Elmer B. Staats

Elmer Boyd Staats (June 6, 1914 – July 23, 2011) was an American public servant whose career from the late 1930s to the early 1980s was primarily associated with the Bureau of the Budget (BOB) (now the Office of Management and Budget [OMB]) and the GAO. Staats was born to Wesley F. and Maude (Goodall) Staats. Staats received his AB from McPherson College in 1935, his MA from the University of Kansas in 1936, and his Ph.D. from the University of Minnesota in 1939.

Married on September 14, 1940, to Margaret S. Rich, the couple had three children: David, Deborah, and Catharine. In 1939, Staats became a staff member in the Executive Office of the President, U.S. Bureau of the Budget. He worked his way up at BOB until 1947, when he was promoted to assistant to the Director of the Bureau, then executive assistant to the director (1949–1950), before he held the position of Deputy Director (1950–1953 and 1958–1966). In 1966, Staats became Comptroller General of the United States and head of the General Accounting Office (GAO), holding that position until 1981. Elmer Boyd Staats: An Inventory of His Personal Papers, 1961–1963 in the John F. Kennedy Library; National Archives and Records Administration (Papers at JFK library)

Early life Staats was born in 1914, in Richfield, Kansas, the son and one of eight children of Wesley Forrest and Maude Goodall Staats. His early life was spent on a farm in the Kansas wheat belt. In 1940 he married Margaret Rich, the daughter of Congressman Robert Fleming Rich of Pennsylvania, a textile manufacturer and banker who had a distinctly conservative record in Congress. The couple had three children: David, Deborah, and Catharine. Staats was a member of the Cosmos and Chevy Chase Clubs and the Metropolitan Memorial United Methodist Church of Washington, DC.

Academic background Staats was valedictorian of the 1931 graduating class of Sylvia High School in Sylvia, Kansas. Staats attended McPherson College, operated by the Church of the Brethren in McPherson, Kansas, where he received a A.B. in 1935, graduating Phi Beta Kappa. He then went to the University of Kansas, where he received an M.A. in political science and economics in 1936. After this, he entered the University of Minnesota's doctoral program in political economy, earning his by a Ph.D. in 1939.

In reflecting on Staats's tenure, a senior GAO manager referred to him in 1981 as "a pragmatic agent of good government," who viewed GAO's reports as "a way to achieve results rather than simply hitting someone over the head." Staats was a strong advocate of public service and constructive change, who worked to improve management throughout the government. Within GAO, he practiced a participatory management style, often relying on task forces to study job processes and organizational issues.

Later life After serving as Comptroller General, Staats became the president and later chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Harry S. Truman Scholarship Foundation until his death in 2011.

Other professional activities and associations In addition to his government service, Staats made contributions though his numerous professional activities and associations. Staats has held membership on the Board of Trustees of the National Institute of Public Affairs (1969–77) and the Public Administration Service, Chicago (1967–74). He was chairman of the Conference on the Public Service, Brookings Institution (1958–60), and during 1979-80 he was a member of the Committee for the National Congress on Church-Related Colleges and Universities. He also served on

the Board of Directors of the Eisenhower Foundation; the Board of Trustees of the Kerr Foundation the Board of Trustees of the George C. Marshall Foundation; and the Board of Overseers of the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award.

He also has served on the board of directors of several corporations.

Over the years Staats has maintained a close relationship with educational institutions. He has served as a lecturer at American University (1941–43) and George Washington University (1944–46). During the period 1947–53, he was on the Advisory Council of the Department of Politics at Princeton University. During 1974-80 he was on the Visiting Committee of the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.

In addition, Staats served on the Board of Trustees of McPherson College (1969–79) and the American University (1966–80). He has also been a member of the visiting committees of several universities.

Staats was an honorary member of the faculty of the Industrial College of the Armed Forces (1973; member, Board of Advisors 1974–77), and he has been a member of the Board of Visitors of the National Defense University since 1981.

Staats has also been active in numerous professional organizations, including: The American Society for Public Administration (ASPA): Staats was a founding member of the organization in 1939, served as president of ASPA's Washington, D.C. chapter (1948–49), and as ASPA's national president (1961–62) and vice president (1959–61). American Academy of Political and Social Science (AAPSS): Staats has been a member of the Board of Directors (1966–present). National Academy of Public Administration (NAPA): Staat was a founding member of the organization in 1967, and has served as a member of the NAPA Board of Trustees (1967–85; chairman, 1985). The Financial Accounting Standards Advisory Council (FASAC) member (1977–81) Governmental Accounting Standards Board (GASB) member since its formation in 1984. He has also been active for many years in the Conference Board, the American Management Association (AMA), and the Association of Government Accountants (AGA).

Staats has written many articles for professional journals and has made numerous speeches to professional organizations. Stasts holds membership in Phi Beta Kappa (1936), Pi Sigma Alpha (1936), Beta Alpha Psi (1966), Alpha Kappa Psi (1971), and Beta Gamma Sigma (1973).

Honors and awards Staats held honorary degrees from eight universities and distinguished service awards from the University of Kansas and the University of Minnesota. Other honors include Phi Beta Kappa, Alpha Kappa Psi, the Rockefeller Public Service Award, the Productivity Award of the American Productivity Center, the Medal of Honor of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, the Presidential Citizens Medal, the Hubert H. Humphrey Medal, and the Public Service Achievement Award of Common Cause. Staats also received the Public Service Medal of the Holland Society of New York, the Executive Government Award of the Opportunities Industrial Corporation of America, and the Public Service Award of the General Accounting Office. Staats was named an honorary member of the National Security Industrial Association and elected to the Accounting Hall of Fame in 1981.

Among the many honors bestowed upon him were the Rockefeller Public Service Award (1961); Alumni Achievement Award, University of Minnesota (1964); Distinguished Service Citation, University of Kansas (1966); Distinguished Service Award, University of Hartford Center for Study of Professional Accounting (1973); Warner W. Stockberger Achievement Award (1973); Person of the Year Award, Washington Chapter of the Institute of Internal Auditors (1975); Abraham O. Smoot Public Service Award, Brigham Young University (1975); American Association for Budget and Program Analysis Award (1976); Evaluation Research Society Federal Executive Award (1980); Productivity Award, American Productivity Center (1980); Medal of Honor, AICPA (1980); Engineer of the Year Award, San Fernando Valley Engineers Council (1980); and the Thurston Award, International Institute of Internal Auditors (1988).

Staats was an honorary member of the International City Management Association (1976), Society of Manufacturing Engineers (1978), National Security Industrial Association (1981), and an honorary life member of the Municipal Finance Officers Association of the United States and Canada (1980).