Dr. Sara Melendy joined the faculty of Gonzaga University in 2005. After earning her CPA as an auditor for Price Waterhouse in New York City she earned her PhD at the State University of New York at Buffalo in 2005. While working on her PhD, she taught both financial and managerial accounting at the State University of New York at Buffalo and also at Cornell University in Ithaca, NY. Her research interests include corporate governance, corporate disclosure policy, and fraud prevention.

She currently teaches classes in auditing and fraud examination and a unique forensic accounting laboratory called the Justice for Fraud Victims Project. The lab is a joint partnership formed between local and federal law enforcement officials, local and federal prosecutors, local certified fraud examiners, and Gonzaga University to provide assistance to victims of white collar crimes. The Justice for Fraud Victims Project provides students with invaluable real-world experience in forensic accounting, allowing them to develop a unique skill set while completing their undergraduate or graduate accounting degree.  Further, the project allows students to be "people for others" consistent with the ideals embodied in a Jesuit education.