Standards and Emerging Issues Advisory Group Members

John Bendl, CPA

Principal and International CFO
Vanguard

Mr. Bendl has served as Principal, International CFO at Vanguard since October 2021. His previous roles at Vanguard have been CFO of the Vanguard Funds & Chief Accounting Officer, as well as Controller, Chief Accounting Officer and Treasurer. Prior to joining Vanguard in 2016, Mr. Bendl was a partner at KPMG, where he spent 24 years. He is a Certified Public Accountant.

Preeti Choudhary, Ph.D.

Associate Professor of Accounting
University of Arizona, Eller College of Management

Preeti Choudhary, Ph.D., is an associate professor of accounting at the Eller College of Management, University of Arizona. Previously, between June 2015 and December 2016, she was a senior economic research fellow in the Office of Economic Risk and Analysis at the PCAOB, and prior to June 2015 she was an assistant professor in the accounting department at the McDonough School of Business, Georgetown University. Her professional experience includes roles at Deloitte and Touche LLP in enterprise risk services and at The Washington Post Company (now known as Graham Holdings Company) in internal audit. Among Preeti Choudhary's research interests include capital market effects of financial reporting, including debt and equity investor valuation assessments, and how auditing impacts financial reporting reliability. She is an expert on materiality and financial reporting for employee stock options, leases, and taxes. Her work has been presented at, or published in, many leading accounting conferences and journals. Choudhary earned her B.S. in commerce and M.S. in accounting from the University of Virginia and her Ph.D. from Duke University.

Brian T. Croteau, CPA

US Chief Auditor and Auditing Services Leader
PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP

Brian Croteau is a Partner in the National Office of PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP’s (PwC) Assurance practice. Prior to rejoining PwC in 2017, he served for over six years as the Deputy Chief Accountant of the Professional Practice Group within the Office of the Chief Accountant (OCA) at the SEC in Washington, DC. Mr. Croteau has also previously served as a Senior Associate Chief Accountant in the OCA from 2004 to 2007. In his current role as PwC’s US Chief Auditor and Auditing Services Leader, he plays a key role in the firm’s efforts focused on driving and monitoring audit quality. Mr. Croteau is a Certified Public Accountant, and he is a member of the AICPA. He earned his B.B.A. in accounting from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. He was named 2007 accounting alumnus of the year of the UMass-Amherst Isenberg School of Management.

Christine Davine, CPA

Managing Partner, Quality, Risk & Regulatory
Deloitte & Touche LLP

Christine Davine is the Managing Partner for Quality, Risk & Regulatory within Deloitte & Touche LLP’s (“Deloitte”) Audit & Assurance national office. In this role, she leads the Professional Practice Network, including the auditing, accounting, financial reporting, and risk management functions. She leads a team of more than 350 partners and professionals with responsibility for setting Deloitte’s policies and methodology for dealing with complex accounting, financial reporting, auditing, and risk matters—interfacing with regulators and other stakeholders—and addressing global Deloitte network quality matters. Previously, Ms. Davine was the deputy leader of the Professional Practice Network, and prior to that she co-led the combined Accounting Consultation, SEC Services, and Standards & Communications groups. She is a member of Deloitte’s Audit & Assurance Executive Leadership Team. Prior to joining Deloitte, she spent eight years with the SEC’s Division of Corporation Finance. Ms. Davine is a frequent speaker on current and emerging audit, accounting, and financial reporting topics.  

Ron Edmonds, CPA

Controller and Vice President of Controllers and Tax
Dow

Ron Edmonds is Controller and Vice President of Controllers and Tax for Dow, a global materials science company. From September 2017 until April 2019, Mr. Edmonds also served as Co-Controller of DowDuPont, an $86 billion holding company comprised of The Dow Chemical Company and DuPont. Previous to joining Dow, he worked for Chiquita Brands International, The Upjohn Company and Arthur Andersen & Co. He is a Certified Public Accountant and a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, Financial Executives International’s Committee on Corporate Reporting and a Board Member of Michigan Association of Certified Public Accountants. He serves as a member of the advisory council of the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) Foundation, and he serves on the board of directors of Novonix, Inc. He holds a bachelor of business administration degree from Western Michigan University.

