My life at the National Bureau of Standards and the National Institute for Standards and Technology

I had just completed my BS in chemistry at Northwestern University in 1928 and had passed the Civil Service Chemistry Examination, and my fiance had passed an examination for the Civil Service Commission and had been offered a job at that agency in Washington. So we got on a train and came to DC, arriving 15 March 1928. I went to the Civil Service Commission (now called the Office of Personnel Management) and was directed to NBS where there were a number of openings for a P1 chemist. There I talked to Dr. Wichers in Chemistry and to J. Murray in the Lime and Gypsum Section. I took a job in the latter. On 31 March, we got married and on Monday, 2 April 1928, I started work in the Lime and Gypsum Section of the Clay and Mineral Products Division.

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The Hoover Commission's Personnel Recommendations—a Progress Report

American Political Science Review ◽

10.2307/1950960 ◽

1953 ◽

Vol 47 (1) ◽

pp. 100-125 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Harold H. Leich

Keyword(s):

Personnel Management ◽

Civil Service ◽

Executive Branch ◽

Federal Agencies ◽

Administrative Action ◽

Career Service ◽

Service Commission ◽

Personnel Directors ◽

Management Report ◽

Civil Service Commission

The Hoover Commission's personnel management report was published on February 9, 1949, early in the first session of the 81st Congress. Four sessions of the Congress have had an opportunity to act on the report, and the executive branch has had four years to take advantage of those recommendations that could be adopted by administrative action. This seems to be an appropriate time, therefore, to review the record of progress in both legislative and executive branches, in order to learn the extent to which these far-reaching recommendations for improvement of federal personnel management have been adopted.Soon after publication of the report, intensive study and discussions began within the executive branch. The Civil Service Commission sent a preliminary memorandum of its views to the President on March 23, 1949, with a transmittal letter referring to the report as a “constructive document,” and agreeing with the objective of establishing a civilian career service. The Federal Personnel Council, composed of personnel directors of federal agencies and representatives of the Civil Service Commission and the Bureau of the Budget, made a detailed study of the report and submitted a number of comments to the Civil Service Commission.

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