WMU News

FASB exec is next Haworth Distinguished Speaker

Nov. 3, 2000

KALAMAZOO -- James J. Leisenring, director of international activities with the Financial Accounting Standards Board, will speak at WMU on Thursday, Nov. 9, as part of the Haworth College of Business Distinguished Speaker Series.

Beginning at 7:30 p.m. in the Brown Auditorium of Schneider Hall, Leisenring will discuss "The Role of Financial Information in Capital Markets." The lecture is by invitation only and is not open to the public.

The Financial Accounting Standards Board is the organization in charge of setting accounting principles in the United States. Prior to his current appointment as director of international activities with the FASB, Leisenring served as vice chairman of that organization for 12 years.

Before joining the FASB, he was a partner and director of accounting and auditing for Bristol, Leisenring, Herkner & Co., now a part of Plante & Moran. During that period, he also served as the chairman of the Auditing Standards Board of the American Institute of CPAs. A graduate of Western Michigan University's MBA program, Leisenring served as a member of the University's accounting faculty from 1964 to 1969.

Leisenring is a member of the International Joint Working Group on Financial Instruments and the chairman of both the FASB Derivatives Implementation Group and the FASB Financial Instruments Task Force. He also serves as chairman of the G4+1, the influential group that sets international accounting standards.

The Distinguished Speaker Series, now in its fifth year, brings business, education and government leaders to campus to discuss a variety of topics of interest to the University and Southwest Michigan. Business and community leaders from Southwest Michigan, as well as WMU faculty, staff and students, attend the events. The series is coordinated by Dr. Christopher M. Korth, WMU professor of finance and commercial law.

Media contact: Jessica English, 616 387-8400, jessica.english@wmich.edu


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