Dean Christopher Cocozza Receives 2026 Lehigh Valley Leaders in Business and Finance Lifetime Achievement Award
Dr. Christopher R. Cocozza, dean of the Waterbury Reilly School of Business at DeSales University, has been named a Lifetime Achievement honoree at the 2026 Lehigh Valley Leaders in Business and Finance Awards.
The award recognizes professionals whose careers have left a lasting mark on the region. For Cocozza, that mark spans more than a quarter century of teaching, leadership, and community service.
“It’s truly an honor to be recognized by such a respected organization for the work I have done at DeSales University,” Cocozza said. “It gives me a great sense of pride to know that my contributions to the Lehigh Valley community are appreciated by my peers.”
Cocozza arrived at DeSales in 2000 as an accounting faculty member. He went on to serve as department chair and division head, and he has been part of the University’s leadership team since 2007. In 2023, he became the inaugural dean of the Waterbury Reilly School of Business, where he has overseen the growth of undergraduate and graduate programs, deepened ties with regional employers, and widened opportunities for hands-on learning.
His academic and professional background is broad. He holds a J.D. from Fordham University School of Law and an LL.M. in taxation from New York University School of Law, and he is licensed to practice law in New Jersey and New York. He also earned a bachelor’s degree in accounting from Fordham’s Gabelli School of Business and is a licensed CPA in Pennsylvania. Before entering academia, he worked in taxation at Deloitte and the Lexis Publishing Group.
In the classroom, Cocozza teaches Federal Income Taxation, Regulation, and the Legal Environment of Business to undergraduates, and Advanced Law and Taxation in the MBA program. Over the past 25 years he has taught more than 3,000 students. He has published research on taxation and retirement planning in The Pennsylvania CPA Journal and The Journal of Financial Planning, has presented his work at numerous conferences, and spent a decade as an academic editor for the Becker CPA Review’s Regulation textbook.
Cocozza co-mentors the Accounting and Finance Club, which has organized educational trips to business organizations in New York City, Philadelphia, Washington, D.C., Boston, and Chicago. He has also led international study programs for undergraduate and graduate students to destinations across Europe, Asia, and South America, including Paris, Tokyo, Hong Kong, Zurich, Vienna, Prague, Amsterdam, and Lima.
He also directs the University’s Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) program, an IRS-sponsored initiative in which business students prepare tax returns at no charge for low-income residents and senior citizens. Hundreds of students have participated, serving more than 3,000 Lehigh Valley taxpayers and saving them substantial preparation costs. The program has earned recognition from the IRS and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and has been featured by The Morning Call, Service Electric News, WAEB radio, and Lehigh Valley PBS.
Karen Kent, Ph.D., FACHE, associate dean of graduate business studies and MBA program director, said Cocozza’s career reflects the spirit of the award.
“For more than 25 years, Dean Cocozza has demonstrated a commitment to excellence in business education, student success, ethical leadership, and service to the community,” Kent said. “His career exemplifies the qualities this award was created to recognize: a lifetime of meaningful contributions that have strengthened both higher education and the Lehigh Valley business community.”
Under Cocozza’s leadership, the School has kept its curriculum current and rigorous while preparing graduates to become ethical, service-minded professionals. Many of his former students now work as accountants, financial professionals, entrepreneurs, and executives throughout the region and beyond.
DeSales University congratulates Dean Cocozza on this well-deserved honor.