Harvey L. Pitt Receives William O. Douglas Award at 2011 Annual
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July 2011 News Association of Securities and Exchange Commission Alumni, Inc. For and About SEC Alumni Harvey L. Pitt Receives William O. Douglas Award President’s Message Thank you all for another successful year at 2011 Annual Dinner for ASECA. Our annual dinner on February 4, 2011 was a terrific evening at which we had More than 750 SEC alumni, the opportunity to visit with SEC alumni, staff practitioners, industry officials, and friends and to present the 2011 William O. and SEC staff attended the Douglas award to Harvey Pitt. Harvey had two Nineteenth Annual ASECA distinguished careers at the SEC--first as a staff Dinner on February 4, 2011. As member and the agency’s youngest General in past years, the event was held Counsel and then as Chairman of the agency at the Ronald Reagan Building during 9/11 and following the corporate and and International Trade Center accounting crises of the 1990s. A copy of Harvey’s in Washington, D.C. in con- remarks is available on page 5 of this newsletter junction with the annual PLI as well as on the ASECA website. SEC Chairman Mary Schapiro, who was recipient of the 2008 program, “SEC Speaks.” William O. Douglas award, introduced Harvey, and Rick Ketchum, Chairman and CEO of FINRA and The evening began with opening recipient of the 2009 William O. Douglas award, remarks by ASECA President gave a toast to the SEC. ASECA President Amy Goodman presents the Amy Goodman, followed by William O. Douglas Award to Harvey Pitt. a toast to the SEC given by Another important aspect of the dinner is the Richard G. Ketchum, Chairman presentation of scholarships and awards to SEC and CEO of FINRA, and recipient of the 2009 William O. Douglas Award. A total of staff and law students. Through your membership $58,000 in scholarships and writing competition prizes was then awarded to law students and support of the annual dinner, ASECA has been and members of the SEC staff. (See story on page 4.) able to fund nearly $500,000 in scholarships and awards to SEC staff and law students since 1995, Following dinner, Amy Goodman presented John Hartigan with an award for his service including $58,000 this year. My congratulations go as ASECA President for 2009-2010. His accomplishments as President included expan- to this year’s recipients, many of whom attended the dinner. sion of the law school scholarship program to Northwestern and Stanford Law Schools and overseeing celebrations of the SEC’s 75th anniversary in 2009, including events in Let me say a word about the scholarships to SEC SEC regional offices co-sponsored with the SEC Historical Society. John remains on the support staff. These scholarships are available to ASECA Board as Immediate Past President. secretaries, paralegals, technical support staff, file clerks and other administrative staff and must The highlight of the evening was the presentation of the William O. Douglas Award to be used toward an accredited undergraduate Harvey L. Pitt, the twenty-sixth SEC Chairman and its youngest General Counsel. The degree-granting program. I had the opportunity Douglas Award, instituted by ASECA in 1992, is given each year to an SEC alumnus for the first time this year to read the essays of or alumna who has contributed to the development of the federal securities laws or has the applicants. Some are the first in their family served the financial and SEC community with distinction. The recipient’s achievements to attend college, while others are single mothers should be considered extraordinary by his or her peers, and contributions to the protec- who have inspired their children to further their education. Since its inception in 1999, the staff tion of the investing public are given significant weight. scholarship program has awarded 93 scholarships to SEC staff. Mr. Pitt was introduced by SEC Chairman Mary L. Schapiro, herself a winner of the 2008 William O. Douglas Award. Her warm introduction spoke to Mr. Pitt’s outstanding Our law student scholarships and writing professional and personal qualities and to his support for the work of the SEC through competition also have taken on greater the years. The full text of her remarks can be found on page 5. significance in today’s difficult environment for law students. I’m pleased to report expansion Mr. Pitt is the founder and Chief Executive Officer of the global strategic business con- of the law student scholarship program to sulting firm, Kalorama Partners, LLC, and its law firm affiliate, Kalorama Legal Services, Northwestern University School of Law and PLLC. Prior to their founding, Mr. Pitt served as Chairman of the SEC from 2001 until Stanford Law School. I want to thank