Robert A. Cerasoli has a 42-year record of outstanding public service. He has provided major contributions to responsible professional ethical conduct in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, the City of New Orleans, Louisiana, the national Inspectors General community, and in eight foreign nations.
Cerasoli, a native of Quincy, Massachusetts, received his Bachelor of Arts in Government and Public Administration in 1969 from The American University. In 1988, Cerasoli received a Master of Public Administration from Harvard University. He is a Certified Inspector General (CIG), Certified Inspector General Investigator (CIGI), Certified Inspector General Auditor (CIGA), Certified Fraud Examiner (CFE), and Certified Government Financial Manager (CGFM).
Cerasoli possesses three decades of teaching experience in ethics, auditing, oversight, financial management, and anti-corruption practices. He has taught courses at Bridgewater State University, Eastern Nazarene College, Newbury College, Quincy College, New Hampshire Community Technical College, and for the Association of Inspectors General at American University in Washington, D. C., and John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York City.
Cerasoli combines teaching experience with decades of practical experience in the field. He served as a Representative in the Massachusetts House of Representatives from 1975 to 1991. He served as the second Inspector General for the State of Massachusetts for two five-year terms, the maximum allowed by law, from 1991 to 2001. The Massachusetts Inspector General was the first statewide Inspector General position created in the U.S. and the first Inspector General position created outside of the federal system. He also served as the first Inspector General of New Orleans, Louisiana from 2007 to 2009, where he set up the office from the ground up after Hurricane Katrina.
As one of the original founders and charter members of the Association of Inspectors General (AIG), Cerasoli literally wrote the book—he proposed, developed, and co-authored the Certified Inspector General (CIG) concept and the creation of the Principles and Standards for Offices of Inspectors General, called the Green Book. This book was used as a basis for the creation of the Inspector General office in New Orleans.