Firm History | Leaders and Shapers


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	Leaders & Shapers


	For more than a century, Deloitte & Touche USA LLP has been led by a series of extraordinary men—and women—who shaped a culture of client service that exceeds expectations. They were the visionaries who founded the profession. They were innovators who not only adapted the firm and its services to deliver solutions for clients' ever-changing needs but also led the way in the evolution of accounting's history.


	James H. Quigley

	Chief Executive Officer, Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu

	James H. Quigley was named Chief Executive Officer of Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu in June 2007. Jim was most recently Chief Executive Officer, Deloitte & Touche USA LLP. Jim is a member of the Boards of Directors of both D&T USA and DTT. During his 30 years with Deloitte, he has had a number of leadership and client service responsibilities including Regional Managing Partner of Deloitte’s U.S. Northeast practice and National Industry Leader for the organization’s...

	William G. Parrett

	CEO, Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu

	Bill Parrett was Chief Executive Officer of Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu from June 1, 2003 to May 31, 2007. He brought a distinguished track record of service to many of the firm’s leading clients, and has served as an advisory or leadership partner to General Motors, Merrill Lynch & Co., Metropolitan Life Insurance Company, Bridgestone Corporation, Royal Bank of Canada, BASF, The Charles Schwab Corporation, Abbott Laboratories, Marsh & McLennan Companies and The Procter & Gamble Company, among others. He also co-founded the firm’s Global Financial Services Industry...

	James E. Copeland, Jr.

	CEO, Deloitte & Touche USA LLP 1999-2003 CEO, Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu 1999-2003

	Jim Copeland retired as Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Deloitte & Touche USA LLP (“Deloitte & Touche USA”) and as CEO of Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu (“DTT”) on May 31, 2003. As CEO of DTT, Jim guided DTT and its member firms, including Deloitte & Touche USA, through a period of the greatest revenue growth in the organization’s history and oversaw the move from being the fifth to the second-largest professional services organization in the world. He also led the Task Force to define and articulate the Deloitte...

	J. Michael Cook

	Chairman & Chief Executive Deloitte Haskins & Sells

	In 1986, the year he was appointed chairman of the AICPA, J. Michael Cook succeeded Charles Steele as chairman and chief executive of Deloitte Haskins & Sells, a predecessor of Deloitte & Touche. He was just 43 and brought with him ambition, vision, and energy. His determination to provide peerless client service and his focus on core industries revitalized the firm, which grew rapidly. With Edward A. Kangas, Cook was the architect of the most momentous event in the firm's history-the creation of Deloitte & Touche. He was appointed...

	Edward A. Kangas

	Managing Partner Touche Ross

	Edward A. Kangas was both a proponent and a prime example of the new breed of accountant as business person at the end of the last century. After joining the Deloitte & Touche predecessor firm Touche Ross as an auditor, Kangas achieved tremendous success as national Management Consulting director, nearly quadrupling the firm's MC business. In 1985, Kangas was named managing partner, and, with J. Michael Cook, helped create Deloitte & Touche. He then became head of Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu (DTT),...

	W. Grant Gregory and J. David Moxley

	Co-Managing Partners Touche Ross

	W. Grant Gregory and J. David Moxley formed a two-man team in 1982 and succeeded Russell Palmer as leaders of Touche Ross, a predecessor of Deloitte & Touche. Their collaboration was based on a division of responsibilities that reflected their respective strengths as leaders. Gregory, a native Nebraskan, joined the firm in 1963, becoming partner in 1971. His numerous contributions to the accounting profession include serving as director of the National Association of Accountants. As the firm's co-managing partner, Gregory was responsible for attracting and serving new...

	Charles Steele

	Managing Partner Haskins & Sells

	During the Great Depression, South Dakotan Charles Steele worked every job he could, from shearing sheep to shoveling coal. A work week was twice the 40 hours people think normal today, he once commented. That background prepared me well for the demanding schedule of public accounting. A vocational test propelled Steele into accounting. He went on to win the Elijah Watt Sells Gold Medal. In 1978, Steele was appointed managing partner of Haskins & Sells, a predecessor of Deloitte & Touche. In his first meeting as chairman, representatives from associate firms around the...

	Russell Palmer

	Managing Partner Touche Ross

	In 1972, 37-year-old Russell Palmer took over the leadership of Touche Ross, a predecessor of Deloitte & Touche, becoming the youngest managing partner of a Big Eight firm. "With clear goals," he remarked, "we can operate as a group of individuals, with different backgrounds, specialties, interests, and responsibilities, who will be united to maximize the thrust of our firm." Palmer demonstrated strength of his vision by leading the firm through a decade of expansion, doubling annual revenues. He was also a driving force behind the growth of Management Consulting, foreseeing...

	Michael Chetkovich

	Managing Partner Haskins & Sells

	"It's far better to try to achieve impossible standards than it is to lower those standards to match performance—even if that might be more realistic." This comment by Michael Chetkovich characterized his career with Haskins & Sells, a predecessor of Deloitte & Touche, and his leadership of the firm from 1970 to 1978. Chetkovich was equally concerned with accounting's good name. While chairman of the AICPA in 1978, he remarked, "The AICPA, the FASB, and the public accounting firms are working hard to respond to the demands of our critics while—and this is vital—at the same time...

	Robert Trueblood

	Chairman Touche Ross

	Robert Trueblood, chairman of the Deloitte & Touche predecessor firm of Touche Ross from 1963 until his death in 1973, was remarkable for his impact on the profession. He was awarded the Elijah Watt Sells Silver Medal in 1941, and went on to co-author Sampling Techniques in Accounting and write The Future of Accounting Education and Auditing, Management Games, and Accounting Education. Trueblood was president of the AICPA from 1965 through 1966 and served on the President's Commission on Budget Concepts during the Johnson administration. He is one of the many Deloitte & Touche...

