Douglas Carmichael, a well respected accounting professor at Baruch College in New York, has been named as the Chief Auditor of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board.

Mr. Carmichael will be the primary technical adviser to the Board and will lead the charge to reform the nation's auditing standards. As Chief Auditor, Mr. Carmichael will advise on accounting and auditing issues, including those issues affecting inspections and investigations of firms that fall under the jurisdiction of the PCAOB.

In a telephone interview with the New York Times, Mr. Carmichael indicated that one of his top priorities will be a thorough review of over 900 pages of auditing standards. "It's not going to take as long as people might think," he said. "There are also some specific requirements in the Sarbanes-Oxley Act that require changes in the standards, so those need to be put in place," he said.

Mr. Carmichael, 61, is a professor of accounting and the director of the Center for Financial Integrity at Baruch College of the City University of New York. He has been a consultant for the Securities and Exchange Commission and an expert witness on forensic accounting and independence issues. Accounting Today selected him as one of the Top 100 Most Influential Accountants in the country, one of only three academics listed, citing him as "a strong advocate for safeguarding ethics and integrity in the profession." An award-winning author, he has been a frequent background and cited source about the financial statements of public companies in the business press, including the Wall Street Journal and the New York Times. He is the author or co-author of twenty six books and 85 articles in ethics, accounting, and auditing topics.