Dean Michael Mead is a partner and government sector leader with a national accounting advisory firm. Dean resolves technical issues for clients and staff related to any service line that is provided to state and local governmental entities and provides quality assurance with respect to the interpretation and application of accounting and financial reporting standards. He provides consulting services to governments to assist them with applying accounting standards, including Statement 87 on leases, Statement 96 on subscription-based information technology arrangements, Statement 101 on compensated absences, and Statement 103 on the financial reporting model. Dean also is a frequent author and speaker, preparing educational materials and conducting training for clients and staff, governments and accounting firms, and the general public, and presenting at the conferences of major national, regional, state, and local professional organizations.

Dean is serving in his first term as a member of the Governmental Accounting Standards Advisory Council (GASAC), the GASB’s primary advisory group. He was nominated by the National Federation of Municipal Analysts (NFMA).

Previously, Dean worked for the Governmental Accounting Standards Board (GASB) for 24 years, most recently as Assistant Director of Research and Technical Activities. Dean oversaw the GASB’s technical activities, directing the staff’s work on all facets of standards setting, including current technical agenda projects, pre-agenda research, and post-implementation reviews (PIR).

Before becoming Assistant Director, Dean served as Senior Research Manager, supervising all research and stakeholder outreach activities of the GASB for 15 years. He prepared and managed the GASB’s technical plan, conducted the Gilbert W. Crain Memorial Research Grant program, and was involved in virtually every aspect of the GASB’s activities. In addition to his senior management responsibilities, Dean staffed standards-setting projects as needed, authoring Statements 95 (postponement of effective dates) and 98 (annual comprehensive financial report) and supporting the lead project managers (PMs) on Statements 53 (derivative instruments, authoring the plain-language supplement to the Exposure Draft), 62 (FASB & AICPA pronouncements), 67 and 68 (pensions, authoring the plain-language supplements for multiple due process documents), 77 (tax abatements, initially leading the project and authoring the Exposure Draft), and 93 (interbank offered rates). Dean also was the architect of the GASB’s current PIR process, significantly revamping and accelerating the review activities to occur while comprehensive and major Statements are being implemented by governments.

Dean originally was hired by the GASB in 1998 as a PM—the first and only with a background as a financial statement user—and tasked with creating an educational and marketing campaign for the issuance of Statement No. 34, Basic Financial Statements—and Management’s Discussion and Analysis—for State and Local Governments. As a PM, Dean led the projects that resulted in Statements 44 (statistical section), 46 (net position), and 54 (fund balance). He was on the staff of the projects that led to Statements 34 and 35, 38 (disclosures), 40 (deposit and investment risk), and 43 and 45 (OPEB), and Concepts Statement 3 (communication methods).

During his nearly quarter-century at the GASB, Dean also served as Coordinator for the GASAC. He reviewed all staff discussion papers prepared for GASAC meetings, supported the GASAC chair, managed the process of obtaining member nominations from nominating organizations, and was the primary GASB liaison for the GASAC members.

Prior to joining the GASB, Dean was Assistant Director of Research at the Citizens Budget Commission, one of the most widely respected independent voices on government finance, management, and policy in New York. He led the CBC’s monitoring of and research on the City of New York and served as the lead spokesperson on city issues, representing the CBC at public hearings of the New York City Council, as an expert on television and radio news programs, and as a periodic contributor to the opinion pages of New York Daily News, New York Post, and Newsday. During his time at the CBC, Dean served on mayoral transition committees and advisory committees for the commissioner of finance, the commissioner of labor relations, and the Manhattan borough president.

Dean is a nationally recognized writer and speaker, known for his ability to communicate about complex issues with a wide range of audiences, from the layperson with no accounting knowledge to the expert technician. He was the author of the GASB’s plain-language communications, including all 17 volumes of its award-winning User Guide Series and all of its plain-language supplements to due process documents. He twice received the Governmental Research Association’s (GRA) Award for Effective Citizen Education, and was honored by the NFMA with its Award of Excellence, in recognition of his efforts to educate analysts about governmental accounting through teaching and writing. Dean was the GASB’s staff liaison to the municipal bond community, academic community, and other financial statement user groups.

Between 2008 and 2020, Dean was an adjunct member of the Accounting and Information Systems faculty at Rutgers Business School, where he taught governmental accounting, auditing, and financial analysis. He is a graduate of Cornell University. He pursued doctoral studies in public administration at New York University’s Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service, completing all but the dissertation. He was an adjunct professor of finance at NYU from 1995 to 1998, teaching public and nonprofit financial management. He is currently a member of the editorial boards of Journal of Governmental & Nonprofit Accounting, Public Finance Journal, and the Emerald Book Series on Accounting and Accountability. He was a past member of the editorial boards of Public Budgeting & Finance and Journal of Government Financial Management. Dean will be a co-author of Michael Granof’s textbook, Government and Not-for-Profit Accounting, beginning with its tenth edition. Dean is a Certified Public Financial Manager™ (CGFM). He is a member of the American Institute of CPAs, Florida Institute of CPAs, Government Finance Officers Association (and a reviewer for its Certificate of Achievement program), Florida GFOA, Association of Government Accountants, American Accounting Association (and its Government & Nonprofit Section), Association of Local Government Auditors, GRA, NFMA, and Southern Municipal Finance Society (and a member of its board of directors).