Strauss Honored by APPAM
Robert P. Strauss, Professor of Economics and Public Policy, will receive the Steven B. Gold Award on Friday, November 4, at an awards breakfast of the Associate for Public Policy and Management (APPAM) in Washington, DC.
The Gold Award recognizes a person who has made a significant contribution to public financial management in the field of intergovernmental relations and state and local finance. The award is given annually by APPAM, the National Conference of State Legislatures, and the National Tax Association, in memory of Steve Gold, an active member of all three organizations whose career and life tragically were shortened by illness.
According to Strauss, "It is very gratifying to receive the award. Steven Gold was a very positive force in state-federal fiscal relations, and the Center for the Study of the States that he created at SUNY-Albany continues to play an important role in informing the nation about the course of state and local finances which are very important in our federal system."
In 1972, Strauss received the U.S. Treasury Department's Exceptional Service Award (Gold Medal) for his design of the General Revenue Sharing legislation. In June 1987, he received the Distinguished Service Award from the Pittsburgh Chapter of Tax Executives, Inc. In 1998 with George R.G. Clarke, he received the Georgescu-Roegen Award for best paper published in the Southern Economic Journal in 1997/8.
Professor Strauss's research interests include public economics and human resources. At the federal level, Professor Strauss served as Assistant to the Deputy Secretary of the US Treasury in 1970-2, and on the Staff of the Joint Committee, U.S. Congress 1975-8. In recognition of his contributions to federal legislation, he received presidential pens from President Richard Nixon in 1972, and President Gerald Ford in 1975. Since joining the Heinz School faculty in 1979, he has directed major tax studies in Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Washington state, and was appointed to the Pennsylvania Local Tax Reform Commission in 1987 by Governor Robert Casey. He has also advised tax study commissions in Washington, D.C., New York, New Jersey, and Massachusetts, and prepared a major report on teacher preparation in 1998 for the Pennsylvania State Board of Education. In 1997-1999, he served on the Steering Committee, of the National Tax Association's Project on the Taxation of Telecommunications and Electronic Commerce. Locally, he advised both candidates for the position of Allegheny County Executive on matters of local taxation in 1999. Beginning in 2003, Professor Strauss began serving as an Informal Advisor on federal tax and intergovernmental issues for the Office of the Majority Leader of the US Senate.