Leigh Goller Named Duke's Chief Internal Audit Officer
Goller to direct Office of Audit, Risk and Compliance
Leigh Goller has been named Duke’s executive director of the Office of Audit, Risk and Compliance (OARC) effective July 1, President Richard H. Brodhead announced today. She will succeed Michael Somich, who is retiring after 12 years as Duke’s chief internal audit officer.
Goller’s appointment concludes a national search chaired by Trustee Emeritus Frank Emory.
“I am delighted to welcome Leigh to this new role. She is highly respected in the world of higher education and brings expert knowledge of the Duke audit, risk and compliance program,” said Brodhead. “The oversight and risk-management capacities that Mike Somich and his team have established at Duke are regarded as best-in-class in American universities. Leigh has been a crucial player in developing these programs, and she has the intelligence and vision to keep us moving forward.”
Goller currently serves as director of university audit in OARC, where she oversees all financial, operational and compliance audit activities for the university and its business units, covering areas such as corporate governance, programmatic and administrative infrastructure, sponsored programs, investment management and financial stewardship.
“I am honored to have earned the trust and confidence of leadership of the university and health system to take on this position,” said Goller. “We are building on a very strong foundation, with an excellent team already in place. I look forward to working with my colleagues across the institution to help Duke achieve its ambitious goals in the most effective and efficient ways.”
In recent years, Goller helped develop Duke’s risk assessment and management programs, the Duke Administrative Reform Team (DART), which analyzed business practices in wide range of areas, and the Research Administration Continuous Improvement (RACI) Committee, among others. She joined Duke in 2007 from Grant Thornton LLP, an international public accounting firm, where she was a senior manager in the business advisory practice. She previously served corporate finance officer in public and privately held companies.
A graduate of the University of North Carolina at Charlotte and the Master of Arts in Liberal studies program at Duke, Goller has served on the board of directors for the Association for College and University Auditors and a frequent speaker on internal auditing, compliance, ethics and the higher education environment.