Grant Thornton Names New Managing Partners and Principals

• Jason Perry has been named office managing partner of the firm’s Atlanta office, effective August 1, 2020. Perry succeeds Wade Weeks, who is retiring on July 31, 2020, after more than 37 years serving in a range of leadership roles at major accounting firms.
• Doreen Griffith has been named office managing partner of the firm’s Dallas office, effective August 1, 2020. Griffith succeeds Wally Gruenes, who is retiring from the firm on July 31, 2020 — his mandatory retirement date. Gruenes concludes an impressive career at Grant Thornton, where he served as Central region managing partner and Dallas managing partner for the past 7 years. Prior to that, Gruenes led the firm’s Consumer and Industrial Products industry practice and served on the Board of the National Association of Manufacturers.
• Mike Desmond has been named office managing partner of the firm’s Charlotte, North Carolina office, effective August 1, 2020. Desmond succeeds Dave Wedding, who is retiring from the firm on July 31, 2021 — his mandatory retirement date. During the one-year overlap with Desmond, Wedding will continue to focus on Grant Thornton’s people-centric programs and support Desmond in the market with clients, strategic pursuits and overall growth initiatives. He will also serve as an experienced ambassador for Grant Thornton’s people-first culture.
• Mark Sullivan has been named office managing principal of the firm’s Chicago office, effective immediately. Sullivan succeeds Vince Tomkinson, who accepted a new role as Grant Thornton’s global account leader based in the United Kingdom.
• Barbara Koosa Ryan has been named office managing partner of the firm’s Columbia, South Carolina office, effective August 1, 2020. Ryan succeeds Mark Ballew, who is retiring from the firm on July 31, 2020 — his mandatory retirement date. Ballew caps an impressive 40-year career in accounting and served as Grant Thornton’s Columbia office managing partner for the past 12 years.
• Bryan Merrigan has been named office managing partner of the firm’s Metropark, New Jersey office, effective immediately. Merrigan succeeds Matt DiDonato, who became the New York City office managing partner on January 22, 2020.
• Brett Beightol has been named office managing partner of the firm’s Orange County, California office, effective August 1, 2020. Beightol succeeds Alan Herrmann, who has been leading Grant Thornton’s Orange County office. Hermann was promoted to lead Grant Thornton’s West region Tax practice in 2019.
• David Gifford has been named office managing partner of the firm’s Phoenix office, effective August 1, 2020. Gifford succeeds Tim Zingraf, who has been serving as interim Phoenix office managing partner since 2019, when the office managing partner, Brad Preber, became Grant Thornton’s CEO.
• Adam Steinmetz has immediately assumed the role of office managing partner of the firm’s San Diego office. He replaces Brett Beightol (see above) in the role, who relocated to the firm’s Orange County, California office and will become that office’s managing partner on August 1, 2020.
• Rimma Tabakh has been named office managing partner of the firm’s San Francisco office, effective August 1, 2020. Tabakh succeeds Tony Perazzo, who has been leading Grant Thornton’s San Francisco office, as well as its Silicon Valley, California office. Perazzo is relinquishing the twin posts because he was promoted to the firm’s West regional managing partner role in 2019.
• Amanda McCarty has been named office managing partner of the firm’s Silicon Valley office, based in San Jose, California — effective August 1, 2020. McCarty succeeds Perazzo.
• Seth Siegel has been named office managing partner of the firm’s South Florida offices, located in Miami and Ft. Lauderdale. Siegel replaces Doug Gawrych, who is retiring from the firm on July 31, 2020 — his mandatory retirement date. Gawrych concludes an 18-year career at Grant Thornton, where his leadership experience includes roles as the firm’s Florida managing partner and as its national managing partner for Private Company Services and Private Equity Services.
• Dan Powers has been named office managing partner of the firm’s Seattle office, effective immediately. Powers has been serving as the interim office managing partner since July 2019.

“Our new office managing partners and principals are the definition of servant leaders — professionals who are committed to our firm’s people, clients and communities,” said Brad Preber, CEO of Grant Thornton. “It is a privilege to name such a talented and accomplished slate of leaders to provide our clients with innovative, high-quality solutions during the challenging times ahead.”