Member Profile

Michael Bernard

When Michael Bernard was a sophomore at Creighton University, he took a business law class. It was the start of something big—a notable career in tax, including almost three decades at Microsoft Corporation. He is now the chief tax officer at Vertex Inc. “The cases in the book covered a… Read more »

Teri Hull

Teri Hull’s interest in tax issues was sparked by dry cleaning. Yes, dry cleaning. Her father owned a dry cleaning business when she was young, and she often tagged along on Saturday mornings. But it wasn’t the back of the store, with all those hangers and clothes, that intrigued Hull;… Read more »

Fraser Reid

“It’s for tax reasons.” You’ve heard that expression before. For Fraser Reid, vice president, taxation, at Teekay Shipping (Canada) Ltd., it was a turning point in his career. Here’s how Reid explains it: “When I was completing my thirty months of articling for my chartered accountant (CA) designation in the… Read more »

Catherine Gallagher

Catherine (Cathy) Gallagher is vice president of tax and human resources at Connell Limited Partnership, a privately owned holding company comprising primarily flow-through entities. So which area of corporate tax does she find most interesting? Structuring acquisitions and dispositions to be tax efficient. As Gallagher explains, “At Connell Limited Partnership,… Read more »

Andy Vickers

Some tax specialists come to the profession late in life. But not Andy Vickers. For Vickers, vice president, corporate tax, at Nordstrom in Seattle, Washington, the business bug bit him in high school. “I was always math-focused in high school and interested in business generally,” Vickers explains. “I knew I… Read more »

Rick Frost

Rick Frost is a fan of controversy. Well, not any controversy—tax controversy, to be exact. “Negotiating a win-win settlement that benefits the company and creates a platform for future success is very satisfying,” Frost says. Frost, currently vice president, tax, at Prudential Financial Inc., first became interested in tax issues… Read more »

Keith Piper

Keith Piper’s longtime appreciation for tax began directly after his graduation from Pennsylvania State University. “More than thirty years ago, during my first job out of college, I was a staff accountant with a cable television company in Northern Virginia and assigned responsibilities for property taxes and income tax provision,… Read more »

Jim Kennedy

For Jim Kennedy, there was little doubt that his calling was to be a tax professional. In law school, Kennedy took every tax course he could and wrote a comment for the University of Pittsburgh Law Review on safe harbor leasing under ERTA and TEFRA. “This interest in tax legislation… Read more »

Mitch Frank

For some corporate tax practitioners, interest in tax issues begins with their first job in the financial area; for others it’s law school; still others, college. But for Mitch Frank, general director, taxes, at BNSF Railway Inc., it began in high school. “I took a bookkeeping course that included reference… Read more »

Lynne Clare

Lynne Clare knows value-added tax (VAT). She really knows VAT. Currently the strategic VAT director at Sony, Clare has been involved with VAT issues for most of her career. It all began a little more than 26 years ago when she was posted to a VAT team at Her Majesty’s… Read more »