The ICMA^® (Institute of Certified Management Accountants) Board of Regents, the body that oversees the CMA^® (Certified Management Accountants) and CSCA^® (Certified in Strategy and Competitive Analysis) programs, recently appointed six new Regents to serve three-year terms effective July 1, 2020. The new Regents are:

• Laith Abohijlih, CMA, CFTe – Laith Abohijlih currently works for Visa, managing mid-market financial institutions in the UAE. Prior to that, he was head of credit and risk analytics, risk management at Bank of Sharjah in Dubai and earlier, the bank’s VP of wholesale credit risk. Before joining Bank of Sharjah, Laith spent four years at HSBC in a variety of roles in the commercial banking line of business. He earned a BA in management studies at the University of Nottingham in the U.K. and an MSc in international management from King’s College London.  
• Lisa R. Cashel, CMA, CSCA – Lisa Cashel is lead finance consultant with Aptean, a global ERP solution provider. Previously, she served in various controllership and cost accounting roles in both manufacturing and healthcare. An IMA Campus Influencer, Lisa completed her service as a member of the IMA Global Board of Directors. She has also been an adjunct professor at Indiana Tech, Wright State University, and the University of Northwest Ohio. Lisa earned a BA in accounting from the University of Toledo and an MBA from Indiana Tech. 
• Richard Cunningham, CMA – Richard Cunningham is senior director of affordability at Pfizer and based in New York City. He brings 20 years of experience in the life sciences sector, focused on finance and commercial strategy. Prior to joining Pfizer in 2009, Richard was employed for eight years by Sanofi and, before that, served as an investigative journalist with the Buenos Aires Herald. He holds a BA (Hons) from the University of Leeds and an MBA from the University of Edinburgh.
• Robert Malandra, CMA, CFM, CSCA – Robert Malandra is president of Visual Media and Brands LLC (VMB), which provides valuation, financial, and strategic management services that help businesses excel. Robert is a media industry veteran who prior to VMB worked as SVP Finance at Sinclair Broadcast Group in Baltimore, where he ran the finance, M&A, and business intelligence teams. Before joining Sinclair, he held executive positions with Madison Square Garden and AMC Networks. He holds a bachelor's degree from Widener University and an MBA in strategic management from Manchester Business School.  
• Michele Matherly, Ph.D., CMA, CPA – Michele Matherly is the associate dean of the Williams College of Business at Xavier University, where she joined the faculty as an associate professor in 2008 and was admitted to the rank of professor in 2018. Before assuming the associate dean post in 2016, she was chair of Williams College’s department of accountancy and taught numerous accounting and accounting-related courses. Michele is currently chair of the Ohio Regional Council and has served on the CMA Exam Review Committee for several years. She earned her Ph.D. from The University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, and her MBA and BBA from Radford University.
• Samuel C. Weaver, Ph.D., CMA, CFM – Sam Weaver is finance professor of practice at Lehigh University, where he joined the full-time faculty in 1998. Prior to 1998, he was director of financial planning and analysis at Hershey Foods for nearly 20 years and the Lauer Adjunct Professor of Finance at Lehigh (from 1986 to 1997). He previously served on the ICMA Board of Regents, including a term as Chair in 2014-2017. He earned his Ph.D. in finance and economics from Lehigh University.

The major responsibility of the Board of Regents is to oversee the CMA and CSCA programs. Among its primary duties, the Board develops the overall strategy for the certification program, sets the requirements and policies for certification, reviews and revises exam questions as needed, oversees the administration of the exam, establishes the passing standards, and periodically reviews the content specifications for the exam and revises these specifications as appropriate. 

“It is my pleasure to welcome these new Regents, who together add strong industry, academic, and geographic diversity to our Board,” said Dana C. Riess, CMA, CFM, CSCP, CPIM, Chair of the ICMA Board of Regents. “I look forward to the work we will do together to ensure that the CMA exam maintains its relevancy and rigor for management accounting and finance professionals around the world.”

For further information about these appointments or the activities of the Board of Regents, please contact Dennis Whitney, CMA, CAE, ICMA senior vice president, certifications, exams, and content integration, at dwhitney@imanet.org.