FEI Hall Of Fame

Charles H. Noski

Age: 54
Residence: Palos Verdes Estates, Calif.
Boards: Microsoft Corp. (Audit Committee Chair), Air Products & Chemicals Inc. and Morgan Stanley (Audit Committee Chair)
Employment: Retired Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors, AT&T Corp.
FEI Service: Los Angeles Chapter, since 1991
College: California State University, Northridge; BS, MS, Accountancy; CPA

When informed that he was selected as an inductee in the inaugural FEI Hall of Fame, Charles H. Noski said he was "quite surprised and very honored." And, when learning the names of the other honorees, he says he felt "quite humbled to be included among such outstanding professionals."

Noski's distinguished career began in auditing, then in the preparer arena; he now serves on several boards of directors.

He began with Deloitte & Touche (then Haskins & Sells) in Los Angeles in 1973. As a partner, he was appointed National Industry Director for the aerospace and defense industry. He moved on to Hughes Electronics Corp. in 1990, working in the defense and automotive electronics, satellite and wireless communications industries, rising to corporate senior vice president and CFO and director and vice chairman. He then worked at United Technologies Corp., as executive vice president and CFO, before returning to Hughes in 1997 as president and COO.

In 1999, he began his tenure with AT&T Corp., as senior executive vice president and CFO, eventually moving up to director and vice chairman of the board. He retired from AT&T upon completion of its restructuring in November 2002. In 2003-5 he was a director and corporate vice president and CFO for Northrop Grumman Corp.

He told Financial Executive magazine that an exciting time in his career was his years at AT&T, "building and working with a first-class financial team through some extraordinarily turbulent times in the telecommunications industry."

Noski says two people were critical to him early in his career as a corporate financial executive. "As CFO of Hughes, Mike Smith taught me that it was essential for senior financial executives to 'be at the table' for every key decision affecting a business."

The second person, Mike Armstrong - the CEO of Hughes and, later, CEO of AT&T - taught him, among other things, "the importance of listening to others, gathering facts and opinions, and engaging key leaders and contributors in the formulation of important business decisions."

Noski is a member of FEI, the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants and a past member of the Financial Accounting Standards Advisory Council, and he's just been appointed to the Standing Advisory Group of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board.

Nominator's Comments (Nick S. Cyprus, Immediate Past VP and Controller, The Interpublic Group of Cos.): "I had the opportunity to work for Chuck during a unique and challenging time at AT&T (Cyprus was then controller.). During his almost three-year tenure as CFO with AT&T, he led the finance organization as the company sold the broadband unit to Comcast and restructured the corporation into three publicly held business, while significantly reducing the level of debt that had plagued the company when he joined. He managed a formidable task for that piece of AT&T history, and led his staff through a time of uncertainty."

Also, "It is evident in reviewing his career and in working with him personally, that Chuck values the opinions of others. He is a pleasure to work with and asks questions in a way that helps an individual learn. He is focused on good governance and has the highest degree of integrity."

Noski has "always stayed plugged into what was going on and took a leadership position on key issues," encouraging his staff to do the same.

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