VCU Names Director of Assurance Services

By Anne Buckley

William H. Cole, CPA, has been named executive director of assurance services at Virginia Commonwealth University, where he will oversee the department that provides audit and management, information technology and compliance services to the university and VCU Health System communities.

Cole, who recently served as audit partner of Cherry, Bekaert & Holland LLC, begins his position Oct. 1. Cole also has served as senior associate vice president for administration and finance at Christopher Newport University.

“I am enthusiastic about this appointment and confident in Bill’s ability to serve the university well as a key member of the senior leadership team,” said VCU President Michael Rao, Ph.D. “Bill has tremendous analytical and organizational skills and his ability to reconcile differences to bring about consensus will be invaluable to this position.”
Cole's selection was the result of a national search and meetings with members of the VCU Board of Visitors, the senior leadership team and members of the faculty, staff and students.
“I am excited for the opportunity to work with all members of the university and health system communities in providing exemplary assurance services,” Cole said. “I feel my experience and management style are a good fit for leading this department and working with VCU management, faculty and staff.”

In addition to his most recent positions, Cole served in the office of the Auditor of Public Accounts, Commonwealth of Virginia, for nearly 30 years, the last 16 as deputy auditor.

He is a member of the American Institute of CPAs and the Virginia Society of CPAs, and has served on the AICPA State and Local Government Expert Panel and as president of the Richmond Chapter of the Association of Government Accountants. He is a recipient of the 2005 Association of Government Accountants Chapter Recognition Award (Platinum Chapter), and of the 2000 VSCPA Broadus Award – Outstanding Member in Business, Industry and Government.

Cole earned a Master of Business Administration in 1995 from VCU, where he was a recipient of the Dean’s Scholar Award for 4.0 GPA, and a bachelor's degree in Business Administration from Old Dominion University in 1978.