BCAT News

A Burlington resident and highly esteemed professional in the medical community passed away last week.

Dr. Laurie Pant of Burlington, formerly of Andover and the North End of Boston, passed away on November 8, 2021, her obituary from Sullivan Funeral Home states. She was the beloved mother of Casey Pant and his wife Suzanne of New York, NY, and proud grandmother, with her role as “Nana”, to her grandson Evan. Sister of William Waldorf and his late wife Joan of Hamburg, NY. Laurie was also devoted to her long-time partner the late Joel Brown. She maintained a meaningful friendship with her former spouse the late Ramesh Pant and his wife Renu of Cambridge, MA.

Laurie’s work with her students reveals her essential gift as a teacher and her commitment towards education. She started her professional life as a teacher in the Brighton/Rochester, New York school system. She shared engrossing stories about her work with students who had difficult lives. Her stories were not self-aggrandizing, but instead revealed how compelled she felt to delve into each difficult situation as authentically and compassionately as was within her capacity.

As Laurie developed professionally, she started to explore the field of Accounting. After working in the field for a few years, Laurie went back to school to get her MBA (Master of Business Administration) and then her DBA (Doctor of Business Administration) while working full-time and raising a family. Instruction and research in accounting is where Laurie found her true “voice” and professional self. She started teaching at Bentley University, then moved to Boston College, and finally settled down at Suffolk University where she ended her career as Professor Emerita.

When Laurie started her career, there were very few women doing research in accounting ethics. She pioneered research in this area as a standalone subject and also the intersection between accounting and business ethics. Laurie authored and co-authored numerous articles published in high-quality accounting and business ethics journals. In addition to her research, she was the associate editor of the journal “Issues in Accounting Education”. She often said that “accounting was the distillation of human behavior” when it came to understanding business situations. She used accounting as a means of understanding ethical behavior and its impact on business processes and financial reporting.

Aside from her commitment to accounting research, Laurie had a unique way of engaging with her colleagues and students through her sense of humor, understanding, and focus. As a tenured full professor at Suffolk University, she served on various committees including chairing the Promotion, Tenure and Review Committee and the Faculty life and Development Committee. During part of her career she worked tirelessly as chair of the Accounting department. One of her most special qualities was her one-to-one interactions with people. She frequently advised students providing them with honest feedback, meaningful guidance, and substantial support.

In her early fifties, Laurie was diagnosed with Parkinson Disease. Her increasing maturity as an adult, along with the impact of living with a chronic and gradually debilitating disease, led to a shift in her thinking and way of living. Her decisions became more oriented to living in the present moment and taking advantage of the time she had left. She and her partner Joel, who also had a long battle with Parkinso’s, traveled extensively around the world with a love for new experiences. When there was a special event in her life, she did not hold back with regard to making sure celebrations reflected the significance of those important moments. Laurie’s diagnosis of Parkinsons also led to her participation as an active board member of the Massachusetts Chapter of the American Parkinson Disease Association. She participated in many fundraisers, walks, and research projects that were focused on moving towards a cure.

Laurie’s closest family will remember her for her zest for life and how easy it was to talk to her. She could make you feel so special by virtue of her interest in you for who you were as a person. For Laurie, rules were important and had their purpose, but they also needed to be broken when it was done for someone’s well-being or having good, clean, fun. She is pictured by many of her family members eating ice-cream for breakfast. Memories of intimate discussions in the morning over coffee, and larger discussions such as her desire for us to live a fulfilled life, are part of what she has left for us.