40 years of a journey: Darrell Herauf retires from the Sprott School of Business

From being “a shy little farm boy from Saskatchewan who didn’t say ‘boo’ in class” to becoming a beloved professor, Darrell Herauf has had quite a career. And, after four decades of educating and mentoring future accountants, he is hanging up his hat.

When asked what his favourite part was, he simply said “watching the light go on”.

Darrell started teaching accounting at Carleton University in 1979, even though teaching was the “last thing” he ever imagined himself doing. And, it all started from a conversation with his brother that summer.

After graduating from the University of Saskatchewan in 1976, he had landed a staff accountant position with Ernst & Young in Calgary “which was a dream come true.” Then two years into his career, he decided to take a nearly year-long trip to Europe and came back in May of ’79. And, that is when his brother asked: “what are you going to do now?”.

“I said: I don’t know.”

So, his brother suggested teaching and the rest, as they say, is history.

“I applied to seven universities and got accepted to six,” Darrell said. “I guess those three years of working and travelling had made me more confident.”

He taught full-time for two years, and then stayed on as a sessional instructor for the next three as he headed back to EY, this time in Ottawa. He later joined Canada Post as they started their transition from a government department to a Crown corporation because they “wanted to have more private sector mentality” within their ranks.

Then one day in 1984, he got a call from Carleton University asking him to come back full-time as another faculty member had fallen ill and they wanted Darrell to take over his course load in the winter.

“It was a godsend,” said Darrell, who at the time was ready to move on from Canada Post.

“I came back when my son was born. He was born on January 1^st and that was the date I came back in 1985,” he said. “It’s the best thing that ever happened to me.”

Through this time, Darrell continued to grow professionally. In 1980, he started teaching for the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Ontario’s (ICAO) summer program – which all CA students from across the province had to attend – and continued to do so for over 30 years. And, he became a marker for the Certified General Accountants Association, then became a Certified General Accountant (CGA) in 1988 and around the same time became the national examiner for them – a job he did for 25 years. He also became the first instructor to receive confirmation at the School (the equivalent for tenure for those who are heavily involved in their industry as opposed to faculty members with PhDs who conduct research in their fields).

“In meetings he’s sitting there quietly and listening. He thinks things through very, very thoroughly. Then throws out the obvious at us,” said Jacques.

“He forces us to land and brings us where we need to be.”

Now, as Darrell sets out to write his next chapter where he’s planning on volunteering, mentoring accountants, travelling, biking, playing more hockey and spending time with his family, he won’t leave Sprott entirely.

He also had some advice for his past students and all students who will make their way through Sprott in the coming years.