Business Ethics Lecture Series Concludes with Gary Dando

The Business Ethics Lecture Series, sponsored by the Smith School, hosted its final speaker, B. Gary Dando '64, retired partner, Ernst & Young on April 18. Dando spoke on Business Ethics and 'The Cheating Culture.'

Dando is a retired partner with Ernst & Young. He started working for Ernst & Young in 1964 after he graduated from the Smith School. He was elevated to partner at the firm in 1976. In addition to client engagement responsibilities, Dando held positions of national and regional operational responsibility within Ernst & Young in areas of practice management and operations. He retired in June 2001 after 37 years with firm.

Stephen Loeb, Ernst & Young Alumni Professor of Accounting and Business Ethics and also the Academic Integrity Officer of the Robert H. Smith School of Business, is the main driving force behind the ethics lecture series. He said, ?I have known Gary Dando for many years and I felt his comments were outstanding.?

Jennifer Walls, a senior accounting major attended the talk. ?He stressed that you can learn a lot about a person's morals through events outside of work, especially his/her golf game,? she said. ?I guess I am going to have to learn how to play golf!?

Loeb organized yet another successful year of the Business Ethics Lecture Series. Speakers in Fall 2006 included:

• Lesley Fair, Attorney, Federal Trade Commission
• Teresa Iannaconi, Partner, KPMG
• Robert Colson, Partner, Grant Thornton

Besides Gary Dando, speakers in Spring 2007 included Scott Avelino, managing director, KPMG, and Dr. George Ellard, Esq., Baach, Robinson & Lewis.

Loeb said, "We have had six lectures over the past academic year. In my view, the attendance has been very good. I think the speakers have all been excellent and the opportunity for students to add to their knowledge has been excellent."

Alum B. Gary Dando first started working for Ernst & Young in 1964 after he graduated from what was then the College of Business and Public Administration at the University of Maryland. He was elevated to partner at the firm in 1976. In addition to client engagement responsibilities, Dando held positions of national and regional operational responsibility within Ernst & Young in areas of practice management and operations. He retired in June 2001 after 37 years with firm.

Dando's areas of industry expertise included high technology, biosciences, government contracting, manufacturing and regional banking institutions. While at Ernst & Young he served several regional, national and multinational corporate clients, including America Online, Black & Decker, Digene Corp., Lockheed Martin Corp., LTV Corp., the National Association of Securities Dealers Inc./NASDAQ Stock Market, Space Applications Corporation, among others. Dando also advised the firm's McLean office partners on the many complex business and financial accounting matters impacting technology and bioscience companies.

Dando dealt extensively with accounting for mergers and acquisitions and served as an arbitrator for business combination purchase price adjustments as well as expert witness for buyers and sellers in business combination purchase price disputes. He served as an Initial Public Offering and SEC review partner for numerous clients. Additionally, from 1975 to 1982 Dando was a Washington-based SEC Liaison Consultation Partner for the firm's domestic and international offices.

From 1983 through 1994 Dando was the principal author of Ernst & Young's contracting and audit procedural guides for aerospace and defense clients with federal government contracts. When he served in the firm's national office, he was responsible for managing development, distribution and delivery of E&Y?s education and training on a worldwide basis, and management of the education and training initiatives that results from the 1989 Arthur Young and Ernst & Whinney merger.

Dando serves as president of the Robert H. Smith School of Business Foundation's board of directors. He is also on the board of directors of the University System of Maryland Foundation and the board of trustees of the University of Maryland College Park Foundation. He's also chairman of the Audit Committee for the MICROS Systems board of directors.

▓ Sachin Agarwal, MBA Candidate 2007, Smith Media Group