Edward Regan - Life

Life

Regan graduated in the Hobart Class of 1952 at Hobart and William Smith Colleges, where he was a member of The Kappa Alpha Society, and cum laude from University at Buffalo Law School in 1964.

In 1970, he was defeated by the incumbent Comptroller Arthur Levitt, Sr., but was elected New York State Comptroller in 1978, and re-elected in 1982, 1986 and 1990. He remained in office until May 7, 1993 when he resigned. He was succeeded by Carl McCall who was elected by the New York State Legislature to fill the unexpired term.

Prior to becoming Comptroller, Regan served as County Executive of Erie County. He also served as a councilman in Buffalo.

Regan was investigated by law enforcement officials after the disclosure of a memo written by members of his staff, one of which pointedly said, "Those who give will get." Regan denied any impropriety.

Regan occasionally talked of running for governor, but never did so. Regan was Chairman of the Municipal Assistance Corporation for New York City in the 1990s. The corporation was set up in the 1970s to assist with the financial recovery of New York City following the city's fiscal crisis and near bankruptcy.

In the early 1990s, he served as a member of the US Competitiveness Policy Council and ably led its efforts on Corporation Governance.

After leaving the comptroller's office, Regan served as a board member of numerous business and nonprofit organizations. He was President of Baruch College in New York from 2000 to 2004. After retiring from the Baruch presidency, Regan became a professor at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York. He served as a Trustee of the Financial Accounting Foundation and is a consultant to the Chairman of the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) on matters of the convergence of GAAP with international accounting standards.

For several months in 2005 and 2006, he was the first Chairman of the Erie County Fiscal Stability Authority, which was set up by the state in to oversee the county's finances and make recommendations to the county government on financial affairs. The authority, considered a "soft" control board, was created in response to the Erie County fiscal crisis of 2005.

In January 2007, he served on the search committee for a new State Comptroller, following the resignation of Comptroller Alan Hevesi. The other search committee members were former State Comptroller Carl McCall and former New York City Comptroller Harrison J. Goldin. The committee recommended New York City Finance Commissioner Martha Stark, Nassau County Comptroller Howard Weizman and businessman William Mulrow to the State Legislature for consideration, but the Legislature elected Thomas DiNapoli who had been considered inept for the post by the committee.

Ned Regan is a faculty member at the City University of New York (CUNY), holding the title of Distinguished Professor at Baruch College and the Graduate Center, and also teaching at the Macaulay Honors College on the civic and economic issues affecting New York City. He is also a consultant to the chairman of the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) working on a project with the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) to create a global set of high-quality financial reporting standards. He is active in many civic organizations such as the Council on Foreign Relations, the Committee for Economic Development and the New York Economic Club. Mr. Regan, a lawyer, was president of Baruch College, served as The New York State Comptroller (the state’s chief auditor and accounting standard setter) for over 15 years, was chairman of the NYC Municipal Assistance Corporation (MAC) and president of the Levy Economic Institute of Bard College. He has taught at several universities and served on numerous for-profit and nonprofit boards and their audit committees.