| Emory Report | October 13, 1997 |
Volume 50, No. 8 |
Patrick Glisson, a financial management expert with more than 20 years of experience and former chief financial officer and managing director for financial and management services for the Atlanta Committee for the Olympic Games (ACOG), has been named to the position of chief financial officer, The Emory Clinic.
As the person who led the planning and financial management for the Olympic Games, Glisson faced the challenge of building the core financial functions for a corporation that had to grow from inception to the equivalent of a Fortune 500 company in six years. After the Olympics ended, he led the efforts to dissolve ACOG, with the remaining tasks now to be handled by his deputy.
"Having spent the last seven years of my life working on a world-class event, I am both excited and delighted to have the opportunity to have the opportunity to contribute in some small way to a truly world-class institution," said Glisson. He took office at Emory Oct. 13.
Rein Saral, director of Emory Clinic, said, "As the clinic continues to increase its geographic range and diversity of services, it is more important than ever to have someone of Pat Glisson's extraordinary abilities and range of experience as our CFO. In addition to his ability to handle a growing financial structure, we want him to help us do at The Emory Clinic what he so successfully helped the Olympic Games do in Atlanta-inspire professional performance and build strong teams."
As CFO, Glisson will provide leadership and head a staff of approximately 375 people to ensure the provision of financial services and tools that support the clinic's strategic, operational and organizational requirements. He'll serve as counsel to the director, the board and its executive committee, and the senior management of the clinic on all financially related matters.
A native of Savannah and a 1969 graduate of Georgia Tech with a bachelor's in industrial management, Glisson received his master's in public administration from Georgia State University in 1975. He completed an international business fellowship at the London Business School and he served as a captain in the U.S. Naval Reserve. Most recently, he served as commanding officer of a NATO Support Command in Northwood, United Kingdom.
After serving as a budget analyst for the city of Atlanta in the early 1970s, Glisson went on to serve as the executive assistant to the commissioner of finance for Atlanta and later became director for the office of management analysis and evaluation for Seminole County, Fla. In 1977, Glisson returned to Atlanta to serve as the director of finance for DeKalb County and later as the commissioner of finance for Atlanta, where he managed all city financial functions, reporting directly to the mayor and the city council.
In 1989, he was appointed vice president, chief financial officer for ABB (Combustion Engineering) Operations & Maintenance Services Inc. The following year, Glisson was recruited to the position of senior manager by the accounting firm KPMG Peat Marwick, which he held until going to ACOG.
-Sylvia Wrobel