PricewaterhouseCoopers today announced that partners worldwide have ratified the selection of Samuel DiPiazza Jr. as global chief executive officer.

DiPiazza, 51, was previously chairman and senior partner of the global organization’s U.S. firm and will assume his new responsibilities on January 2, 2002. He succeeds James Schiro who announced his intentions to step down as CEO last July. Schiro served as Global CEO since the formation of PwC in July 1998 with the merger of Price Waterhouse and Coopers & Lybrand.

DiPiazza said, “I look forward to the challenges of leading our organisation at this particularly crucial moment. We live in a world that is more fragile, more economically and politically turbulent than we have experienced in decades. Our clients’ needs for help in managing risk, measuring and creating value, achieving the dual goals of transparency and security have never been greater. I am confident in our ability to help our clients meet these daunting challenges head-on and, by doing so, to realize the full potential of this great, global organization.”

DiPiazza was elected U.S. chairman and senior partner in August 2000. Prior to that he served as leader for PwCs tax practice in the Americas. He has also served on PwC’s U.S. Leadership Committee and on the board. He joined the firm in 1973 and was admitted to the partnership in 1979.

A graduate of the University of Alabama, with a postgraduate degree from the University of Houston, DiPiazza and his wife, Melody, reside in New York City. They have two grown children.