Mr. Arthur Levitt

SEC Chairman 1993-2001

Education: Williams College, BA

Awards and Honors:
January 2001, Levitt received the "Award for Distinguished Leadership in Global Capital Markets" from the Yale School of Management.

• Chairman of the American Stock Exchange (AMEX) 1978.
• Chairman of the New York City Economic Development Corporation 1989- 93.
• Appointed Chairman of the SEC by President Clinton in 1993 and reappointed in 1998.

Notable:
During Levitt's tenure at the SEC, he was widely viewed as a pro-investor advocate and received favorable press coverage. One speech he gave as chairman was in September 1998 at New York University. His speech, entitled "The Numbers Game," addressed five ways in which corporations were managing earnings (big bath charges, creative acquisition accounting, cookie-jar reserves, materiality, and revenue recognition). In his speech, Levitt advocated improving the transparency and comparability of financial statements.

Further reading:
Take On the Street: What Wall Street and Corporate America Don't Want You to Know. What You Can Do to Fight Back, Random House.