Linda Springer - Director
June 28, 2005 - August 13, 2008
Linda M. Springer, the eighth Director of the United States Office of Personnel Management, was unanimously confirmed by the United States Senate in June 2005.
As OPM Director, Ms. Springer is the chief executive of a 10,000 person (employees and contractors) organization responsible for the Federal Government's human resource planning, benefit programs, services and policies for the 1.8 million employee civilian workforce worldwide.
She is responsible for major business lines including management of the world's largest single-employer sponsored health insurance program, administration of a $700 billion asset retirement program, 90% of all Federal agency employee and contractor background investigative services, human resource and compensation consulting, and testing services and management development programs. She is the principal advisor to the President of the United States on personnel management issues for the Federal Government's civilian workforce.
Under Ms. Springer's leadership, OPM is modernizing its three decade old Federal retirement administration system from paper based to leading edge technology. She launched the first-ever nationwide prime time television advertising campaign promoting Federal service careers, designed and implemented an innovative approach to recruiting talent - "Career Patterns", and worked with major health insurance carriers to provide provider cost and quality information for enrollees. During her tenure, initial background investigation time has been reduced by 50%, Federal health plan premiums have experienced their lowest increase in eleven years, and dental, vision and health savings benefits have been introduced. She has led OPM's Executive Office to place first of 222 Federal agency subcomponents for Effective Leadership and Strategic Management.
Ms. Springer is a frequent speaker on human capital and organizational management issues and has been quoted by BusinessWeek, U.S. News & World Report, National Journal, Human Resource Executive, Gallup Management Journal and other professional and industry journals. Her interviews and commentary have been featured by television and radio stations around the country.
She serves as a member of the President's Commission on White House Fellowships and is a Principal of the U.S. Joint Financial Management Improvement Program. In addition, The National Academy of Public Administration named Ms. Springer as a 2006 Fellow.
Prior to becoming OPM Director, Ms. Springer held the position of Controller, White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and head of the Office of Federal Financial Management. As controller of the Executive Branch of the Federal Government, she set and oversaw implementation of financial management policies and disciplines, including Presidential initiatives. During her tenure as Controller, she reduced Federal Government agencies' year-end financial reporting time from five months to 45 days.
Before her career in public service, Ms. Springer spent over twenty-five years in the financial services industry in executive roles responsible for general and financial management, and strategic and operational planning. She held positions of Senior Vice President and Controller at Provident Mutual and Vice President and Product Manager at Penn Mutual Life Insurance Company. Her earlier professional experience was at Coopers and Lybrand.
Ms. Springer received her Bachelor of Science degree, cum laude, from Ursinus College in 1977 and attended the Executive Program in Managing the Enterprise at Columbia University Business School. She is a Fellow of the Society of Actuaries and a Member of the American Academy of Actuaries.
Her leadership was recognized by being awarded the Secretary of Defense Medal for Outstanding Public Service and the 2006 Ursinus College Alumni Award. Ms. Springer established, owned and operated a "Best of Philly" award-winning retail shop in suburban Philadelphia from 1992 until its retirement in 2001. Her civic involvements have included trusteeships with The Haddonfield (NJ) Symphony and Old Paths Publications. She is also an accomplished cellist.