David Ruder (Continued on the page 2) and John Hartigan for their efforts in this regard. In addition, the Board has established a new Scholarship Committee to explore expansion to This could be your last ASECA newsletter! additional law schools. If there is a large blue X by your address on the back of this newsletter, your ASECA A special thanks goes to our Executive Director, Cecile Srodes, who not only does such a membership is not current, and you will not receive future ASECA communications, wonderful job in planning our annual dinner, but or be listed in the ASECA directory, unless you renew by September 15. also manages the scholarship programs, our Renewal is available online at www.secalumni.org or by using the form on the last (Continued on the page 2) page of this newsletter. ASECA Officers and Directors 2011 Annual Dinner continued from page 1 2003. He was responsible, among other things, for overseeing the SEC’s response to the market Officers disruptions resulting from the terrorist attacks of 9/11, for creating the SEC’s “real time enforce- Amy Goodman, President ment” program, and for leading the Commis- sion’s adoption of dozens of rules in response to Jonathan G. Katz, President-Elect the corporate and accounting crises of the 1990s. Former Chairman Pitt joined the SEC immedi- Ernest Ten Eyck, Treasurer ately after graduating from law school in 1968. Starting as a Staff Attorney in the Commis- John F. Hartigan, sion’s General Counsel’s Office, Mr. Pitt served Immediate Past President for over ten years in a variety of increasingly responsible positions, including Legal Assis- tant to former SEC Commissioner Francis M. Rick Ketchum, FINRA Chairman and CEO and 2009 William O. Douglas Wheat; author of the Wheat Report that served Board of Directors Award winner, offers a toast to the SEC. as the basis for the Commission’s integration of the Securities Act with the Securities Exchange Act; Special Counsel in the SEC General Counsel’s Office; editor of the Commission’s Brandon Becker Institutional Investor Study; and first Chief Counsel of the then newly-formed Division of Market Regulation. In 1973, Mr. Pitt was appointed Executive Assistant (Chief of Wayne Carlin Staff) to SEC Chairman Ray Garrett, Jr., and in 1975, at the age of 30, Mr. Pitt became the SEC’s youngest General Counsel, serving in that role from 1975-1978. From 1968- Martha L. Cochran 1978, Mr. Pitt served seven SEC Chairmen and was the recipient of the Commission’s Distinguished Service Award. Linda D. Fienberg After leaving the SEC staff in 1978, Mr. Pitt became a corporate partner at a major New York law firm, where he practiced law for nearly twenty-five years. He was a founding Robert C. Friese trustee and first President of the SEC Historical Society, and served on the Board of ASECA in its early years. He has served as an Adjunct Professor of Law at Georgetown, Kathleen G. Gallagher George Washington, University of Pennsylvania, and Yale law schools. He is a frequent ana- lyst on CNBC, Fox Business News, Bloomberg TV-Radio, CNN, Reuters, CBS and ABC. Douglas W. Hyman Mr. Pitt received a J.D. degree from St. John’s University School of Law (1968), and his B.A. from the City University of New York (Brooklyn College) (1965). He was awarded Julie Bell Lindsay an honorary LL.D. by St. John’s University in June 2002, and was given the Brooklyn College President’s Medal of Distinction in 2003. Simon Lorne In accepting the award, Mr. Pitt spoke of the excellence of the SEC staff throughout the agency’s history. He described the challenges currently facing the SEC and encouraged all Andre Owens SEC alumni to support the agency’s efforts to fulfill its critical mission of investor protec- tion. For the complete text of Mr. Pitt’s speech, see page 5. Marvin Pickholz President’s Message continued from page 1 Frank C. Razzano newsletters and membership and anything else we ask of her. I also want to thank the wonderful members of our Board, listed opposite, whose commitment to the SEC and our organization is Thomas L. Riesenberg unfailing. Please mark your calendars for our next William O. Douglas Award Dinner on Friday, February 24, 2012, and note that it has been moved from the first to the last Friday in February. Paul Roye We hope to see you there. Sincerely yours, Honorable Stanley Sporkin Amy Goodman Michael K. Wolensky SAVE THE DATE!! February 24, 2012 TwenTieTh AnnuAl ASeCA Dinner Cecile Srodes, Executive Director AnD williAm O. DOuglAS AwArD PreSentatiOn rOnAlD reAgAn BuilDing AnD inTernatiOnAl TrADe CenTer, wAShington, DC The dinner will be held on Friday evening in conjunction with the annual PLI program, “SEC Speaks.” Please note that the dinner will be the last Friday in February rather than the first Friday as in previous years.