Christopher M. Runkel
Christopher M. Runkel has served as the National Archives' Senior Counsel for Trust Fund and Foundation Policy since August 1999 and as the National Archives' Designated Agency Ethics Official (DAEO) since April 1994. As Senior Counsel, Mr. Runkel assists the General Counsel in managing the Office of General Counsel, as well as serving as legal advisor to senior National Archives officials on a variety of legal issues confronting the agency, including administrative and fiscal law, the National Archives' organic authority, property law, and the Presidential Libraries Act. Mr. Runkel is also responsible for advising agency officials on issues relating to the National Archives Trust Fund, the Foundation for the National Archives, and the Presidential library support organizations. As DAEO, Mr. Runkel administers the National Archives' ethics program, including the financial disclosure, ethics training, and ethics advice and counseling functions.
Mr. Runkel has worked for the National Archives since its inception as an independent agency in 1985 and practiced in all areas of law affecting the agency's operations. He served as a staff attorney from 1985-1994 and Deputy General Counsel from 1995-1999. Mr. Runkel also served as Acting General Counsel on two occasions, from April 1994 to October 1995 and from December 1997 to September 1998. He has made presentations before meetings of the Society of American Archivists, the Mid-Atlantic Regional Archives Conference (MARAC), and the Office of Government Ethics' Annual Conference, and he is a regular lecturer at the National Archives' Modern Archives Institute.
Mr. Runkel graduated Phi Beta Kappa from the George Washington University in 1981 with a B.A. and Honors in Political Science. He received his J.D. from the GW Law School in 1985.
