Irving (“Irv”) Dennis ’81
Retired EY Partner, Former CFO of U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development
Irv is a retired Global Client Service Partner with Ernst & Young LLP. After a 37-year career with EY, he was nominated by the President of the United States, and confirmed by the Senate, to serve as the CFO of U.S. Department of HUD. After HUD, Irv became a Board member of Cypress Mortgage Capital and a founding Board member and Treasurer of American Cornerstone Institute.
At HUD, Irv served as the principal advisor to the Secretary on financial management and the senior departmental official responsible for establishing and implementing policies to govern all aspects of financial management in the Department. He led a financial and digital transformation, which resulted in the first unqualified audit opinion in eight years. For his transformational leadership, Irv was the recipient of several awards including the 2020 Donald L. Scantlebury Memorial Award, the 2020 Federal 100 Award and the AGA’s 2021 Accomplishment of the Year Award. He was also awarded the 2020 Secretary’s Award for his distinguished public service.
As a Global Client Service Assurance Partner with EY, Irv served as the global coordinating audit partner for some of EY’s flagship clients including several S&P 500 EY companies, including Cardinal Health, Abbott Labs and McDonalds. He has extensive experience in advising public company boards, audit committees and C-suite executives on matters such as corporate governance, finance transformations, complex business processes, internal controls, financial reporting, and M&A activities. At EY, Irv held several leadership positions, including serving as the Area Knowledge Leader and Controls and Methodology Leader in several Regions. He also served on several EY’s Task Forces including the Work Force of the Future and the Center for Board Matters Task Force advising on corporate governance thought leadership materials targeted for Boards of Directors.
Irv became a published author with his book “Transforming a Federal Agency: Management Lessons from HUD’s Financial Reconstruction”. The book was published by John Wiley & Sons and includes a forward by Dr. Ben Carson. The book discusses his journey from the private sector into public service and how he executed a successful, and needed, technology and financial transformation at a large federal cabinet-level agency.
Irv graduated from Montclair State University in 1981 and was the recipient of the Montclair State University’s Feliciano School of Business 2019 Distinguished Alumni Award. He is a board member of the Feliciano Business School. He visits the University often to lecture business students.
Irv serves on various philanthropic not-for-profit boards including New Albany Community Foundation and New Albany Symphony Orchestra. Irv resides in New Albany, OH and Washington, DC.