PricewaterhouseCoopers has named a new chief executive officer.

According to published reports, the Big 5 accounting and consulting firm named Samuel A. DiPiazza Jr. to succeed James J. Schiro as CEO.

Five months ago Schiro surprised many industry people when he said he would leave the job he held for close to four years.

DiPiazza, 51, had been chairman and senior partner of PricewaterhouseCoopers’s U.S. operation since August 2000. Prior to that, he was in charge of PwC’s North American tax-services operations.

Schiro is expected to remain in his current position through the end of December.

The CEO is credited with overseeing the successful 1998 merger of Price Waterhouse and Coopers & Lybrand.

DiPiazza takes over the firm amid a steep recession, which has seen the downsizing of many large accounting and consulting firms, including PwC. Last year, the company had a tentative agreement to sell its consultancy to Hewlett-Packard Co. for nearly $18 billion. But, the deal fell apart in November 2000.

DiPiazza joined Coopers & Lybrand in 1973 and became a partner in 1979. He became regional manager for the firm’s New York operations before his election last year as chairman of the firm’s U.S. operations.