Leaders & Innovators: Leslie Murphy
Leslie Murphy is president and CEO of Murphy Consulting Inc., in Ann Arbor. Murphy Consulting provides services to businesses and professional firms in the areas of corporate governance, enterprise risk management, and programs dedicated to the advancement of women in leadership roles. Murphy also serves as a director of Kelly Services Inc., VSP Global, and the Detroit Legal News Corp., as well as such charitable organizations as St. John Providence Health System, United Way for Southeastern Michigan, Early Childhood Investment Corp., Children's Leadership Council, and Covenant House of Michigan. Previously, she was chair of the board at St. John's, where she oversaw several initiatives, including a system overhaul providing several million dollars in savings, hiring a new CEO, and the opening of a new hospital. Murphy is a retired partner and former member of the senior leadership team of Plante & Moran, the nation's 12th largest public accounting and management consulting firm. Her positions included group managing partner in charge of all client services. She co-founded the firm's Personal Tightrope Action Committee, whose groundbreaking policy recommendations helped Plante & Moran win recognition as one of Fortune magazine's 100 Best Companies to Work For. In 2005, Murphy became only the third woman to chair the 350,000-member American Institute of Certified Public Accounting. She continues her service as a member of the AICPA Governing Council, the subcommittee on enterprise risk management of the assurance services executive committee, and the subcommittee on relations with the judiciary. In 2012, she received AICPA's gold medal for distinguished service, the highest individual award within the profession. Murphy's other recognitions include the Detroit Regional Chamber of Commerce Fusion Group's Horizon Award for Professional Services; the American Society of CPAs' Woman CPA of the Year; an inclusion in Crain's Detroit Business Most Influential Women in Southeastern Michigan and Health Care Heroes; CPA magazine's Top 100 Most Influential Practitioners; and Accounting Today's Top 100 Most Influential People. She received her bachelor's degree in accounting from the University of Michigan and has honorary doctorates from Walsh College and Cleary University. Read the full profile at www.ltu.edu/leaders.