David Fabricant, CPA

Executive Vice President, Deputy Controller
American Express

David Fabricant is the Executive Vice President, Deputy Controller and Head of Global Record-to-Report where he leads a team of 800 professionals globally who are responsible for reporting the Company’s financial performance to the Securities Exchange Commission and the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, overseeing Controllership’s global financial operations covering operational accounting processes, ensuring balance sheet integrity and maintaining the financial ecosystems that drive reporting while ensuring a strong control and compliance environment is achieved through data governance and Finance Data Management. Mr. Fabricant joined American Express in February 2011 from American International Group, Inc. (AIG), where he served in several senior leadership roles. Prior to his tenure with AIG, Mr. Fabricant held senior level positions with Citigroup. He is a Certified Public Accountant, a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, a Board Member of Financial Executive International and a member of Financial Executives International’s Committee on Corporate Reporting.  Mr. Fabricant earned a Bachelor of Science in accounting and finance from Stephen F. Austin State University.

Margaret Foran

Chief Governance Officer, SVP and Corporate Secretary
Prudential Financial, Inc.

Ms. Foran is Chief Governance Officer, Senior Vice President and Corporate Secretary of Prudential Financial, Inc. She has been a corporate governance leader throughout her career at Sara Lee Corporation, Pfizer, Inc. and J.P. Morgan & Co., Inc. Ms. Foran is a director on the Board of Orion Group Holdings, Inc. and serves as the Chair of the Compensation Committee. From December 2010 through May 2020, she served on the Board of the Occidental Petroleum Corporation, where during her tenure, she served as Chair of its Sustainability and Shareholder Engagement Committee, Compensation Committee and Governance Committee. Ms. Foran previously served on the Board of The MONY Group and MONY Life Insurance Company. Ms. Foran currently serves as an active member of many influential advisory boards including, co-chair on the Board of Directors of the Council of Institutional Investors, member of the Board of Trustees of the American College of Governance Counsel, the Catalyst’s Advisory Board, the Weinberg Center for Corporate Governance’s Advisory Board, the Nominating and Governance Committee Chair Advisory Council, of the National Association of Corporate Directors (NACD), the Society for Corporate Governance’s Environmental & Social Working Group, and Executive Director of Prudential’s Sustainability Council. Ms. Foran received her B.A., magna cum laude, and J. D. degrees from the University of Notre Dame, where she is a member of the law school’s Advisory Council. She is admitted to the New York, Illinois, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey (In-house) Bars. Additionally, Ms. Foran is NACD Directorship Certified™.

Robert Hirth, Jr.

Senior Managing Director
Protiviti

Bob Hirth is a Senior Managing Director at Protiviti, a global business consulting firm operating in more than 25 countries. Since 2017 he has served as the Co-Vice Chair of the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB) and chairs its Technology and Communications industry committee. From June 2013 to 2018 he was Chairman of the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO). He has participated in assignments and made presentations in over 20 countries, provided services to more than 50 organizations and worked closely with board members, C-level executives, finance and accounting personnel as well as public accounting firm partners and employees. His experience includes auditing and accounting, sustainability reporting and standard-setting, internal control and risk management. Mr. Hirth started his career in public accounting and was a global equity partner of Arthur Andersen, working in both its audit and consulting divisions. He graduated from Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas, with a concentration in accounting.

Colleen Theresa Honigsberg, Ph.D.

Professor of Law and Associate Dean of Curriculum
Stanford Law School

Colleen Honigsberg is Professor of Law and Associate Dean of Curriculum at Stanford Law School, where her research is focused on the empirical study of corporate and securities law. Her recent papers have examined gaps in the regulatory environment for financial advisors, carbon accounting, human capital accounting, and the incentive structure for auditors. Prior to joining the faculty in 2016, Professor Honigsberg received her Ph.D. from the Columbia Business School and her J.D. from the Columbia Law School. She has expertise in accounting and previously worked as a Certified Public Accountant for PricewaterhouseCoopers Advisory Services and for Compass Lexecon. In addition, she previously served as a Senior Economic Research Fellow with the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board. She currently sits on the Securities and Exchange Commission’s Investor Advisory Committee.

