El Mahdy, D. (2022). Social Networking (Guanxi) and Whistleblowing Intentions: Do Employees' CSR Attitude Ring the Bell?  Journal of Forensic & Investigative Accounting 14 (2):236-258. 
• El Mahdy, D. (2021). The Economic Effect of Bitcoin Halving Events on the US Capital Market. Accounting and Finance Innovation. IntechOpen, London, UK. DOI:10.5772/intechopen.96791.  
• El Mahdy, D. (2020). The Unintended Consequences of Voluntary Adoption of Clawback Provisions on Managerial Ability. Accounting & Finance 60 (4): 3493-3526. https://doi.org/10.1111/acfi.12528.
• El Mahdy, D. (2019). Corporate Governance and the Global Financial Crisis: What Have We Missed? Journal of Accounting & Finance 19 (2):42-55.
• El Mahdy, D. (2016). Corporate Governance and U.S. Firms over the Last Three Decades. Journal of Accounting, Ethics & Public Policy 16 (1): 899-942.
• Mohapatra, P., El Mahdy, D., and Xu, L. (2015). Auditing and Internal Controls for Offshored Accounting Processes: A Research Agenda. International Journal of Accounting and Information Management 23 (4): 310-326. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJAIM-10-2014-0072.
• El Mahdy, D. F. and Thrivadi, S. (2014). Antecedents, Characteristics and Consequences of Internal Control Weaknesses and the COSO (2013) Framework. Journal of Forensic Studies in Accounting and Business 6 (1):109-136.
• El Mahdy, D. F. and Park, M. S. (2014). Internal Control Quality and Information Asymmetry in the Secondary Loan Market. Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting 3 (4): 683-720. DOI: 10.1007/s11156-013-0389-1. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11156-013-0389-1.
• El Mahdy, D. F. (2012). Internal Control Quality and Information Asymmetry in the Secondary Loan Market. ProQuest, UMI Dissertation Publishing. ISBN-10: 1249052904. ISBN-13: 978-1249052906.
• El Mahdy, D. F. and Norman, C. S. (2010). Corporate Governance and the U.S. Firm: A Review and Directions for Future Research. New York: Nova Science Publishers. ISBN-10: 1617287822. ISBN-13: 978-1617287824.
• El Mahdy, D. and Abdou, A. A. (2006). Trends of the Returns-Earnings Associations over the    Last Three Decades. Focus on Finance and Accounting Research. New York: Nova Science  Publishers. ISBN-10: 1600213804. ISBN-13: 978-1600213809.