Professor Deborah Sommerville recently returned to the U.S. from two years in Basel,
Switzerland, where she served as Novartis International’s global Head of Internal
Audit Methodology and Quality Assurance, which included the global internal audit
team’s data analytics and training programs. She launched her own consulting firm,
Frazer Somerville Company LLC (FSC), in January 2015. FSC is focused on governance,
risk and compliance, primarily within the life sciences and technology industries.
Prior to taking up the post with Novartis, she directed Genentech’s Healthcare Compliance
Auditing, Monitoring, Investigations and Risk Assessment team and before joining Genentech,
she led Gilead Sciences’ Internal Audit function. Previously, she served as head of
internal audit for Palm source and United Online, mid-sized public companies in the
software and internet services industries, respectively. Her early background includes
Finance, IT and Internal Audit roles within the shipping and financial services industries.
She has also worked for two of the Big 4, starting my public accounting career with
legacy Coopers & Lybrand, and then later working in KPMG’s Information Risk Management
practice, where she served a diverse client base in San Francisco and Silicon Valley.
She received an MBA from the University of Michigan’s Ross School of Business and
is also certified in U.S. and European Healthcare Compliance and Ethics through Seton
Hall University School of Law. She holds a BS in Accounting from Golden Gate University.
In addition, she is on the Board of the San Francisco Chapter of ISACA, and a Co-Chair
of the ISACA Fall Conference Sponsorship Committee. Lastly, she is also a member of
the IIA and ACFE