James (Jim) Hunt, CPA

Corporate Director

James Hunt serves on the boards of directors of Brown & Brown, Inc., Subway Worldwide, Inc., and Penn Mutual Life Insurance Co., as well as Nemours Children’s Health. Jim began his professional career at Ernst & Young where he became a partner of the firm in 1989. He subsequently began working at The Walt Disney Company where he held several executive financial positions including his role as Chief Financial Officer and Executive Vice President of Walt Disney Parks and Resorts Worldwide, which he held until his retirement in 2012. Mr. Hunt is a Certified Public Accountant with an active license in the State of Florida and a designated Board Leadership Fellow of the National Association of Corporate Directors.

Jennifer R. Joe, Ph.D., CPA

John E Peterson Professor of Accounting
Virginia Tech

Jennifer R. Joe, Ph.D., CPA, is the John E. Peterson Professor in the Accounting and Information Systems Department of the Pamplin College of Business at Virginia Tech. She is an award-winning researcher who studies the role and impact of auditors and valuation specialists in financial reporting, and diversity and inclusion in the accounting profession. Her work, including studies on auditors’ use of artificial intelligence, audit regulation, and auditors’ evaluation of corporate internal controls, is published in leading accounting journals. Dr. Joe is an editor at The Accounting Review, a member of the Inaugural Board of Trustees of the American Accounting Association Foundation, and President of the Auditing Section of the American Accounting Association (2023-2024). She is actively engaged with the accounting profession and business community. Dr. Joe is a frequent keynote speaker and presenter at corporate and academic events and professional education programs. She enjoys volunteering on academic and civic boards and advocating for inclusive excellence in higher education.

W. Robert Knechel, Ph.D.

Distinguished Professor and Frederick E. Fisher Eminent Scholar
Warrington College of Business, University of Florida

W. Robert Knechel, Ph.D., is the Frederick E. Fisher Eminent Scholar in Accounting and Distinguished Professor at the University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida. He is the Director of the International Accounting and Auditing Center (IAAC) located within the Fisher School of Accounting. Dr. Knechel holds appointments at the University of Auckland as a Professor of Accounting Research and University of New South Wales as a Professor of Auditing. He was a member of the PCAOB’s Standing Advisory Group and is on the Board of the Foundation for Audit Research in the Netherlands. He is currently the Senior Editor of The Accounting Review.

Sara Lord, CPA

Chief Auditor
RSM US LLP

Sara Lord is the Chief Auditor and a member of the Board of Directors for RSM US LLP (RSM). In her role as Chief Auditor, she leads the audit and accounting policy and audit innovation departments of the firm. This includes overall responsibility for the methodology, tools, training, and thought leadership supporting RSM’s assurance services as delivered today and their evolution into the future. Prior to joining RSM, Sara was a partner at Boulay PLLP where she served clients and was a concurring and consultation resource for accounting and assurance needs. Sara also worked for Deloitte in a variety of roles, including audit client service, national office consultation, and global office public policy. Sara received a Bachelor of Accountancy from the University of North Dakota.

Jon Lukomnik

Managing Partner
Sinclair Capital

Jon Lukomnik is a Managing Director at Sinclair Capital and has had a long and distinguished career in the investment management industry and is one of the pioneers of modern corporate governance. He has written and published in over 200 academic and practitioner papers on how to strengthen the contribution and accountability of the financial systems and asset management industry. He is the past executive director of the Investor Responsibility Research Center (IRRC) Institute, whose research has been widely praised for objectively examining fundamental corporate governance and capital market issues. He is a co-founder of the International Corporate Governance Network (ICGN) and is an active contributor to other industry bodies working to advance the investment management and corporate governance fields.

