Robert Louis Bunting
Robert Louis Bunting, born in Sacramento, California, in 1945, has based his entire professional career, following education at the University of Idaho, in the West, most prominently in the Seattle area. From this location, he has achieved both national and international recognition for leadership roles in challenging circumstances as Chairman of the Board of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA), and as Board Chair of the International Federation of Accountants (IFAC).
In the Northwest of the United States, as chairman of Moss Adams, (1981-2004), he was the acknowledged leader of developing and thriving peer firms with growing national and international duties, a person viewed as a role model of a professional firm leader. He maintained his focus on the firm for the main part of his career, and thereafter offered his time and talent to the broader professional community.
True to the adage that challenges find leaders, he began service on the Board of the AICPA in 1986 and served nearly continuously through his term as AICPA Board Chair (2004-2005). When it became apparent that the post-Enron world challenges would continue to profoundly affect the manner in which the accountancy profession was evolving throughout the world, leadership from the USA was seen as needed internationally. Following unanticipated circumstances, he was asked to assume a major role in these episodes. Bunting immediately agreed to extend his voluntary activities and made the needed commitment.
Thus, it was that IFAC, and the global profession became the beneficiaries of his leadership.
Following the East Asia Financial Crisis, professional bodies and international securities regulators began a series of reforms creating international standard setting boards for auditing, ethics, and education, overseen by a Public Interest Oversight Board (PIOB). These were challenging times, and the profession was concerned about regulatory overreach yet faced up to the importance of acting in the public interest and not self-interest. Bunting entered this series of events first as Deputy President (2005-2009) and then as President of IFAC (2009-2011), representing accountancy bodies from over 130 countries and some 25 of the largest international auditing networks. He navigated the nuanced geopolitical landscape advocating for the elements of a new model, in both the spirit and the letter of the reforms. He helped craft a pillar which has enabled the current generation of high-quality standards to fill a void.
These early steps created a foundation for the view of a global accounting profession which would begin a multi-generational effort to transcend the wariness of the profession, concerns of regulators, and advance the well-being of the public to bring about a better-informed investor community.
Since 2012 Bunting has chaired an AICPA Task Force on Sustainability Accounting and Assurance, adding a contemporary topic to his portfolio of leadership activities.
Robert Louis Bunting is the One Hundredth and Twelfth member of The Accounting Hall of Fame.
Charles Howard Noski
Charles Howard Noski, born August 23, 1952, in Eureka, California, was elected Chairman of the Board of Directors of Wells Fargo & Company in March 2020. He is a retired vice chairman and chief financial officer of Bank of America Corporation. He was chief financial officer of Northrop Grumman Corporation from 2003 until 2005 and a member of Northrop Grumman’s board of directors. Noski was chief financial officer of AT&T Corporation from 1999 until 2002 and vice chairman of the board of directors during 2002. From 1990 until 1999, he served in senior leadership positions with Hughes Electronics Corporation, including chief financial officer, president and chief operating officer, and a member of the board of directors.
Noski began his accounting career as a staff accountant at Haskins & Sells (now Deloitte) in 1973 and rose to partner with Deloitte & Touche, where he served some of the firm’s largest and most complex clients. Noski is lead independent director of Booking Holdings Inc., and a director and member of the finance and investment committee of Hewlett Packard Enterprise Company. He previously served as a director and chairman of the audit committee of Microsoft Corporation, Morgan Stanley, Avon Products, Inc., Booking Holdings Inc., and Wells Fargo, and as chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Financial Accounting Foundation (2016-2019), chairman of the Financial Accounting Standards Advisory Council, and a member of the Standing Advisory Group of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board.
Noski is a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA), Financial Executives International (FEI), and the Audit Committee Leadership Network-North America, and served as an inaugural member of the Ernst & Young Independent Audit Quality Committee (2019-2020). He was inducted into the inaugural class of the FEI Hall of Fame in 2006. Noski earned a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration and a Master of Science in Accountancy from California State University, Northridge. A long-time supporter of accounting education, he received the school’s distinguished alumnus award in 2002, and an honorary doctorate in 2007. He and his wife Lisa have endowed the Noski Family scholarships for accounting students at Northridge. Noski’s impact includes his public service at the Financial Accounting Foundation and his deep and far-reaching experience across multiple facets of the accounting profession.
From his role as Chairman of the Board of Wells Fargo, to serving as chief financial officer for some of the world’s preeminent organizations, to his early days as an auditor, he has led from the front on numerous accounting issues for nearly 50 years and served as a model and mentor to many.
Charles Howard Noski is the One Hundred and Tenth member of The Accounting Hall of Fame.