Biography
Sam Ranzilla is joining the James Benjamin Department of Accounting as an executive professor. Since 2015, he has served as a teaching professor in the Department of Accountancy at the University of Notre Dame’s Mendoza College of Business. His focus areas have included both undergraduate and graduate level auditing courses and a course on international financial reporting standards. In 2017, he was awarded the James Dincolo Outstanding Undergraduate Professor Award—Accountancy.
Prior to joining the University of Notre Dame’s faculty, Sam retired from KPMG LLP after 37 years of service, including 27 years as a partner. At the time of his retirement, he was the National Managing Partner, Audit Quality and Professional Practice for the audit practice in the United States. In this role, he was responsible for the quality control system of the practice and the national office function, including serving as the primary liaison to the SEC, PCAOB and FASB. He was also responsible for establishing the firm’s accounting and auditing policies and guidance; consultations with field engagement teams and audit clients; and the audit inspection processes—both internal and external, including inspections conducted by the PCAOB. During this time, he also served as a member of the global organization’s International Standards Group Executive Committee. On a profession-wide basis, he served the Center for Audit Quality as the chair of its Professional Practice Executive Committee and also was a member of the PCAOB’s Standing Advisory Group.
In 2013 and 2014, he and his co-authors received the American Accounting Association/Deloitte Foundation’s Wildman Award and the American Accounting Association-Auditing Section’s Innovation in Auditing and Assurance Education Award for the KPMG Professional Judgment Framework.
Before joining the executive office, Sam served as an audit partner in both Houston and Dallas, serving clients and as the area professional practice partner for the Southwest region. He also spent three years in Hong Kong, serving as the partner in charge of the US Capital Markets Group in Asia. He is an alumnus of the University of Notre Dame and has an accounting degree from the University of Detroit.