Jeffrey P. Mahoney, J.D., CPA

General Counsel
Council of Institutional Investors

Jeffrey P. Mahoney joined the Council of Institutional Investors (CII) as general counsel in 2006. His responsibilities include advocating the Council’s membership-approved policies before standard setters, regulators, members of Congress, and other policy makers. Prior to joining the Council, Mr. Mahoney was counsel to the chairman of the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB). From 1996-2006, he advised FASB and its parent entity, the Financial Accounting Foundation, on a variety of research, technical and administrative matters, and was primarily responsible for FASB’s Washington, D.C. liaison activities. Prior to joining FASB, Mr. Mahoney was a corporate securities lawyer at Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP; a law clerk to the Honorable James G. Exum Jr., chief justice of the North Carolina Supreme Court; and an auditor at Arthur Andersen LLP. Mr. Mahoney holds a J.D. degree, served on the North Carolina Law Review, and was named to the Order of the Coif. He also holds a B.B.A. degree and an A.A. degree.

Carole McNees, CPA

Director of Quality Management, Ethics and Assurance Policy
Plante Moran 

Carole McNees is a partner with Plante Moran and has over 25 years of experience in public accounting.  As the firm’s Director of Quality Management, Ethics and Assurance Policy, and a member of its professional standard leadership team, she provides leadership to the firm’s assurance practice with respect to all aspects of assurance technical quality, including compliance with professional standards and risk management.  Carole oversees the administration of the firm’s system of quality management, as well as the development of solutions to technical assurance issues through the implementation of policies, methodology, guidance, and tools. Carole is also currently serving on the Michigan State Board of Accountancy.  She’s a member of the AICPA and the Michigan Association of CPAs and received her B.B.A. in accounting from Western Michigan University.

Steven Morrison, CPA, CFF, CFE

Partner, National Director of Audit
CohnReznick LLP

Steven Morrison is the National Director of Audit and a partner in National Assurance at CohnReznick LLP. With experience as a client service engagement partner, quality reviewer, and standard setter, he leads the firm’s Audit Quality Group which addresses the development and application of methodology and actively consults on assurance, reporting, and independence matters. From 2015 to 2018, Mr. Morrison served on the AICPA Auditing Standards Board, which promulgates US Generally Accepted Auditing Standards. He currently is a member of the methodology team of the AICPA Dynamic Audit Solution (DAS) project, a transformative initiative to enhance audit quality and efficiency through technology and innovation. He holds the Certified in Financial Forensics designation and is a Certified Fraud Examiner.

Dane Mott, CFA, CPA

Accounting Analyst
Capital Group Companies

Dane Mott is an Accounting Analyst at Capital Group, with global accounting research responsibilities. He has more than 20 years of investment industry experience and has been with Capital Group for seven years. Prior to joining Capital, Dane worked as an accounting analyst at his research firm Dane Mott Research LLC, at J.P. Morgan as head of its U.S. accounting and valuation group, and at Bear Stearns, where he was a Managing Director and a member of its accounting and tax team within equity research. He has previously served on various advisory groups for the FASB and IASB. He holds an MBA in finance and management and a bachelor’s degree in accounting and finance, both from the Leonard N. Stern School of Business at New York University. He also holds the Chartered Financial Analyst designation and is a Certified Public Accountant. Dane is based in Los Angeles.

Christian James Peo, CPA

National Managing Partner – Audit Quality and Professional Practice and Americas Audit Quality and Professional Practice Leader
KPMG LLP

Christian Peo is responsible for the strategic oversight of audit quality, technical accounting & auditing, and the service delivery model of the audit practice for both KPMG LLP and KPMG Americas Ltd. During his career at KPMG, Christian has served as the lead partner or SEC reviewing partner for a variety of clients, both public and private. He has served in a variety of national office roles, aimed at maintaining a positive, constructive relationship with regulatory agencies, overseeing national office initiatives, and assisting engagement teams in reaching appropriate accounting and auditing conclusions. He also spent two years as a Professional Accounting Fellow at the Securities & Exchange Commission. He holds a B.S. in accounting from Brigham Young University.

