Don I. Wortman

Don I. Wortman is a retired U.S. federal government administrator who served 27 years in senior-level executive positions in many federal government agencies. He was Acting Commissioner of the Social Security Administration (SSA) from December 13, 1977 to October 4, 1978.[1][2] In early 1977, while working at the Department of Health, Education and Welfare (HEW)—precursor to the Department of Health and Human Services—he was Chairman of the task force for implementing the reorganization of HEW. This reorganization included the merging of the Medicare and Medicaid programs into a new agency; this agency was named the Health Care Financing Administration (and renamed the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services in June 2001).[3][4][5][6][7] He became the first Administrator of the Health Care Financing Administration.[7][8][9] On two occasions—6 months in 1975 and the first 3 months of 1977—he was Acting Administrator of the Social and Rehabilitation Services, the agency which, at that time, administered the Medicaid program and the Aid to Families with Dependent Children program.[7][10]

Don Wortman
Commissioner of the Social Security Administration
Acting
In office
December 13, 1977 – October 4, 1978
PresidentJimmy Carter
Preceded byJames B. Cardwell
Succeeded byStanford Ross
Personal details
Born
Don Irvin Wortman

(1927-11-10) November 10, 1927
Lakota, Iowa, U.S.
DiedMarch 27, 2020
Albuquerque, New Mexico
Spouse(s)
Dorothy Schroeder
(
m. 1950)
Children3 sons
EducationMacalester College (BA)
University of Minnesota, Twin Cities (MPA)
National Defense University
Military service
Allegiance United States
Branch/service United States Army
Years of service1945–1947

During President Gerald Ford’s administration in 1975-1976, Wortman played a major role in resettling 60,000 Vietnamese refugees in the U.S. (pursuant to the Indochina Migration and Refugee Assistance Act).[11][12][13] From 1965 to 1971, he worked at the Office of Economic Opportunity (federal anti-poverty program), where he helped launch Head Start, Upward Bound, and the Community Action Program.[13][14][15]

Other federal government agencies in which Wortman served as a senior-level executive include the Atomic Energy Commission, the Price Commission, and the Central Intelligence Agency, where he was the deputy director for administration.[13][16][17] In several of these posts, he was directed to take over running them, as political appointees left for other positions.[16] In this regard, he was an exemplar of the federal career Senior Executive Service whose members serve as elite executives and leaders who are expected to move between programs and agencies as issues and challenges arise.[16] He was also unique in that, from 1967 until his retirement in 1981, he served in senior-level political appointee positions under both Republican and Democrat presidents.[13]

Following his retirement from the federal government in 1981, Wortman served as a consultant at the General Accounting Office (now known as the Government Accountability Office).[16]

In 1979, Wortman was elected as a Fellow of the National Academy of Public Administration (NAPA), which is an independent, non-profit, non-partisan organization chartered by Congress to assist government leaders in building more effective, efficient, accountable, and transparent organizations.[18] In the early 1980s, he joined NAPA and became its Vice President and its Director of Federal Programs; he continued working at NAPA until 1995.[16] During his time at NAPA, he led many management studies for a variety of federal agencies, studies which were designed to improve the performance of these agencies.[19][20][21][22][23][24] In this capacity, he used his government experience and leadership skills to assist hundreds of federal executives.[16]

In honoring Wortman in November 2014, NAPA CEO and President, Dan G. Blair, stated, “At a time when public servants are often caught up in partisan bickering and cross currents in Washington, it is critically important to remember that these hardworking leaders are the ones who make the government work. It is therefore a great honor to recognize one of these public servants, Don Wortman, who served so many, in so many places over his long career.”[16]

Wortman grew up in Lakota, Iowa (born November 10, 1927). He received his bachelor's degree from Macalester College in St. Paul, Minnesota, his master's degree in public administration from the University of Minnesota, and attended the Industrial College of the Armed Forces of the National Defense University from 1961 to 1962.[2]

Awards and honors
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References
  1. Social Security Administration. "Social Security Commissioners". Social Security Administration.
  2. Social Security Administration. "SSA Commissioners -- Don I. Wortman".
  3. Califano, Jr., Joseph A. (1981). Governing America: An Insider’s Report from the White House and the Cabinet. New York: Simon and Schuster. p. 42. ISBN 0-671-25428-6.
  4. Departments of Labor and Health, Education, and Welfare and related agencies appropriations for fiscal year 1978: Hearings before a subcommittee of the Committee on Appropriations, United States Senate, Ninety-fifth Congress, first session, on H.R. 7555 (Volume 3) Paperback. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Govt. Printing Office. January 1, 1977. p. 2334.
  5. Comptroller General's report on establishment of Health Care Financing Administration in HEW: Hearing before the Subcommittee on Health of the Committee on Finance, United States Senate, Ninety-fifth Congress, first session. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Govt. Printing Office. July 21, 1977. pp. 20–21.
  6. Oberlander, Jonathan (June 1, 2003). The Political Life of Medicare (First ed.). Chicago, IL: University Of Chicago Press. p. 246. ISBN 0226615960.
  7. "CMS Oral History Series – Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services" (PDF). Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. pp. 15, 546–572.
  8. "HCFA / CMS Leaders (by date of service, 1977-2014)". National Academy of Social Insurance.
  9. "CMS Administrators Tenure" (PDF). Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.
  10. "Memorandum for the President" (PDF). Jimmy Carter Presidential Library and Museum. May 19, 1977.
  11. "Interagency Task Force for Indochina Refugees -- Report to the Congress, December 15, 1975; Transmittal Letter to the President". Internet Archive. Social Security Administration, Office of Refugee Affairs.
  12. The Milwaukee Journal (September 11, 1975). "Refugee Schooling to Get More US Aid". Newspapers, Inc.
  13. Halvorsen, Jon (November 1992). "Mitau's legacy: A 'good citizen' makes a mark". Macalester Today. p. 14.
  14. "Officials of President Nixon's Administration -- 1971". Nixon Presidential Library and Museum.
  15. "Officials of President Nixon's Administration -- 1972". Nixon Presidential Library and Museum. Archived from the original on 2016-06-29. Retrieved 2016-08-06.
  16. "Academy Honors Don Wortman". National Academy of Public Administration.
  17. "Chronology of Central Intelligence Agency's senior management structure". Federation of American Scientists.
  18. "Fellows of the National Academy of Public Administration". National Academy of Public Administration.
  19. Associated Press (November 28, 1983). "Federal Agencies Get Plans for Improving Management". New York Times.
  20. "Social Security Administrator Board vs. Single Administrator". Carnegie Mellon University Libraries Digital Collections. National Academy of Public Administration.
  21. Sam Fulwood III (April 24, 1991). "Plan to Reorganize INS Won't Work, Review Concludes". Tronc, Inc. The Los Angeles Times.
  22. "HUD Procurement Reform: Substantial Progress Underway -- Summary Report; April 1999" (PDF). U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development -- Archives.
  23. "Leading People in Change: Empowerment, Commitment, Accountability: A Report by a Panel of the National Academy of Public Administration -- April 1993". United States Department of Labor -- Wirtz Labor Library.
  24. "Establishing the Social Security Administration as an Independent Agency: Hearing Before the Committee on Finance -- United States Senate, One Hundred Third Congress, First Session, September 14, 1993". Internet Archive.
  25. "Past Award Recipients". Macalester College.
Political offices
Preceded by
James B. Cardwell		 Commissioner of the Social Security Administration
Acting
1977–1978		 Succeeded by
Stanford Ross
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