December 20, 2010

The National Governors Association (NGA) Executive Director Raymond Scheppach announced on December 2 that he has notified the NGA Executive Committee that he will leave his position early next year.

Scheppach has accepted a joint appointment at the University of Virginia as a professor of practice of public policy at the Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy and as a senior fellow for economic policy at the Miller Center of Public Affairs.

Scheppach has served as the NGA Executive Director for 28 years. During his tenure, he has worked with more than 300 governors, two of which became president and many of whom have become U.S. senators or Cabinet secretaries during the last four presidential administrations.

"If you care about public policy, this is the best job in America," said Scheppach. "Not only can you influence federal domestic policy by working with Congress and the Administration, but you can work with individual governors on state policy in their home states, where states are clearly the laboratories of democracy. It has been an honor to have worked with the nation's governors."

During his time as executive director, NGA was a key player on Capitol Hill on a range of issues, including spearheading an historic overhaul of the nation's welfare system; advocating for state fiscal relief; and championing unfunded mandate legislation and various Medicaid reforms. Additionally, during his time at the association, NGA has emerged as a national leader on education reform through several education summits and the most recent Common Core State Standards Initiative, which has been adopted by 41 states.

Prior to working at NGA, Scheppach was deputy director of the Congressional Budget Office and was an economist with The Standard Oil Company. He holds a bachelor's degree in business administration from the University of Maine and a master's and Ph.D. in economics from the University of Connecticut.

The NGA Executive Committee has hired Korn/Ferry International to conduct a national search for a new executive director.