Michael G. Oxley, a former member of Congress best known as cosponsor of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, has been elected chairman of the board of directors of the nonprofit Ethics Resource Center (ERC).

Oxley, who rose to chairman of the U.S. House Financial Services Committee during a 25-year Congressional career, is currently of counsel in the Washington, D.C. office of Baker Hostetler and serves as senior advisor to the board of NASDAQ OMX Group, Inc.

"We are honored that Mike Oxley is joining ERC," said ERC President Patricia J. Harned, Ph.D.. "His experience and leadership will be invaluable assets and we look forward to his contributions. In the wake of the recession, ethics will be a key factor in rebuilding trust and confidence in government and business and Mike Oxley knows both worlds very well."

"I am proud to have been selected as the chairman of the board of the Ethics Resource Center, and I am excited by the opportunity to contribute to its mission," Oxley said. "ERC is devoted to the study and practice of organizational ethics, a topic that has been at the forefront of my work for nearly a decade."

The landmark Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 is credited with restoring Americans' confidence in the capital markets early in the decade and created a new accounting oversight board for publicly traded companies.

At Baker Hostetler, Oxley is part of the Government Policy Group, which represents multinational and corporate clients seeking to resolve or avert problems related to federal and/or state policy through legislative or administrative solutions. The team includes a former U.S. Ambassador, senior executive branch officials and state legislators.

Additionally, Mr. Oxley assists private and public companies with establishing governance policies and compliance programs, as well as with confidential investigations related to noncompliance concerns. He also supports the firm's premier White Collar Defense and Corporate Investigations Practice, which represents clients involved with complex white collar crime, regulatory investigations and litigation. The practice team has represented top tier banking and investment firms by establishing monitorship programs in conjunction with government regulators in accordance with best practice standards.

At his undergraduate alma mater, Miami University, Oxley supports the Center for Governance, Risk Management and Reporting at the Farmer School of Business. You can read more biographical detail.

ERC is the nation's oldest nonprofit, nonpartisan research organization devoted to business ethics and ethics in the workplace. Its respected ERC Fellows Program includes Fortune 100 corporations, federal government ethics officers and academicians as members. ERC also conducts the biennial National Business Ethics Survey, due out this October.