Robert Mednick

Robert Mednick has made important contributions to the accounting profession both in the U.S. and abroad. He was a key figure in tort reform initiatives, convergence to a single set of accounting and auditing standards, and the expansion of the audit function to broader assurance services. Mednick has written and spoken extensively about the role and future of accounting and accountants in a changing world which have raised awareness about the responsibilities, ethics, and social and developmental role of accountants.

He was worldwide managing partner of Professional and Regulatory Matters at Arthur Andersen/Andersen Consulting (now Accenture) for more than five years before retiring in mid-1998. He was also chairman of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) in 1996-1997, having previously served on its Auditing Standards Board, the Financial Accounting Standards Advisory Council and the SEC Practice Section Executive Committee. Other board service included the Rand Corporation Institute for Civil Justice and the Ray Garrett Jr Corporate and Securities Law Institute at Northwestern University Law School.

Since retirement, Mednick has served as a senior consultant to the World Bank, the founding chairman of a Compliance Advisory Panel at the International Federation of Accountants, a member of the Board and Executive Committee of the National Bureau of Economic Research in Cambridge, MA, and a member of three advisory groups to the Government Accountability Office (GAO) in Washington, DC.

In 2010, the International Federation of Accountants (IFAC) honored Mednick with its lifetime achievement award (the IFAC Global Leadership Award in Honor of Robert Sempier), which is awarded to only one person worldwide once every four years. He is the only person to hold that award and the AICPA Gold Medal of Distinction, the AICPA’s highest recognition for lifetime contributions to the profession.

Robert Mednick is the One Hundred and Third member of The Accounting Hall of Fame.