WC Cincinnati Branch Alum Kyle Dickey ’12 Enjoys Meteoric Rise to Ohio’s Deputy Inspector General
The popular television franchise, CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, has had numerous successful spinoffs: CSI: Miami, CSI: New York and most recently, CSI: Cyber. If Kyle Dickey’s enthusiasm for his new job is any indication, the next show could be CSI: Forensic Accounting.
PICTURED: Kyle Dickey is pictured in the Rhodes State Office Tower in Columbus. (This story is reprinted from WC's Summer/Fall 2018 LINK Alumni Magazine)
Dickey, who graduated in 2012 after studying accounting at WC’s Cincinnati Branches, has experienced a speedy career trajectory that included starting as an auditor with the Ohio Attorney General in 2013, a promotion to senior auditor and, since January, deputy inspector general for the State of Ohio.
“After Wilmington, I had an idea of what I wanted and my plan came together,” he said. “That accounting degree from Wilmington College opened some doors.”
Dickey enrolled at the Cincinnati Branch already holding a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice from the University of Cincinnati. Criminal justice was his “passion” but the Enron scandal with its huge auditing failure intrigued him into pursing the relatively new field of forensic accounting.
“In the back of my mind, I knew that was what I wanted,” he added.
Dickey worked as a loss prevention agent in Macy’s retail audit and compliance area while attending WC. Since he already had a bachelor’s degree, most of his curriculum featured accounting courses with associate professor Dr. Charles Dick, whose background in “about 10 different areas” was greatly appreciated by Dickey.
“At Wilmington, I knew what classes would be offered and when I would graduate, so I could design my schedule around my job,” he said. “I liked the small class size and accessibility of professors.”
After his graduation, he obtained status as a Certified internal Auditor and Certified Fraud Examiner. The Ohio Attorney General’s Office hired him as an auditor in Columbus and, within two years, he was promoted to senior auditor, a position in which he investigated white-collar crimes.
“I was assigned to some of the more high profile cases in charitable/non-profit fraud and embezzlement,” he said, noting his work was a combination of investigative and accounting work. “We were auditors and we conducted fraud investigations.”
In January, the governor-appointed state inspector general named Dickey one of his deputy inspector generals, a move that placed him on the 29th floor of the Rhodes State Office Tower in downtown Columbus.
He investigates fraud, waste, abuse, corruption and conflict of interest in state government.
“It’s a little more exciting than traditional accounting,” he said. “They’re not your typical accountants position where everything is black and white — it’s an opportunity to think outside the box.”
