Bruce T. Barkley, Sr.

Bruce T. Barkley, Sr. was a charter member of the federal Senior Executive Service (SES). He retired from the federal government and taught public administration and program management at the Keller Graduate School of Management in Atlanta, Georgia. Mr. Barkley held a variety of positions in government. Prior to his retirement, he served as Director, Office of Management Systems and Evaluation, United States Environmental Protection Agency.

Developing Senior Executive Capabilities to Address National Priorities

This report is intended to spark a discussion of how to create a cadre of experienced career senior executives who can lead major, cross-agency initiatives on national priorities. The Senior Executive Service (SES) corps today is chiefly composed of highly skilled professionals in specific mission functions, with relatively few having cross-agency expertise.

Recent trends in government have created a new demand for cross-agency capabilities. This report attempts to offer a practical, targeted approach for meeting this demand. It is divided into two parts:

Bruce T. Barkley, Sr. was a charter member of the federal Senior Executive Service (SES). He retired from the federal government and taught public administration and program management at the Keller Graduate School of Management in Atlanta, Georgia. Mr. Barkley held a variety of positions in government. Prior to his retirement, he served as Director, Office of Management Systems and Evaluation, United States Environmental Protection Agency. Prior to joining EPA, he served as Director of Legislative Policy, Federal Highway Administration; and Director of Management Planning, Office of the Secretary, United States Department of Transportation (DOT). Earlier in his career, he served as Program Management Officer, United States Public Health Service, Department of Health, Education, and Welfare; and Budget Examiner, United States Bureau of the Budget, Executive Office of the President. He also served as Director of Special Projects, Office of the Assistant Secretary for Environment and Urban Systems, DOT; Director, Office of Program Evaluation, Urban Mass Transportation Administration (UMTA), DOT; and Director, Office of Public Transportation Management Support, UMTA, DOT. Mr. Barkley worked at the state level as Research Associate, Ohio Legislative Service Commission. He also held the following academic positions: Director of Instructional Design, University College, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland; and Business Consultant, Maryland Center for Quality and Productivity, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland. His private-sector experience included service as Research Associate, Abt Associates, Boston, Massachusetts; Vice President, The Learning Group Corporation, Rockville, Maryland;. and Program Administrator, Universal Avionics Corporation, Atlanta, Georgia. He was the author of seven books on public and private-sector program and performance management. His most recent book was Government Program Management (2011), published by McGraw-Hill. Mr. Barkley held a master’s degrees from the Universities of Cincinnati and Southern California.