William McDonough, recently named by the Securities and Exchange Commission to be chairman of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board as of June 11th, has resigned from the board of trustees of Carnegie Corporation of New York. McDonough’s new position requires that he sever any ties he may have to any other organization on which he serves, as the law setting up the accounting board requires that members of the board “shall serve on a full-time basis and may not, concurrent with service on the board, be employed by any other person or engage in any other professional or business activity.” In his letter of resignation to the Corporation, McDonough said, “This gives me great pain because of my conviction that the work of Carnegie Corporation is so very positive for the many people in many countries who benefit from it.”
"McDonough is a brilliant and visionary leader who brought all the insights of his extraordinary career to bear on the foundation's work in the short time he was here,” said Vartan Gregorian, president of Carnegie Corporation of New York. “We will miss his participation in our deliberations and his counsel, but know that the SEC and the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board will benefit greatly from his judgment and service.”
Helene Kaplan, chair of the chair of the board of trustees of the Corporation also thanked McDonough for his service as a member of the board. “Bill’s energetic commitment to excellence and the wisdom he brought to the foundation’s work will be missed greatly."
He was elected to the Corporation’s board of trustees in February 2002. He is currently the eighth president and chief executive officer of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. At the Federal Reserve Bank, he serves as the vice-chairman and a permanent member of the Federal Open Market Committee (FMOC), the group responsible for formulating the nation's monetary policy. McDonough also serves as a member of the Board of Directors of the Bank for International Settlements and the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision.
Prior to joining the New York Fed, McDonough served as an advisor to a variety of domestic and international organizations. He retired from East Chicago Corp. and its bank, First National Bank of Chicago, in 1989 after a twenty-two year career there. Before that, McDonough was with the U.S. State Department from 1961 to 1967 and served in the U.S. Navy from 1956 to 1961.
McDonough earned a master's degree in economics from Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., and a bachelor's degree, also in economics, from Holy Cross College in Worcester, Massachusetts.
Carnegie Corporation of New York was created by Andrew Carnegie in 1911 to promote "the advancement and diffusion of knowledge and understanding." As a grantmaking foundation, the Corporation seeks to carry out Carnegie's vision of philanthropy, which he said should aim "to do real and permanent good in the world." The Corporation's capital fund, originally donated at a value of about $135 million, had a market value of $1.6 billion on September 30, 2002. The Corporation awards grants totaling approximately $80 million a year in the areas of education, international peace and security, international development and strengthening U.S. democracy.