Speakers
George R. Botic
PCAOB
Friday, January 9, 2026
Luncheon Speaker
George R. Botic was designated as Acting Chair of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board by the Securities and Exchange Commission on July 21, 2025. He was appointed as a Board Member of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board by the SEC in September 2023 and sworn in on October 25, 2023. His current term expires on October 24, 2028.
Board Member Botic is a Certified Public Accountant who has been with the PCAOB since 2003. Prior to his swearing in as a Board Member, he was the Director of the PCAOB’s Division of Registration and Inspections (DRI), which includes the Global Network Firm, Non-Affiliate Firm, and Broker-Dealer Firm inspection programs, as well as the registration program. He oversaw the registration and inspection of all domestic and foreign accounting firms that audit public companies whose securities trade in the U.S., as well as all broker-dealer audits.
Before being named DRI Director in 2018, Board Member Botic had served as Director of the PCAOB’s Office of International Affairs and as Special Advisor to former Chair James R. Doty. From 2003 to 2014, he held several roles within DRI, including as a Deputy Director. Earlier in his career, he was a senior manager with PricewaterhouseCoopers.
Board Member Botic holds a Bachelor of Science in accounting from Shepherd University and received a Master of Accountancy from Virginia Tech.
Ray Ball
2025-2026 IAS Lifetime Contribution to International Accounting Literature Award Recipient
Saturday, January 10, 2026
Luncheon Speaker
Ray Ball is the Sidney Davidson Distinguished Service Professor of Accounting Emeritus in the University of Chicago, Booth School of Business. His research with Philip Brown ushered in a paradigm shift in accounting thought. He also first identified and described systematic anomalies in market efficiency theory and has contributed to both the accounting and financial economics literatures for almost six decades. He edited Journal of Accounting Research and Journal of Accounting and Economics for three decades. In 2018 he was elected to the Accounting Hall of Fame.