- B.A. in accounting and finance from the University of Applied Sciences in Berlin, Germany; Ph.D. in accounting from the University of Queensland, Australia
- Simon received postdoctoral training in accounting at the Ross School of Business, the University of Michigan, and the Anderson School of Management at UCLA
- He is a former security analyst for Landesbank Holding AG and associate in business advisory for PriceWaterhouseCoopers in Germany
- His nickname in kindergarten was "Professorchen" ("little professor" in German). "Rather than just playing with toys I would take them apart to understand how they work and then show other kids."
- Accounting is more than just numbers, he say – it's about language, too. "In my class, we listen to conference calls, for example, and analyze how managers communicate information about their company."
- He strives to emulate an accounting professor he had in Germany. "He really cared about how students can use acquired knowledge beyond the classroom."
