Members of the GASB

Board members are appointed by the Trustees of the FAF for a five-year term and may serve up to ten years. The chairman serves full time and the six other members serve on a part-time basis. The members of the GASB are required to have knowledge of governmental accounting and finance and a concern for the public interest in matters of accounting and financial reporting. (Expiration dates of Board members current terms are in parentheses below.)

Robert H. Attmore (2014) was appointed to serve as the chairman of the GASB effective July 1, 2004. Mr. Attmore began his second and final term as chairman on July 1, 2009, after being reappointed in October 2008. Prior to joining the GASB, Mr. Attmore headed his own consulting business. Previously, he worked for New York State for more than 23 years, including serving as deputy state comptroller and state auditor from 1986 until 2003. Mr. Attmore has served as president of the National State Auditors Association and as a member of the executive committee of the National Association of State Auditors, Comptrollers and Treasurers. He is a Trustee of the Academy for Government Accountability and has served as a member of the U.S. Comptroller General’s Advisory Council on Governmental Auditing Standards. He also served on the National Executive Board of the Association of Government Accountants. He is a graduate of Villanova University and is a CPA and a Certified Government Financial Manager.

James E. Brown (2017) began serving as a member of the GASB on July 1, 2012. Previously, he was a partner at BKD LLP serving in the National Office Accounting and Auditing Quality Control Department from 2003 until 2011. Prior to that, he was the director of Accounting and Auditing and an audit partner in BKD’s Southern Missouri offices. He was also the professional practices partner for BKD’s government and not-for-profit organizations assurance practice from 1984 until 2011. Mr. Brown is a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants and is a past member of its Auditing Standards Board and Board of Examiners. He also is an instructor for AICPA continuing education courses. Mr. Brown is a graduate of Missouri Southern State University and is a Certified Public Accountant and a Certified Government Financial Manager.

William W. Fish (2016) began serving as a member of the GASB on February 1, 2012. Previously, he was the Chief Investment Officer of Chartis U.S., a property and casualty subsidiary of AIG, where he was responsible for managing $80 billion in assets. Earlier, Mr. Fish was Head of Municipals at AIG Investments, co-managed the municipal research group at ABN AMRO, and was responsible for building and managing the municipal securities research department at Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette. He has served as president of the Society of Municipal Analysts and as chairman of the Municipal Analysts Group of New York. Mr. Fish received his bachelor’s degree from Bowdoin College and his master of business administration in finance from the University at Albany, NY. Mr. Fish previously served on the Governmental Accounting Standards Advisory Council from 1994 to 1996 representing the Public Securities Association and he is a recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award from the National Federation of Municipal Analysts.

Michael H. Granof (2015) began serving as a member of the GASB on July 1, 2010. Dr. Granof is the Ernst & Young Distinguished Centennial Professor of the McCombs School of Business at the University of Texas at Austin, where he has been a member of the faculty since 1972. Appointed in 1984 to his current role, he served as Chairman of the school’s Department of Accounting from 1984-1988. Concurrently, he is also a Professor of Public Affairs at the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs of the University of Texas at Austin, a position he has held since 1999. In addition to writing a number of articles and textbooks on accounting and auditing issues, he is currently a part-time member of the Financial Accounting Standards Advisory Board for the federal government, and he previously was a member of the National Council of Governmental Accounting, the AICPA Committee on Governmental Accounting and Auditing, the U.S. Comptroller General’s Advisory Council on Government Auditing Standards, and various committees of the Texas Society of CPAs.

David E. Sundstrom (2014) began serving as a member of the GASB on July 1, 2009. In December, 2011, he was appointed by the Sonoma county Board of Supervisors to fill the remaining term of the retired Auditor-Controller, Treasurer-Tax Collector. Following Orange County’s bankruptcy in 1995, Mr. Sundstrom joined the county as its director of internal audit and helped lead the county’s recovery. He was then elected as the county auditor-controller in June 1998. Mr. Sundstrom was university auditor for the California State University System from 1989 to 1996, and was campus audit manager for the University of California-Davis from 1980 to 1989. He is also a member of numerous professional and community organizations, including the California State Society of Certified Public Accountants, the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, and the Government Finance Officers Association. Mr. Sundstrom received his bachelor’s degree in management from Sonoma State University and his master of business administration degree in finance accounting and management information systems from the University of California-Davis.

Jan I. Sylvis (2017) began serving as a member of the GASB on June 30, 2007. Chief of accounts for the state of Tennessee since 1995, she serves as the state’s controller and manages its centralized accounting system. Since 1979, she has held a variety of senior accounting positions with the state, including director of auditing and consulting services. Ms. Sylvis is a past president of both the National Association of State Auditors, Comptrollers, and Treasurers and the National Association of State Controllers, and was a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants’ Government and Not-for-Profit panel. A CPA and author of numerous essays about government financial matters, she holds a bachelor’s degree in business administration from the University of Memphis.

Marcia L. Taylor (2015) joined the GASB on July 1, 2005. She is the assistant municipal manager of Mt. Lebanon, Pennsylvania. She was a member of the Governmental Accounting Standards Advisory Council from 2001 to 2004, representing the International City/County Management Association, and served on the GASB’s task force on fund balance and net asset reporting. Ms. Taylor is active in numerous professional organizations, for which she has served on a number of national, state, and local committees. She holds a bachelor’s degree from Bucknell University and a master’s degree from Carnegie-Mellon University and is a CPA and a Certified Government Financial Manager.

The GASB Staff

The Board has a professional staff drawn from government, public accounting, and the user community. The staff works directly with the Board and its task forces, conducts research, participates in public hearings, analyzes oral and written comments received from the public on documents, and prepares drafts of documents for consideration by the Board.

David R. Bean joined the GASB staff in 1990 as its first full-time director of research and technical activities. Previous to working at the GASB, he was with Ernst & Young. He also was the director of the Technical Services Center of the Government Finance Officers Association and worked for the State Comptroller’s Office in Illinois. He holds a B.S. degree from Illinois State University and is a CPA.