David M. Walker became the seventh Comptroller General of the United States and began his 15-year term when he took his oath of office on November 9, 1998. As Comptroller General, Mr. Walker is the nation's chief accountability officer and head of the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO), a legislative branch agency founded in 1921. GAO's mission is to help improve the performance and assure the accountability of the federal government for the benefit of the American people. Over the years, GAO has earned a reputation for professional, objective, fact-based, and nonpartisan reviews of government issues and operations.
The long tenure of the Comptroller General gives GAO a continuity of leadership and independence that is rare within government. Both elements help to allow GAO to consider long-range and cross-governmental issues and alert policymakers to problems looming on the horizon, such as the growing burden of entitlement programs and the need to transform the federal government to meet the needs of the 21st century.
Before his appointment as Comptroller General, Mr. Walker had extensive executive level experience in both government and private industry. Between 1989 and 1998, Mr. Walker worked at Arthur Andersen LLP, where he was a partner and global managing director of the human capital services practice based in Atlanta, Georgia. He was also a member of the board of Arthur Andersen Financial Advisors, a registered investment advisor. While a partner at Arthur Andersen, Mr. Walker served as a Public Trustee for Social Security and Medicare from 1990 to 1995. Before joining Arthur Andersen, Mr. Walker was Assistant Secretary of Labor for Pension and Welfare Benefit Programs from 1987 to 1989 and in 1985, was Acting Executive Director of the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation. His earlier technical, professional, and business experience was with Price Waterhouse, Coopers & Lybrand and Source Services Corporation, an international human resources consulting and search firm.
Mr. Walker currently serves as Chair of the U.S. Intergovernmental Audit Forum and as Chair of the principals of the U.S. Joint Financial Management Improvement Program. He is also a founder and principal of the U.S. Joint Auditing Standards Coordinating Forum. He also serves as a member of the Independent Audit Advisory Committee for the United Nations.
Mr. Walker is on the Board of the International Organization of Supreme Audit Institutions and various educational and not-for-profit entities. He is a Fellow of the National Academy of Public Administration, the National Academy of Social Insurance and an active member of various professional, public service, and other organizations, including the Sons of the American Revolution. He is listed in Who's Who in the World and Who's Who in America.
Mr. Walker is the author of Retirement Security: Understanding and Planning Your Financial Future (John Wiley & Sons, 1996) and a co-author of Delivering on the Promise: How to Attract, Manage and Retain Human Capital (Free Press, 1998). He has also written numerous articles and opinion letters on a variety of subjects. Mr. Walker is frequently quoted on a range of government and management issues and has been the subject of several cover stories in various national, professional and governmental journals.
Mr. Walker is a certified public accountant. He has a B.S. degree in accounting from Jacksonville University and a Senior Management in Government Certificate in public policy from the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. He has received honorary doctorate degrees from several colleges and universities, including his alma mater. Mr. Walker has completed numerous continuing education courses in a wide range of fields, including the six-week CAPSTONE course for military Generals and Admirals. He has also won a number of awards domestically and internationally for outstanding leadership in several areas.
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