Striking a blow against the so-called "glass ceiling" for ambitious women in the workforce, the professional services giant has elected its first female CEO.

Deloitte, the global accountancy and professional services firm which covers wealth management among other sectors, has elected Cathy Engelbert as chief executive in the US, the first female CEO of a major audit and consulting firm in the US.

Meanwhile, Mike Fucci has been elected to the position of chairman of the board of Deloitte. Engelbert and Fucci will both begin their new roles on 11 March 2015, the firm said in a statement yesterday.

Engelbert serves as chair and CEO of Deloitte & Touche, the US accounting, auditing, and risk advisory subsidiary of Deloitte. She joined the firm in 1986. She is a member of the Financial Accounting Standards Advisory Council, which advises the Financial Accounting Standards Board in the US on strategic issues, project priorities, and other matters that affect accounting standard-setting. She has held partner roles serving several of the major life sciences and pharmaceutical companies and advises multinational companies on financial instrument accounting matters. She has also served on the Deloitte board of directors and was a member of the board’s strategic investment, finance and audit, risk, and regulatory and government relations committees.

Deloitte chooses its chief executive through an election every four years.