Irving L. Dennis ’81

Irving “Irv” L. Dennis ’81 was recently nominated by the President of the United States, and confirmed by the Senate, to serve as the CFO of U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). In his capacity at HUD, he serves as the principal advisor to the secretary on financial management and is the senior departmental official responsible for establishing and implementing policies to govern all aspects of financial management at HUD, and oversees the design, implementation and coordination of HUD’s financial information and general management systems. As the CFO, Irv oversees a $70 billion budget and is successfully leading a Finance Transformation and IT Modernization plan at HUD with a focus on improving financial controls to focus on protecting taxpayer funds.

Prior to his role at HUD, Irv had a successful career with Ernst & Young LLP (EY) beginning in 1981 following his graduation from Montclair State. He retired as global client service partner and served as the global coordinating audit partner for some of EY’s largest international clients, including several S&P 500 EY clients, specializing in life sciences, franchising operations, consumer products, distribution and manufacturing. Many of his audit teams included over 700 professionals located in over 100 countries. Irv 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.

Irv held several leadership positions with EY, including serving as the area knowledge leader and controls and methodology leader in several regions. He also served on EY’s Center for Board Matters Task Force from 2014 through 2016 advising on corporate governance thought leadership materials targeted for Boards of Directors. In addition, he has worked on several EY task forces focused on audit innovation and methodology, including a focus on audit committee and Board of Director communications.

Irv is a frequent speaker on business and finance transformation initiatives and has testified at a Congressional Oversight Hearing. In addition, Irv has served on many boards including the Feliciano School of Business Advisory Board, the New Albany Community Foundation, New Albany Symphony Orchestra, Columbus Council on World Affairs and the Tocqueville Society of United Way of Chicago, Illinois.

Irv grew up in Belvidere, New Jersey, and is the first-generational college educated in his family having earned a BS in Business Administration from Montclair State in 1981. He and Karen, his wife of 37 years, met in high school and currently reside in Columbus, Ohio, and Washington, D.C. They have two children and three grandchildren.