2006 Gibbs Dinner Brings Former Chief Accountant to Town

On October 5, 2006, accounting industry representatives, W&M faculty and over 80 W&M accounting students – both undergraduate and MAcc – gathered for the Gibbs Society dinner at The Williamsburg Lodge.

Keynote speaker Donald Nicolaisen, former Chief Accountant of the United States, shared his belief that the Accounting profession is in a period of reinvigoration that will prove beneficial to practitioners and clients alike.

In a one-on-one interview with Krystal Keeley, president of the Gibbs Society, he said, "I believe the profession has had worthy and laudable goals. There’s no question that the profession did stumble, did drop the ball and that part of the fix is really what we’re living through right now – this post Sarbanes-Oxley world where there are new procedures, new requirements, where the auditors are rededicated to what they’re doing, and I think once again we can be proud of the profession."

During his tenure as Chief Accountant, Mr. Nicolaisen oversaw many projects including the implementation of certain provisions of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act such as the Section 404 internal control over financial reporting requirements. Prior to joining the SEC, Mr. Nicolaisen was a senior partner at PricewaterhouseCoopers.

The Gibbs Society is grateful for the sponsorship of the event by the following firms: Alvarez & Marsal; Cherry Bekaert & Holland; Deloitte; Ernst & Young; Johnson Lambert; Keiter Stephens Hurst Gary & Shreaves; KPMG; PricewaterhouseCoopers; Veris Consulting; Wealth & Tax Advisory; and Witt Mares.