A.A. Sommer, Jr., ended his tenure at the Public Oversight Board, having served as its chairman from 1986 until 1999 when he was succeeded by Charles A. Bowsher.

Over the last three decades Sommer held a variety of senior posts in which he advocated enhancements in corporate governance, private-sector standard setting for the accounting profession and self-regulation of the auditing profession.

From 1973 to 1976, Sommer served as a commissioner of the SEC and was chairman of its advisory committee on corporate disclosure. He was a member of the AICPA board of directors (1980–1984) and the FASB advisory council (1977–1981), as well as chairman of the National Association of Corporate Directors’ commission on audit committees and chairman of the committee on corporate governance of the American Bar Association’s business law section.

Sommer is counsel to Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP, a Washington, D.C., law firm, of which he was a partner from 1979 through 1994.

The POB, an independent, private-sector body, monitors and reports on the activities of the SEC practice section of the AICPA’s division for CPA firms. This oversight helps ensure that firms auditing publicly traded companies in the United States regulate themselves adequately.

The AICPA needs CPAs and attorneys to help grade the May 2000 Uniform CPA Examination beginning May 18 and continuing for about six weeks.

Graders, who will be paid $15 an hour, must provide a minimum of three seven-hour days each week. They will receive 16 AICPA CPE credit hours for their work.

All grading is done at the AICPA Jersey City office, where the grading facilities will be open Monday through Sunday. For more information, write to AICPA, Grading Coordinator-DH-404, 201 Plaza Three, Harborside Financial Center, Jersey City, New Jersey 07311-3881; or e-mail Dharris@aicpa.org .

The Institute is also seeking graders for the future, including the November 2000 exam.

The AICPA personal financial planning division gave Virginia Stanley its highest honor, the Distinguished Service Award, in January. AICPA President and CEO Barry C. Melancon and Dirk Edwards, chairman of the PFP executive committee, made the presentation.

This distinction is conferred annually on the CPA who, in serving the public interest and supporting the PFP division, most enhances the overall quality of personal financial planning.

Now in her first year as a member of the AICPA board of directors, Stanley has served on the AICPA governing council. A principal of Rogoff & Stanley Financial Advisors, LLC, of Albuquerque, New Mexico, she also holds the PFS and CFP designations.