	John William Queenan

	Managing Partner Haskins & Sells

	In 1931, John Queenan was awarded the gold medal of the Illinois Society of CPAs for scoring the highest grade on the state CPA examination. That performance was an accurate predictor of his career at our predecessor firm of Haskins & Sells, which took him from Newark to Chicago and then to the firm's national office. He was appointed managing partner in 1956, a position he held until retiring in 1970. Queenan made great strides for the accounting industry through his work to arrange cooperation between CPAs and lawyers. The Secretary of the Treasury Department issued a statement on...

	Philip Ross

	Managing Partner Touche Niven

	When Scotsman Philip Ross settled in Montreal in 1858, accounting was so new to Canada that only two other accountants were listed in the Montreal directory. For years, accounting work was so light that Ross supplemented his income by working as a ship's chandler. In 1879, Ross and his friend James Court gathered 11 other accountants in Montreal's Mechanic's Hall. The group determined to bring order to the profession by forming an association and seeking a charter that would allow them to restrict the use of the term "chartered accountant." On July 24, 1880, the group created the...

	George Bailey

	Managing Partner Touche, Niven, Bailey & Smart

	A native of Sioux City, Iowa, and a graduate of the University of Wisconsin, George Bailey worked as an accountant for many years in Cleveland and Detroit. In 1947, he established his own firm. Later that year he joined forces with A.R. Smart and Touche Niven, a predecessor of Deloitte & Touche. Bailey's financial and business acumen made him invaluable to clients. He was active in civic life and deeply involved in charitable work. During World War II, he worked as a consultant to various federal agencies. Bailey was also committed to education and training. He developed...

	Jennie Palen

	Principal Pioneer

	"Women are not wanted as accountants on the staff of practicing public accountants," read an editorial in the December 1923 Journal of Accountancy, but not because they could not do the job. Rather, the article stressed, the men managing the leading firms found it difficult to accommodate women, citing problems with travel, night assignments, potential embarrassment, and client objections. Consequently, most women CPAs of the time (by 1933 there were just over 100) were forced to join small practices or work for themselves. Jennie Palen was an exception. After receiving her New York...

	Arthur Hazelton Carter

	Managing Partner Haskins & Sells

	A native of Hillsboro, Kansas, and a graduate of West Point, Arthur Hazelton Carter earned distinction both as a soldier and as a civilian. He began his career in the military and rose to the rank of lieutenant colonel by the end of World War I. He married Elijah Sells' daughter, Marjorie, in 1910. After the war, Carter was persuaded to join his father-in-law's firm, a predecessor firm of Deloitte & Touche. He duly qualified as a CPA and in 1922 was admitted to the firm. In 1930, at the age of 43, Carter became managing partner, a position he held for over a decade. He built an...

	John Ballantine Niven

	Managing Partner Touche Niven

	John Ballantine Niven was the son of Alexander Thomas Niven, who helped found the world's first society of public accountants in Edinburgh in 1854. The younger Niven claimed he never had any doubts about his choice of profession. He surely never had any regrets. Soon after arriving in America in 1900, Niven established himself as a leader of the young profession. In 1904, he was asked to assist with arrangements for an International Congress of Accountants held at the Louisiana Purchase Exposition. He also earned praise for helping to resolve conflicts within the AICPA during its...

	George A. Touche

	Founder

	George A. Touche apprenticed as an accountant in Edinburgh before traveling to London and qualifying as a chartered accountant in 1883. After practicing for six years, he was appointed secretary of the Industrial and General Trust. This appointment was his first involvement with investment trusts, a field in which he would become an acknowledged expert. Although best remembered for the accounting companies he founded, Touche was also deeply involved in civic life. He was a member of Parliament for North Islington from 1910 to 1918. In recognition of his many achievements, Touche was...

	William Welch Deloitte

	Founder

	William Welch Deloitte established an accounting practice in London at age 25 and quickly proved to be an innovator. He helped develop a system that formed the basis for the English railway accounts, as well as a system of hotel accounting that became standard in the field. Deloitte's reputation was so strong that he was asked to help unravel the infamous frauds at the Great Northern Railway and the Great Eastern Steamship Company. His importance to the accounting profession was recognized in 1889 when he was elected president of the Institute of Chartered Accountants. Deloitte was...

	Elijah Watt Sells

	Founder

	A native of Muscatine, Iowa, Elijah Watt Sells' talent and diligence took him to the top of his profession. He studied briefly at Baker University before leaving at age 16 to become an assistant station agent for the Leavenworth, Lawrence & Galveston Railroad. His work brought him to the attention of the head office, and he was quickly promoted. By 1893, after working for a number of railroads, Sells had earned a substantial reputation as an accountant, as evidenced by his appointment to the Dockery Commission. After the death of his partner Charles Haskins in 1903, Sells not...

	Charles Waldo Haskins

	Founder

	Charles Waldo Haskins was born in 1852 into a renowned American family (his uncle was Ralph Waldo Emerson). In 1886, he set up his own accounting business in New York City, and went on to found Haskins & Sells, a Deloitte & Touche predecessor, with his partner, Elijah Watt Sells. Haskins was a strong advocate of accounting standards and lectured widely on accounting history and methods. He described the public accountant as "the consulting physician of finance and commerce." According to Haskins, the public accountant "understands the anatomy and physiology of business and the rules...


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