WASHINGTON - The Internal Revenue Service announced today the selection of four people to key leadership posts across the tax agency.

In the Wage and Investment Division (W&I), Richard E. Byrd, Jr., will become Commissioner, and Pamela G. Watson will become Deputy Commissioner following the January 2008 retirement of current Commissioner Richard Morgante.

In the Large and Mid-Size Business (LMSB) Division, Frank Y. Ng will take over as Commissioner following the October retirement of current Commissioner Deborah M. Nolan.

Taking over as Chief Information Officer will be Art Gonzalez, currently the Deputy CIO. He replaces Richard Spires, who becomes IRS Deputy Commissioner for Operations Support in September.

“These four people bring a strong set of leadership skills and professional expertise to these important positions,” said IRS Deputy Commissioner Linda Stiff, who becomes Acting IRS Commissioner next month. “They have proven themselves time and time again in their areas of expertise, and they will play a critical role leading the IRS.”

Byrd, Watson To Lead W&I

Byrd and Watson will take over leadership of W&I, the largest IRS operating division with more than 400 sites nationwide and more than 52,000 employees. The division provides tax processing and customer service for individual taxpayers as well as compliance services for 118 million individuals. Each year, W&I processes 134.7 million individual returns and 46.9 million business returns.

Byrd, who has 32 years of government service, will become the W&I Commissioner after serving as the Division’s Deputy Commissioner. Previously, he served as the Field Director, Compliance Services in Atlanta, since 2004.

Prior to joining the IRS, Byrd spent five years as the Special Agent in Charge for the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration, Office of Investigations, where he was responsible for all investigations in seven southern states. Byrd started his career in 1975 with the IRS Inspection Service, headquartered in Chicago, and served in progressively responsible positions until his appointment to the Senior Executive Service in 1990. He is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Platteville, where he received a degree in Criminal Justice.

Watson returns as Deputy Commissioner of W&I from her current position of Field Director, Compliance Services in Austin, Texas.

Watson began her IRS career in 1978 in the Jackson, Miss., Collection Division where she held a variety of technical and managerial positions. She has a strong background in Compliance and Submission Processing operations including serving as Director of Compliance, Director of Filing and Payment Compliance and Planning and Analysis Division Chief at the Atlanta IRS Campus.

Ng Becomes LMSB Commissioner

Ng, who has worked for 34 years at the IRS, will take over as LMSB Commissioner.

LMSB oversees administering taxes for the largest corporations and partnership entities in the United States, covering businesses with assets of more than $10 million. LMSB serves 84,000 taxpayers and related entities with a combined annual tax liability approaching $200 billion.

Ng currently serves as the Deputy Commissioner (International) for LMSB, where he is responsible for international service and compliance activities. He also serves as the U.S. Competent Authority responsible for tax treaty administration. Previously, he served as LMSB’s Industry Director for Communications, Technology and Media and as the Director and Deputy Director of LMSB’s Pre-filing and Technical Guidance responsible for pre-filing services, abusive corporate tax shelters and technical advisor programs.

Ng’s previous duties included serving as the Revenue Service Representative in Tokyo responsible for all IRS tax administration matters in Japan, Korea, and the Peoples’ Republic of China, and as the Chief, Tax Treaty Division, where he was responsible for competent authority double taxation negotiations, tax treaty interpretation matters and the exchange of information programs.

He began his career as a revenue agent in the Los Angeles District in 1973. He has a degree in accounting from Arizona State University and a Master of Public Administration from the University of Southern California.

Gonzalez Takes Over as CIO

Gonzalez will become the IRS CIO after serving for two years as Deputy, Chief Information Officer. As CIO, Gonzalez will oversee strategic and operational responsibility for the IRS Modernization and Information Technology Services (MITS) organization, which supports the U.S. federal tax administration system. The CIO organization oversees a nearly $2 billion annual budget and a 7,000-person organization that maintains over 400 systems and supports more than 100,000 IRS employees.

As Deputy CIO, Gonzalez oversees the IRS information technology functions and operations. While Deputy CIO, Gonzalez also served in a dual role as the Acting Associate CIO for Enterprise Networks, responsible for managing the design and engineering of the IRS telecommunications environment. Gonzalez joined the IRS in September 2004 as Deputy Associate CIO for Information Technology Services, where he assisted in managing the IRS portfolio of Information Technology operations.

Gonzalez has more than 25 years of IT leadership experience in financial services, retail, transportation and health care. Before joining the IRS, he served as CIO and Senior Vice President of Oxford Health Plans, where he oversaw all IT services for the company's business units and business partners. He has also held IT leadership positions at Kmart, Great Western Bank, Glendale Federal Bank, California Federal Bank and Western Airlines.

Nolan, Morgante Leave Agency After Three Decades

Stiff thanked Morgante and Nolan for their decades of dedication and service to the IRS. Both executives had indicated earlier they planned to leave the IRS.

“Debbie and Rich have worked hard to help the IRS throughout their careers,” Stiff said. “We appreciate their professional dedication and personal sacrifice. We’ll miss them in the IRS family, but we wish them all the best as they move on.”

Nolan will leave after 35 years with the tax agency. Prior to becoming LMSB Commissioner in 2003, she served three years as the Division's Deputy Commissioner. She also served as the Deputy Assistant Commissioner, International, and District Director for Connecticut and Rhode Island.

Morgante will retire after serving 32 years with the IRS. Prior to becoming W&I Commissioner in June 2005, he served as W&I Deputy Commissioner, Deputy Commissioner of the IRS Tax Exempt and Government Entities Division and Director of Management and Finance for the IRS Small Business / Self-Employed Division.