Former Comptroller General of the United States, Charles Bowsher, presents his colloquium address "The State of Our Nation’s Finances: An Insider’s View" at 6 p.m. Sept. 25 in the Jobe Hall Auditorium.The Delta State University Colloquia Distinguished Speakers Lecture Series kicks off the fall semester featuring a speaker with extensive experience in our nation’s capital — Charles Bowsher, former Comptroller General of the United States.
Bowsher’s speech, titled “The State of Our Nation’s Finances: An Insider’s View,” will begin at 6 p.m. Sept. 25 in the Jobe Hall Auditorium on campus. The presentation is free and open to the public.
Those unable to attend the event can view the livestream speech online through the university’s official uStream channel: www.ustream.tv/channel/delta-state-university.
Delta State President William N. LaForge established the colloquia program when taking office in 2013. The platform is an ongoing series of top-flight lectures and addresses featuring prominent speakers. Former Mississippi governor William F. Winter was honored as the first speaker.
For Bowsher, distinguished service — to both public institutions and the private sector — has been the hallmark of his notable career.
In 1996, he completed a 15-year term of office as the Comptroller General of the United States and head of the General Accounting Office (GAO). His appointment as Comptroller General by President Ronald Reagan in 1981 capped a background of experience in both government and corporate endeavors.
Bowsher was associated with Arthur Andersen and Company for 25 years, except for a four-year period between 1967-1971 when he served as assistant secretary of the Navy for Financial Management. His work in that role earned him Distinguished Public Service Awards from both the Department of the Navy and the Department of Defense.
With a congressional mandate to audit, evaluate, or investigate virtually all federal operations, under his leadership the GAO became increasingly involved in some of the most important issues of the day, producing in-depth reports both at the specific request of congressional committees, or on its own initiative.
GAO issued major studies on issues ranging from health care reform, the savings and loan banking crisis, to the federal budget deficit and efforts to reinvent government. The agency continued to monitor high-risk governmental activities that could lead to major losses from waste, fraud, abuse or mismanagement.
Since retiring as Comptroller General, Bowsher has joined the corporate boards of American Express Bank, National Steel, Newport News Shipbuilding and DeVry, Inc. He also serves on the advisory board of the Washington Mutual Investors Fund, and he was appointed as a public member of the board of the National Association of Securities Dealers, which oversees the NASDAQ system and the over-the-counter securities markets.
Additionally, Bowsher is a trustee of the Center for Naval Analyses, the United States Navy Memorial Foundation, the Concord Coalition and the Hitachi Foundation. He also serves on advisory boards at several universities. He has been a trustee of the Logistics Management Institute since 1996, serving first as a member of the audit committee and later as its chairman.
Born in Elkhart, Indiana in 1931, Bowsher graduated from the University of Illinois in 1953 and received a Master of Business Administration from the University of Chicago in 1956 after serving two years in the U.S. Army.
He is the recipient of honorary doctorates from five universities and has received additional honors from Yale University, University of Chicago, Ohio State University and University of Illinois.
LaForge said the Distinguished Speakers Lecture Series is another commitment toward bringing excellence to Delta State.
“As a university, we need to make available to Delta State and the community marquee speakers from across the country and the world,” said LaForge. “Great universities have great programs, and this is another step in the right direction. This is one of the hallmark items of what we’re trying to do here.
“This is a university-wide program that will continue to bring a unique and diverse array of people — from judges, former government officials, lawyers and business people. These are all folks our students can look up to.”
Learn more about the series at www.deltastate.edu/president/colloquia.
