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

chairman The chair, also chairman, chairwoman, or chairperson, 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 gro ...

and

chief executive officer A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a chief executive or managing director, is the top-ranking corporate officer charged with the management of an organization, usually a company or a nonprofit organization. CEOs find roles in variou ...

Coopers & Lybrand PricewaterhouseCoopers, also known as PwC, is a multinational professional services network based in London, United Kingdom. It is the second-largest professional services network in the world and is one of the Big Four accounting firms, along ...

, one of the

Big Eight auditors The Big Four are the four largest professional services networks in the world: Deloitte, EY, KPMG, and PwC. They are the four largest global accounting networks as measured by revenue. The four are often grouped because they are comparable i ...

, 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 the northernmost of the five Boroughs of New York City, boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. It shares a land border with Westchester County, New York, West ...

, 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 Catholic university with a main campus in New Rochelle, New York, United States. It was founded in 1940 by the Congregation of Christian Brothers and occupies a campus of in New Rochelle and a campus of in Bro ...

, receiving a

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

accounting Accounting, also known as accountancy, is the process of recording and processing information about economic entity, economic entities, such as businesses and corporations. Accounting measures the results of an organization's economic activit ...

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 naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...

during the

Korean War The Korean War (25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953) was an armed conflict on the Korean Peninsula fought between North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea; DPRK) and South Korea (Republic of Korea; ROK) and their allies. North Korea was s ...

, 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 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 (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

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 Smith, Kline & French (SKF) was an American pharmaceutical company that is now a part of the British group GSK plc. History In 1830, John K. Smith opened a drugstore in Philadelphia, and his younger brother, George, joined him in 1841 to form ...

and

Unilever Unilever PLC () is a British multinational consumer packaged goods company headquartered in London, England. It was founded on 2 September 1929 following the merger of Dutch margarine producer Margarine Unie with British soap maker Lever B ...

. 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, refers to anyone in a position of trust and so can refer to any individual who holds property, authority, or a position of trust or responsibility for the ...

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 ...

The Catholic University of America The Catholic University of America (CUA) is a private Catholic research university in Washington, D.C., United States. It is one of two pontifical universities of the Catholic Church in the United States – the only one that is not primarily ...

, and the

Gregorian University Pontifical Gregorian University (; also known as the Gregorian or Gregoriana), is a private pontifical university in Rome, Italy. The Gregorian originated as a part of the Roman College, founded in 1551 by Ignatius of Loyola, and included all ...

. He also served on the visiting committees of the

MIT Sloan School of Management The MIT Sloan School of Management (branded as MIT 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 progra ...

and

The Conference Board The Conference Board, Inc. is a 501(c)(3) organization, 501(c)(3) non-profit business membership and research organization. It counts over 1,000 public and private corporations and other organizations as members, encompassing 60 countries. Th ...

. 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, and commonly known as the Order of Malta or the Knights of Malta, is a Catholic lay religious ...

and a

Knight of the Holy Sepulchre The Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem (, OESSH), also called the Order of the Holy Sepulchre or Knights of the Holy Sepulchre, is a Catholic order of knighthood under the protection of the Holy See. The pope is the sovereign ...

. 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. A Doctor of Laws (LL.D.) is a doctoral degree in legal studies. The abbreviation LL.D. stands for ''Legum Doctor'', with the double “L” in the abbreviation referring to the early practice in the University of Cambridge to teach both canon law ...

In 1991, Scanlon retired and settled in

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

. He died of

cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving Cell growth#Disorders, abnormal cell growth with the potential to Invasion (cancer), invade or Metastasis, spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Po ...

on December 3, 2009, in

Jupiter, Florida Jupiter is the northernmost town in Palm Beach County, Florida, United States. According to the 2020 US Census, the town had a population of 61,047. It is 84 miles north of Miami and 15 miles north of West Palm Beach, Florida, West Palm Beach. ...

References

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