Hannibal "Mike" Ware

Hannibal “Mike” Ware was sworn in as Inspector General for the Small Business Administration (SBA) on May 24, 2018, following unanimous confirmation by the United States Senate. Prior to his appointment as SBA’s Inspector General, Mr. Ware served as the establishment’s Deputy Inspector General from April 2016 to January 2017 when he became the Acting Inspector General. He has also been designated as the Acting Inspector General at the Social Security Administration (SSA) Office of Inspector General (OIG) by the President of the United States. 

As SBA Inspector General Mr. Ware is responsible for independent oversight of SBA’s programs and operations, which include SBA’s role in the nation’s pandemic response—over a trillion dollars of lending authority, loan portfolios valued at hundreds of billions of dollars, small business contracting programs that result in over $160 billion in federal contracting dollars annually, and a robust portfolio of counseling programs that assist the nation’s economic engine—America’s small businesses.  

As the Acting Inspector General at SSA, he also oversees the establishment’s administration of over one trillion dollars in annual benefits impacting more than 72 million people including retirees, disabled workers and other qualified persons in need of income security.

By virtue of his position at SBA OIG, Mr. Ware is a statutory member of the Council of the Inspectors General on Integrity and Efficiency’s (CIGIE) Pandemic Response Accountability Committee (PRAC), where he serves alongside his colleagues to ensure comprehensive government oversight. Within the PRAC, he chairs the Subcommittee on Audits. Additionally, he serves as the Chair of the Audit Committee for CIGIE and is a member of its Executive Council.

He has over 34 years of experience within the Inspector General community, beginning in 1990 when he joined the United States Department of Interior (DOI) OIG’s U.S. Virgin Islands field office as an auditor. Throughout his long and distinguished oversight career, he has held increasingly challenging and vital roles within the Inspector General community. From the position of Virgin Islands Field Office Supervisor, Mr. Ware was promoted to Eastern Regional Manager, providing leadership in all phases of the technical and administrative operation of the region including planning and managing audits, inspections, evaluations, and joint investigations. Mr. Ware later moved to DOI OIG’s Office of Management to serve as its Deputy Assistant Inspector General. In that capacity, he executed DOI OIG’s independent operating budget and managed the logistical concerns for the office’s nationwide presence. In April 2016, he was appointed to the Senior Executive Service as the SBA OIG Deputy Inspector General, having graduated the Senior Executive Service Career Development Program.

Mr. Ware has received numerous awards and honors throughout his career in recognition of his significant contributions to the Inspector General community. He is also a Chairman Emeritus of the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners’ Board of Regents and was recently named Certified Fraud Examiner of the Year by the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners. He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Accounting from the University of the Virgin Islands and was conferred a degree of Doctor of Humane Letters by the University in December 2020.