UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Tabitha R. Oman, vice president, deputy general counsel and chief compliance officer at Axalta Coating Systems, has been named chief ethics and compliance officer at Penn State. Oman will begin her new role at the University on March 7.
She will succeed Kenya Mann Faulkner, who left the University in March 2021. During the national search for Faulkner’s successor, Vice President for Administration Frank Guadagnino has served in the role in an acting capacity.
Oman, an attorney who specializes in compliance, ethics, anti-corruption, risk, sustainability and governance, has served in a variety of roles over her 27-year career spanning corporate and criminal law, government and foreign affairs. In addition to her current role at Axalta Coating Systems, a global company traded on the New York Stock Exchange, she also has worked at the U.S. Department of State, U.S. House of Representatives, and the law firm of Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr.
“We are thrilled to welcome Tabitha to Penn State as our chief ethics and compliance officer. Her expertise and track record as a leader in these critical areas are exceptional,” said Penn State President Eric J. Barron. “Tabitha has consistently proven herself as a strategic and collaborative leader and her vision will help the University continue to advance its commitment to ethics and compliance and to empowering students, faculty and staff to uphold Penn State’s values.”
At Penn State, Oman will oversee the Office of Ethics and Compliance and will be responsible for the coordination of Penn State’s comprehensive portfolio of compliance efforts, including export control, youth programs, Penn State Hotline, athletics integrity and NCAA compliance, and University ethics initiatives, among others. She will work collaboratively with units across the University to grow existing compliance practices, reporting, policies and procedures, and training, while encouraging the highest ethical standards of conduct for administrators, faculty, staff and students across the University.
In her current role at Axalta Coating Systems, a company with more than 13,000 employees, 100,000 customers, and businesses in more than 130 countries, Oman leads compliance and ethics, corporate affairs, and the company’s environmental, social and governance (ESG) efforts. Oman also is the founder and executive sponsor of the Axalta Women’s Network, which offers experiences for women in all levels of the organization to network, collaborate and support each other.
“I am honored to be named chief ethics and compliance officer at Penn State. My goal will be to ensure that the University community has the tools to live Penn State’s values every day,” Oman said. “I look forward to building on the work that the exceptional team in the Office of Ethics and Compliance is already doing to provide guidance, support and expertise on compliance matters to Penn State’s faculty, staff, students and administration.”
As counsel for the Investigations and Criminal Litigation Practice Group at Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr in New York City, Oman led complex and high-profile government and internal investigations involving the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, personal misconduct, financial fraud and insider trading. In this role, she represented and counseled institutions and individual clients in the United States, Asia, Europe and the Middle East on anti-corruption compliance risk assessments and on implementing effective global anti-corruption compliance programs.
During her tenure as a foreign service officer with the U.S. Department of State, Oman served as a special assistant to Secretaries of State Madeleine Albright and Colin Powell and held postings at the U.S. Embassy in Port Au Prince in Haiti, Bureau of European Affairs, and Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration.
Among her affiliations, she is a member of the bar of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and New York and is a mentor for American Corporate Partners, a nonprofit that offers career counseling to veterans to help ease their transition from the military to the civilian workforce.
Oman earned a bachelor of arts degree in political science from the University of Colorado at Boulder and a juris doctor from George Washington University Law School.