Edmund L. Jenkins, who served as chairman of the Financial Accounting Standards Board from 1997 to 2002 in the midst of a major financial crisis, died on Dec. 2, at the age of 85.

During his long career at Arthur Andersen LLP, Jenkins also served on the Emerging Issues Task Force in the late 1980s, as a member of the Financial Accounting Standards Advisory Council in the early 1990s, and from 1991 to 1994 as chair of the American Institute of CPAs’ Special Committee on Financial Reporting, which became known as the Jenkins Committee and issued an influential report on financial reporting.

Born in 1935 and raised in Michigan, Jenkins attended Albion College, and then earned an MBA from the University of Michigan. He joined the Detroit office of Arthur Anderson after graduation in 1958. After becoming a partner in 1968, he took charge of the firm’s SEC practice in 1970, and retired from the firm in 1996, after holding a wide variety of positions, including running its worldwide accounting and auditing practice, and its Professional Standards Group.

“We are saddened to acknowledge the passing of former FASB Chairman Edmund Jenkins,” Financial Accounting Foundation executive director John Auchincloss said in a statement. “Ed provided outstanding leadership to the FASB at a critical time in its history, when Enron and other high-profile accounting scandals threatened the public’s trust in our financial systems. Among his many accomplishments during this period, Ed consulted with U.S. Senator Paul Sarbanes on what was to become the landmark Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, which brought greater transparency and accountability to the U.S. capital markets.” (Sarbanes also died recently; see story.)

“Ed devoted his career to high-quality accounting standards and the independent standard-setting process,” Auchincloss continued. “He will be missed by those who had the pleasure of knowing and working with him. We offer our deepest condolences to his wife, Kay, his family, and his friends during this difficult time.”