Biography of Charles Rossotti

On November 6, 2002,  Rossotti completed a five-year term as Commissioner of the Internal Revenue Service, an agency that collects $2 trillion per year in federal revenues, serves 175 taxpayers and  employs 100,000 people.  Rossotti became commissioner in 1997 when the agency was under attack from all sides.  

During his term, the IRS made major changes in attitudes, organization, service, enforcement strategy, and technology.  As a result of these changes, the public's rating of the IRS increased, relationships of trust with Congress, tax professionals and business groups were restored, and the agency's effectiveness turned around.  

In 1970 Rossotti co-founded American Management Systems and until 1997 served at various times as President, CEO and Chairman. Starting with five employees and an initial venture capital investment of $300,000, AMS grew for 30 straight years, becoming an international business systems consulting and systems integration firm with revenues of over $1 billion. AMS clients included Fortune 500 companies and Federal, state and local government agencies in North America and Europe.  In 1979, AMS was one of the first technology service firms to offer shares to the public and remained an independent public company until 2004 when it was acquired by CGI, a large Canadian technology company.   

Prior to founding AMS, Rossotti served for four years in the Office of the Secretary of Defense, completing his service as Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Systems Analysis. His first job after graduating from Harvard Business School was as the first junior consultant at Boston Consulting Group, which had just started in business.   

Rossotti is currently on the board of AES Corporation, a global electric power company and Merrill Lynch, a securities firm.   He also serves on four Carlyle portfolio company boards and several non-profit boards including the audit advisory committee of the General Accountability Office (GAO).  In 2005, he served as a member of President Bush's advisory panel on reform of the income tax.  

He was honored by Department of Defense with the Distinguished Civilian Service Medal in 1970 and by the Department of Treasury with the Alexander Hamilton Medal in 2002. Rossotti is the author of Many Unhappy Returns, a book about his experience turning around the IRS, published by Harvard Business School Press in March 2005. 

Rossotti graduated Magna cum Laude, from Georgetown University with an A.B. in Economics, And has a M.B.A with High Distinction, from Harvard Business School.