Board Member Bill Gradison Named Acting Chairman of PCAOB

Public Company Accounting Oversight Board Member Bill Gradison has been named Acting Chairman of the Board by the Securities and Exchange Commission.

“I sought a seat on this Board three years ago because I knew from my own experience in the financial services field how important it is to protect investors by assuring that financial reporting is accurate and reliable,” Acting Chairman Gradison said.

“My perspective on the Board may be unique because during my years in business I worked not on Wall Street or K Street, but on Main Street -- or more accurately on Walnut Street in Cincinnati -- primarily with small investors and smaller corporate pension funds.

“From this perspective, the need for the PCAOB has never been clearer than it is today. While progress is being made, there continue to be fresh disclosures of questionable accounting by public companies or problems with the audits of public companies – or both.

“My intention is to build on the strong foundation already put in place by Bill McDonough, Dan Goelzer, Kayla Gillan, and Charley Niemeier and by fully utilizing my other superb PCAOB colleagues. I look forward to the work ahead.”

In October 2002, Mr. Gradison was appointed by the SEC to a two-year term as a founding Member of the PCAOB. In August 2004, the SEC unanimously reappointed Gradison to serve an additional term of five years. His appointment as Acting Chairman fills a vacancy left by the resignation of Chairman William J. McDonough.

Prior to being named to the PCAOB, Mr. Gradison had been senior public policy counselor with Patton Boggs since 1999.

Mr. Gradison held elective office for more than 30 years, including 18 years in Congress, and later was president of the Health Insurance Association of America for six years. As U.S. Representative from Ohio, Mr. Gradison was ranking member of the House Budget Committee and the Health Subcommittee of the Committee on Ways and Means.

While in Congress, he served as vice chairman of the U.S. Bipartisan Commission on Comprehensive Health Care (the Pepper Commission), and was a member of the Pew Health Professions Commission, as well as the Commonwealth Fund’s Commission on Women’s Health. He also served as vice chair of the Commonwealth Fund’s Task Force on Academic Health Centers.

Mr. Gradison began his career in public service in Washington, DC, in 1953 as Assistant to the Under Secretary of the Treasury, having previously served on the finance faculty of the Harvard Business School. Before returning to his hometown of Cincinnati to launch his career as a general partner of a New York Stock Exchange-listed firm, he served as Assistant to the Secretary of Health, Education and Welfare.

Mr. Gradison served as Chairman of the Board of the Federal Home Loan Bank of Cincinnati and was a member of Cincinnati City Council for 13 years, serving as vice mayor and mayor.

Mr. Gradison received a B.A. from Yale and an M.B.A. and a doctorate from Harvard Business School.