Sandra J. Peters, CPA, CFA

Senior Head, Global Advocacy
CFA Institute

Sandra Peters leads the Financial Reporting Policy Group at CFA Institute where she oversees a team responsible for tracking all corporate disclosure, accounting, auditing, and ESG issues of interest to investors globally. Ms. Peters has an extensive and well-balanced background as a user advocate, preparer, and auditor. Most recently, she served as Vice President and Corporate Controller at MetLife Inc. Prior to joining MetLife, she was a partner at KPMG LLP providing audit services primarily for insurance and financial services companies. She has been a member of the IFRS Interpretation’s Committee (IFRS IC), the FASB’s Financial Accounting Standards Advisory Council and the PCAOB’s Standing Advisory Group. Ms. Peters is a Certified Public Accountant licensed in New York, Texas, and Nebraska. She is a CFA and a member of CFA Society of New York. She holds a B.S./B.A. in accounting from the University of Nebraska and an MBA in finance from Indiana University.

Shivaram Rajgopal, Ph.D.

Professor of Accounting and Auditing
Columbia Business School

Shivaram Rajgopal is the Kester and Byrnes Professor of Accounting and Auditing at Columbia University and has also been a faculty member at Duke University, Emory University, and the University of Washington. His research interests span financial reporting, earnings quality, fraud, audit quality, executive compensation, and corporate culture. He was the Vice Dean of research at Columbia Business School from 2017 to 2019.  He has also served on several editorial boards of top accounting journals and was the Departmental Editor of the Accounting track of Management Science. He holds a Ph.D. from the University of Iowa.

Kecia Williams Smith, Ph.D., CPA

Associate Professor and Director of the Master of Accountancy Program
Department of Accounting and Finance
North Carolina A&T State University 

Kecia Williams Smith, Ph.D., CPA, is an Associate Professor and Director of the Master of Accountancy Program in the Department of Accounting and Finance at North Carolina A&T State University (NC A&T). Dr. Smith’s research interests include audit regulation, audit quality, regulatory communications, and auditor judgment and decision-making. Prior to entering academia, she was a Senior Manager at Deloitte where she led engagement teams in the Technology, Media, and Telecommunications practice. Immediately prior to starting her doctoral studies, she was an Associate Director at the PCAOB, where she created and led the Inspections Training Office. She received her B.S. in accounting from NC A&T and Ph.D. in accounting from Texas A&M University. She is an active CPA in North Carolina and Georgia.

Lynn Turner, CPA

Senior Advisor
Hemming Morse LLP

Lynn Turner, a Senior Advisor at Hemming Morse, has more than 45 years of auditing, business, regulatory, corporate governance, and academic experience related to financial reporting. He consults on complex investigations involving financial reporting, corporate governance, securities litigation, accountant and auditor liability, and technical accounting matters. Courts and the U.S. Congress recognize Lynn as an expert witness on financial reporting requirements, financial statement audits, and corporate governance standards and he has served as an arbitrator. In his former role as Chief Accountant for the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Mr. Turner was the principal advisor to the SEC Chairman and Commissioners on a variety of matters, including the oversight and development of U.S auditing, financial reporting, corporate governance, accounting, and disclosure standards, as well as matters affecting audit committees of public companies. He has also served as a trustee of investment funds.

John White

Partner
Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP

John W. White is Chair of Cravath’s Corporate Governance and Board Advisory practice. During his over 30 years as a partner at Cravath, Mr. White has focused his practice on representing public companies in a wide variety of areas, including public reporting responsibilities, corporate governance and ESG matters, public financings and restatements, revisions, and other financial crises. From 2006 through 2008, he served as Director of the Division of Corporation Finance at the SEC, which oversees disclosure and reporting by public companies in the United States. While on the SEC staff, Mr. White led the Division through one of the most significant and prolific rulemaking periods in its history, including the Commission’s adoption of final rules addressing executive compensation disclosure, Sarbanes Oxley Section 404’s internal control requirements, and internet access to proxy materials.