Linda Bilmes

MEMBER SINCE: 2013

Professor Linda Bilmes is an expert on budgeting and public finance. She is a full-time faculty member at the Harvard Kennedy School and a former Assistant Secretary and Chief Financial Officer of the US Department of Commerce. She has co-authored multiple books and book chapters, including the international bestseller The Three Trillion Dollar War and has written extensively on the cost of war, veterans’ issues, national parks, municipal budgeting and financial topics. She has featured in several films, including the award-winning documentary No End In Sight. She serves as the sole US member of the United Nations Committee of Experts on Public Administration. She is co-chair of Economists for Peace and Security. Her research has been published in the New York Times, Financial Times, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, Boston Globe, Foreign Policy, The Atlantic, Barron’s, and other media. She is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, a Fellow of the National Academy of Public Administration and holds a BA and MBA from Harvard University and a PhD from the University of Oxford.

History of Employment

Position

Division

Organization

Start

End

Member

Advisory Board

US National Park Service

2009

2018

Chief Financial Officer and Assistant Secretary for Administration

Administration, Management and Budget

U.S. Department of Commerce

1998

2001

Deputy Assistant Secretary for Administration and Budget

U.S. Department of Commerce

1997

1998

Principal

London, Madrid office

Boston Consulting Group

1988

1996

Consultant

Bain & Company

1986

1988

Media Consultant

Campaign Strategies, Inc.

1980

1982

Professor of Public Policy

Kennedy School of Government

Harvard University

2002

Special Advisor

National Performance Review

Office of U.S. Vice President

1997

US Representative

United Nations Committee of Experts on Public Administration

United Nations

2017

US Representative

Committee of Experts on Public Administration

United Nations

2018

Primary Policy Areas

Budget and Finance, Commerce, Defense, Economy, Energy, Environment/Natural Resources, Foreign Policy, Government Operations/Innovation, International Aid and Development, Intergovernmental System/Federalism, Intergovernmental Affairs and Coordination, National Security, Urban Affairs, Veterans Affairs

Primary Sector of Expertise

Academic

Primary Functions

Academic Faculty, Academic Research, Budgeting and Finance, City Management, Intergovernmental, State Government

Academy Studies

Assessment of the National Park Service Museum Collections Storage Management