Former AICPA chairwoman named deputy president of IFAC board

Olivia Kirtley, CPA, CGMA, a member of the AICPA governing Council and former chairwoman of the Institute’s board of directors, was named deputy president of the International Federation of Accountants (IFAC), a global organization dedicated to strengthening the accounting profession.

Kirtley is the first woman to be elected IFAC’s deputy president. She succeeds Warren Allen, who was appointed IFAC president, and she will serve a two-year term.

Kirtley became a member of the IFAC board in 2007, following a stint on the independent IFAC Task Force on Rebuilding Public Confidence in Financial Reporting from 2002 to 2003.

As deputy president of the board, Kirtley, a business consultant on strategic and corporate governance issues, will chair IFAC’s planning and finance committee, which works directly with IFAC staff to develop the organization’s strategic plan. She also heads the board’s constitution review working group and serves on the nominating committee and the regulatory liaison group.

“Olivia’s election as IFAC’s deputy president is important for the business community and the profession,” AICPA President and CEO Barry Melancon said in an AICPA news release. “Her perspective as former chairman of the AICPA, a former CFO, and presently as board member of several companies makes her uniquely qualified for this critical international leadership role for the profession.”

In 1998, Kirtley became the first woman to be elected to chair the AICPA board of directors. From 2000 to 2003, she headed the AICPA Board of Examiners, which oversees the content and structure of the uniform CPA examination.

During her tenure, the board of examiners converted the CPA exam from a pencil-and-paper format to a digital format. In 2003, the AICPA awarded her the Gold Medal for exemplary leadership and service to the accountancy profession.