Dr. Linda Combs

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

You have new messages (last change).
Dr. Linda M. Combs
In office
2005 – Current
Under President George W. Bush
Preceded by Linda Springer
Succeeded by Incumbent
Born
Lenoir, North Carolina
Political party Republican
Spouse Dave Combs
Profession Senior Executive

Dr. Linda Morrison Combs is the Controller of the Office of Management and Budget in the Executive Office of the President at the White House. She has five Presidential Appointments comfirmed by the United States Senate and has served under three Presidents: President Ronald Regan, President George H.W. Bush, and President George W. Bush[1].

President George W. Bush nominated her on February 28, 2005 to be the Controller. The United States Senate unnanimously confirmed Combs on June 24, 2005[2] [3].

As Controller Dr. Combs is oversees all of Federal financial management, is the head of the Office of Federal Financial Management, and chairs the U.S. Chief Financial Officers Council[4]. She owns three initiatives of the President's Management Agenda: improving financial performance, eliminating improper payments, and real property [www.whitehouse.gov/results].

Also, Controller Dr. Combs oversees Government-wide financial management policies, and requirements. Specifically she focuses on financial results in the largest 24 departments and agencies in the Federal Government. Last year she oversaw $2.47 trillion in spending.

Dr. Combs has achieved unprecedented results during her tenure as Controller. Most recently, Dr. Combs has played an integral leadership role in ensuring that the Executive Branch achieves key financial management performance targets. Notably, during Dr. Combs tenure at OMB, the Federal CFO community has:

1) For the first time in history and for the second straight year successfully accelerated financial reporting so that audited financial statements are published by ever major agency within 45 days of the close of the fiscal year (a pace that significantly betters private sector reporting and improves on past Government results when agencies took as long as 5 months to report);

2) Obtained clean audit opinions in 19 of the 24 largest agencies for two straight years, and decreased the number of material weaknesses by more than 15% despite tougher audit standards (a major accomplishment from achieving only one clean audit in 1990 and only six in 1996 for those same 24 agencies);

3) Eliminated approximately $9 billion in improper payments--a 17% decrease since 2004.

4) Developed and reported the first ever government-wide inventory of the Federal real property assets, reporting data on more than 1.2 million assets world-wide, and disposing of $3.5 billion in excess property since 2004.

Contents

[edit] Early life and education

A native of Granite Falls, North Carolina, Dr. Combs earned an Associate of the Arts degree at Gardner-Webb University, Bachelor of Science and Masters degrees from Appalachian State University, and a Doctorate in Educational Administration from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University. She is also a graduate of the Program for Senior Managers in Government at Harvard University, and holds an honorary Doctorate from Gardner-Webb University.

[edit] Government Service and Private Sector Career

Dr. Combs was previously appointed by President George W. Bush and confirmed by the United States Senate to the position of Assistant Secretary for Budget and Programs and Chief Financial Officer at the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT). As Assistant Secretary, Dr. Combs oversaw all budgetary and management functions of the Department, including budget development and budget execution. As Chief Financial Officer, she was responsible for oversight of the Department’s $57 billion appropriation, the Government Performance and Results Act, as well as general monitoring of programs.

Prior to her appointment at DOT, Dr. Combs held a Presidential Appointment, confirmed by the Senate, at the Environmental Protection Agency, where she served as Chief Financial Officer from 2001 – 2003[5]. Dr. Combs has considerable experience with Federal Government auditing and financial reporting practices. Dr. Combs achieved a major goal—for the EPA to be one of the most respected CFO offices in the Federal Government. Her heroic and historic vision led EPA to be the first cabinet-level agency to achieve the coveted “green” score in financial management. Further recognition of this achievement in financial management came with the prestigious crystal eagle award from the President.

During the previous Reagan and Bush Administrations, Dr. Combs served in various oversight roles and executive level management positions at the Department of Education, Department of Veterans Affairs, and Department of the Treasury.

Prior to government service, and following a successful career of over ten years in instructional and administrative positions in the Winston-Salem/Forsyth County School System, she was elected in 1980 to the Board of Education in Winston-Salem/Forsyth County, North Carolina. In 1986 she was appointed as Education Advisor to the Governor of North Carolina.

Dr. Combs has also spent a number of years in the private sector. In her role of Operations Officer and Manager of National Direct Student Loans for Wachovia Corporation, Dr. Combs was responsible for the general management of National Direct Student Loan Operations, with an expense budget that affected several million dollars of annual revenue. For ten years, Dr. Combs and her husband founded and grew their own highly successful private record label and music catalog company to achieve worldwide distribution of CDs videos, and music books. She is also a published author on family caregiving, and was a national spokesperson for Warner Lambert Pharmaceutical Company.

Before returning to the Federal Government in 2001, Dr. Combs was a member of the Board of Visitors of the Babcock School of Management at Wake Forest University, Chair of the Board of Directors of the Appalachian State University Foundation, and a member of the Board of Trustees at Gardner-Webb University. She also served on several corporate boards.

[edit] Published Author

Alzheimer's, the frightening disease of aging, is treated heroically in a touching book by a woman who left her important position as Assistant Secretary for Management at the U.S. Department of Treasury to care for her mother.

After her mother's medical verdict of increasing memory loss was pronounced, Linda Combs resigned her executive post in Washington, D.C., and moved home to North Carolina.

Her familiarity with Alzheimer's prompted Linda Combs to write her book, A Long Goodbye and Beyond, as a resource for other parental caregivers, like herself, who must assist a loved one to pass through the stages of unlovely deterioration{http://www.combsmusic.com/ALG.html].

To this book of instruction, courage, kindness, sympathy and loyalty to the idea of a new life beyond, artist Tom Novak lends his marvelous illustrations, which are a tribute to brave souls who have the long loneliness of slow disintegration.


[edit] Awards and honors

Award Organization Year
"National Leadership Award" Association of Government Accountants 2005
"Crystal Eagle Award" Budget Performance and Integration 2004
"Inducted into Caldwell County Schools Hall of Honor" 2003
"Inducted into Caldwell County Schools Hall of Honor" Reich College of Education at Appalachian State University 2002

[edit] Timeline

  • 1968 – 1979: Teacher, Coach, Reading Coordinator, Assistant Principal, Workshop Leader Winston-Salem/Forsyth County School System Winston-Salem, NC

[edit] References

[edit] External links

[edit] Notes

White House Logo
v • d • e
Current members of the Cabinet, and Cabinent-Rank members of the President George W. Bush Administration.

Bodman • Bolten • Chao • Cheney • Chertoff • Gates • Gonzales • Gutierrez • Jackson • Johanns • Johnson • Kempthorne • Leavitt • Nicholson • Paulson • Peters • Portman • Rice • Schwab • Spellings • Walters

 


Preceded by
Linda Springer		 Controller
2005-Current		 Succeeded by
Incumbent
Persondata
NAME Combs, Dr. Linda Combs
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Combs, Linda; Combs, Linda M.; Combs, Dr. Linda M.;
SHORT DESCRIPTION Controller, Office of Management and Budget
DATE OF BIRTH
PLACE OF BIRTH Granite Falls, North Carolina
DATE OF DEATH
PLACE OF DEATH
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org../../../d/r/2E/Dr._Linda_Combs_002e.html"