Peter Redmond Scanlon (February 13, 1931 – December 3, 2009) was the

chairman The chairperson, also chairman, chairwoman or chair, is the presiding officer of an organized group such as a board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office, who is typically elected or appointed by members of the grou ...

and

chief executive officer A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...

Coopers & Lybrand PricewaterhouseCoopers is an international professional services brand of firms, operating as partnerships under the PwC brand. It is the second-largest professional services network in the world and is considered one of the Big Four accounting ...

, one of the

Big Eight auditors The Big Four are the four largest professional services networks in the world, the global accounting networks Deloitte, Ernst & Young (EY), KPMG, and PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC). The four are often grouped because they are comparable in size re ...

, from 1982 to 1991.Dennis Hevesi, "Peter R. Scanlon, Who Led Coopers When Big 8 Ruled Auditing, Is Dead at 78", ''The New York Times'', Dec. 10, 2009.
/ref> At a time when other accounting firms were merging, Scanlon kept Coopers & Lybrand independent and grew it through expansion rather than mergers.

Biography

Peter Redmond Scanlon was born on February 13, 1931 in

the Bronx The Bronx () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the state of New York. It is south of Westchester County; north and east of the New York City borough of Manhattan, across the Harlem River; and north of the New Y ...

, the son of Loretta Ryan and John Scanlon Jr., who owned an insurance company, but who died when Scanlon was only 9. After high school, Scanlon attended

Iona College Iona University is a Private university, private Catholic Church, Roman Catholic university with a main campus in New Rochelle, New York. It was founded in 1940 by the Congregation of Christian Brothers and occupies a campus of in New Rochell ...

, receiving a

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six ...

accounting Accounting, also known as accountancy, is the measurement, processing, and communication of financial and non financial information about economic entities such as businesses and corporations. Accounting, which has been called the "languag ...

in 1952. Upon graduation, Scanlon took a job at Lybrand, Ross Brothers & Montgomery (which would later merge with Cooper Brothers & Co. in 1957 to form Coopers & Lybrand). He served in the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

during the

Korean War , date = {{Ubl, 25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953 (''de facto'')({{Age in years, months, weeks and days, month1=6, day1=25, year1=1950, month2=7, day2=27, year2=1953), 25 June 1950 – present (''de jure'')({{Age in years, months, weeks a ...

, returning to the firm when he had completed his four years of service."Peter R. Scanlon, 78, father of Darien residents was CEO, Navy veteran", ''Darien Times'', Dec. 8, 2009.
/ref> He was elected as a

partner Partner, Partners, The Partner, or, The Partners may refer to: Books * ''The Partner'' (Grisham novel), by John Grisham, 1997 * ''The Partner'' (Jenaro Prieto novel), 1928 * ''The Partners'' (book), a 1983 book by James B. Stewart * ''Partner'' (m ...

in 1966, and then rose through the ranks throughout the 1970s, serving as managing partner of the

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

office, managing partner for the New York region, and vice-chairman of domestic operations. In 1982, Scanlon was elected as chairman and CEO of Coopers & Lybrand for the first of three terms. Scanlon was criticized in some quarters because of his refusal to participate in the "mergers mania" of the 1980s. However, Coopers & Lybrand were able to take advantage of the mergers going on in the industry to attract international affiliates who had grown disaffected with their parent firms. Scanlon's tenure as chairman and CEO was one of growth and profitability for Coopers & Lybrand. Scanlon brought in several new clients, most notably SmithKline Beckman and

Unilever Unilever plc is a British multinational consumer goods company with headquarters in London, England. Unilever products include food, condiments, bottled water, baby food, soft drink, ice cream, instant coffee, cleaning agents, energy drink, t ...

. In 1991, his last year at the firm, Coopers & Lybrand earned $261 million in profits on $1.5 billion in revenue. Scanlon's involvement in the community included serving as a

trustee Trustee (or the holding of a trusteeship) is a legal term which, in its broadest sense, is a synonym for anyone in a position of trust and so can refer to any individual who holds property, authority, or a position of trust or responsibility to t ...

for Iona College,

The Economic Club of New York The Economic Club of New York is a U.S. nonprofit and non-partisan membership organization dedicated to promoting the study and discussion of social, economic and political questions. History Founded in 1907, the Economic Club of New York is t ...

The Catholic University of America The Catholic University of America (CUA) is a private university, private Catholic church, Roman Catholic research university in Washington, D.C. It is a pontifical university of the Catholic Church in the United States and the only institution ...

, and the

Gregorian University The Pontifical Gregorian University ( it, Pontificia Università Gregoriana; also known as the Gregorian or Gregoriana,) is a higher education ecclesiastical school (pontifical university) located in Rome, Italy. The Gregorian originated as ...

. He also served on the visiting committees of the

MIT Sloan School of Management The MIT Sloan School of Management (MIT Sloan or Sloan) is the business school of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, a private university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. MIT Sloan offers bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degree programs, ...

and The Conference Board. He was a

Knight of Malta The Sovereign Military Order of Malta (SMOM), officially the Sovereign Military Hospitaller Order of Saint John of Jerusalem, of Rhodes and of Malta ( it, Sovrano Militare Ordine Ospedaliero di San Giovanni di Gerusalemme, di Rodi e di Malta; ...

and a Knight of the Holy Sepulchre. He received several honors from his alma mater, Iona College, including an

honorary An honorary position is one given as an honor, with no duties attached, and without payment. Other uses include: * Honorary Academy Award, by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, United States * Honorary Aryan, a status in Nazi Germany ...

LL.D. In 1991, Scanlon retired and settled in

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

. He died of

cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving abnormal cell growth with the potential to invade or spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Possible signs and symptoms include a lump, abnormal b ...

on December 3, 2009 in Jupiter, Florida.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Scanlon, Peter R. 1931 births 2009 deaths Iona College (New York) alumni American accountants American chief executives of financial services companies Catholic University of America trustees Knights of the Holy Sepulchre Knights of Malta