Auditor who exposed World-Com fraud to speak at NSU

The woman credited with first detecting and reporting corporate fraud at WorldCom will be the keynote speaker at Nicholls State University’s annual JPMorgan Chase Management Excellence Series at Envie Restaurant Nov. 2.

Cynthia Cooper served as the chief audit executive for MCI, the successor company to WorldCom, until July 2004. She has received numerous honors for uncovering and bringing to light WorldCom’s massive fraud.

Cooper’s topic, entitled “WorldCom Warnings: What Went Wrong and Corporate Governance Lessons Learned,” will cover some of the lessons she has learned, including the important of strong ethical and moral leadership.

Cooper was named one of Time Magazine’s Persons of the Year in 2002. The following year, she was given the 2003 Accounting Exemplar Award, which is presented annually to an individual who has made notable contributions to professionalism and ethics in accounting practice and education. Cooper was the first woman to ever be given the award.

A certified public accountant in the state of Georgia, Cooper is a certified information systems auditor and a certified fraud examiner. She is a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, the Institute of Internal Auditors and the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners.

She currently resides in Mississippi with her husband Lance and their two daughters.

Registration for the luncheon is $25, and can be made through the College of Business Administration at (985) 448-4171. Checks should be made payable to the Nicholls Foundation.