Dr. Joshua T. White Named PCAOB’s Acting Chief Economist and OERA Director; Dr. Martin C. Schmalz Returns to University of Oxford

The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB) today announced the appointment of Dr. Joshua T. White as the PCAOB's Acting Chief Economist and Director of its Office of Economic and Risk Analysis (OERA). At the PCAOB, OERA conducts independent, evidence-based economic and risk analyses to inform the organization’s oversight activities, including inspections, investigations, rulemaking, standard setting, and post-implementation reviews.

Dr. White joins the PCAOB on leave from his position as an Assistant Professor of Finance at Vanderbilt University’s Owen Graduate School of Management. From June 2024 to April 2025, he was a Senior Advisor in OERA. Among Dr. White’s other professional experiences, he was a Financial Economist, Visiting Academic Scholar, and Expert Consultant at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission between 2012 and 2018. He holds a B.S., MBA, and Ph.D. in finance from the University of Tennessee’s Haslam College of Business.

"The Office of Economic and Risk Analysis plays an essential role at the PCAOB, ensuring that our work to protect investors is informed by top-notch economic analysis,” said Chair Erica Y. Williams. “We are delighted that Josh will lead OERA as its Acting Director and will continue to build on Martin’s work. The PCAOB will benefit from his expertise and experience."

Dr. Schmalz became the PCAOB’s Chief Economist and OERA Director in August 2023. He joined the PCAOB on leave from the University of Oxford, where he has returned.

Dr. Schmalz led the transformation of OERA that modernized PCAOB’s economic and data analysis. Under Dr. Schmalz’s leadership, the PCAOB led an effort to expand academic research on audit regulation and its effect on capital markets and audit quality. Dr. Schmalz also led the PCAOB’s efforts to modernize use of data and analytics, which assisted all divisions and offices of the PCAOB. Specifically, he co-led the PCAOB’s activities with respect to adoption of artificial intelligence and digital transformation, including the realization of efficiency gains through automation of manual work processes, detection of audit risks, and selection of inspections and enforcement/investigation targets. Finally, Dr. Schmalz oversaw the economic analysis performed for all of the PCAOB’s rulemaking and standards-setting efforts, including the final approval of the new quality control standard. The PCAOB’s standards govern the audits of more than $70 trillion dollars of investor capital.

"We are grateful that Martin joined us from the University of Oxford and helped transform OERA. The PCAOB has benefited from his leadership and significant contributions. We wish him the best of luck returning to Oxford," said Chair Erica Y. Williams.

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About the PCAOB

The PCAOB is a nonprofit corporation established by Congress to oversee the audits of public companies in order to protect investors and further the public interest in the preparation of informative, accurate, and independent audit reports. The PCAOB also oversees the audits of brokers and dealers registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including compliance reports filed pursuant to federal securities laws.