Sept. 18, 2007

Five Orange County CFOs Honored For Service to Community, Profession

IRVINE, Calif. — Five Orange County chief financial officers recently received recognition for their contributions to the local business community and the financial profession from the Orange County/Long Beach Chapter of the California Society of CPAs.

The chapter presented special medallions to the five honorees at a CFO of the Year banquet that raised more than $40,000 for the chapter’s student scholarship program.

The chapter presented Frank O’Brien, ICU Medical’s chief financial officer, with its Legacy award in recognition of a lifetime of achievement.
Jerrold Pellizzon, Ceradyne, was named top public CFO and Mimi Taylor, SC Fuels, was named top private CFO. Mission Hospital CFO Kenn McFarland received the non-profit award while the community service award went to Kerri Ruppert, CFO at Children’s Hospital of Orange County.

More than 300 CPAs and financial professionals attended the event at the Irvine Marriott.

Ed Jordan, CPA and co-chair of the event, said the selection process was rigorous. “We had several excellent nominees and our committee spent hours looking into their backgrounds before final selections were made.”

Added CPA Stephen Masterson, who co-chaired the event, “All the CFO honorees are outstanding representatives of the accounting profession. They are models for other accountants who work in corporations and nonprofits.”

Loretta Doon, CalCPA CEO, noted that it is important to honor CFOs, “Companies and organizations rely on their chief financial officers to guide their investments, track their expenditures, and provide economic forecasting, as well as myriad other duties. They have tremendous responsibilities. Recognizing the best is one way we show how vital their services are.”

The CalCPA chapter annually awards scholarships to outstanding college students who are pursuing studies that eventually could lead to careers as CPAs. For information about CalCPA scholarships, call (800) 922–5272 or go to http://www.calcpa.org/scholarships.

Background information about each of the award recipients follows:

Frank J. O’Brien, CPA, is the chief financial officer, secretary and treasurer for ICU Medical, San Clemente, Calif. He joined the company in 1996. Prior to then he was a business, financial and litigation consultant working principally with publicly held companies in the software and healthcare industries.

Jerrold Pellizzon, CPA, joined Ceradyne in 2002. He is the Costa Mesa company’s chief financial officer and corporate secretary and has managed its financial growth from four manufacturing locations in one country to its current 15 manufacturing locations in five countries. In his 30-year career, he also has served as chief financial officer, chief operations officer and chief executive officer for various high growth companies in the consumer packaging, industrial and manufacturing industries.

Mimi S. Taylor is chief financial officer for SC Fuels, which is based in Orange. Before joining the company in 2004, she was the vice president and chief financial officer for a complex asset management company. She is a member of the board of directors of Missouri Physicians Associates and is a past director of ROM Run-Off Management Co.

Kenn McFarland, CPA, joined Mission Hospital in Mission Viejo nine years ago. He is the hospital’s chief financial officer and a senior vice president. Previously McFarland was a CFO for a medical device-manufacturing firm. Currently he is a board member of Stoneybrooke Christian Schools and a board member of the San Clemente Little League.

Kerri Ruppert is senior vice president and chief financial officer for Children’s Hospital of Orange County, Orange. Before joining the hospital in 1998, she was the CFO of a national for-profit organization engaged in the ownership, operation and management of freestanding facilities and management of in-hospital programs. She is active in several community organizations and is a member of the board of directors of the National Association of Children’s Hospitals and Related Institutions.

About CalCPA

The California Society of Certified Public Accountants (CalCPA) (www.calcpa.org) is the nation’s largest state accounting organization. It serves more than 30,000 members in public practice, private industry, education and government.