TACIR's Executive Director Dr. Harry A. Green Retires After 39 Years of Service
Friday, April 20, 2012 | 05:19am
NASHVILLE—Dr. Harry A. Green retired his post as executive director of the Tennessee Advisory Commission on Intergovernmental Relations (TACIR) on April 13, 2012, after 39 years of service to the State of Tennessee. Dr. Green began his career with the State in 1978 as Chief of Research and Statistics for the Office of the Comptroller of the Treasury and was appointed executive director of TACIR in 1981. The Commission was created in 1978 in response to legislative findings indicating the need for a permanent intergovernmental body to study and take action on questions of organizational patterns, powers, functions, and relationships among federal, state, and local governments. It was initially staffed by the Comptroller’s Office, the State Planning Office, and the Office of Legal Services. The Commission has served as a source of expertise to state and local officials and has been instrumental in improving education funding, local planning, industrial development, emergency communications, and the administration of the property tax.
Under Dr.Green’s leadership, the Commission has played an important role in developing many of the key issues that have shaped state and local government in Tennessee over the last several decades. One of his key accomplishments was the development of the fiscal capacity formula adopted by the Tennessee State Board of Education to equalize local funding for public schools through the Basic Education Program (BEP) formula adopted as part of Tennessee’s Education Improvement Act of 1992.
During Dr. Green’s tenure as executive director, the Commission was recognized by the Governmental Research Association with an Award for Most Distinguished Research, an Award for Special Achievement, a Certificate of Merit for Most Distinguished Research, a Certificate of Merit for Special Achievement, a Certificate of Merit for Effective Education, and two Certificates of Merit for Effective Citizen Education; by the National Association of Development Organizations with an Innovation Award; and by the American Library Association with a Notable Document Award.
Dr. Green was born in Wilson County, Tennessee, and served honorably in the United States Army during the Korean Conflict. He received his B.S. in Economics from Middle Tennessee State University, his M.S. in Public Administration at Florida State University in 1958, and his Ph.D. in Public Administration at the University of Colorado in 1962. He has taught at Middle Tennessee State University, Florida State University, George Washington University, the University of Pittsburgh, and the University of Ife, Nigeria. He held the position of Associate Dean at Georgia State University and Dean and Department Head at Ahmadu Bello University, Nigeria.
Dr. Green also held the post of Deputy Director of the Division of Economic Opportunity in the Office of the Governor of the State of Florida and was director of the Federal Relations and Neighborhood Centers and Special Assistant for Model Cities in the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Upon retirement, Dr. Green plans to spend more time with his family and research local issues.
The Commission’s new executive director is Lynnisse Roehrich-Patrick. Ms. Roehrich-Patrick brings extensive experience in public policy dating back to service as a legislative performance audit supervisor in Tennessee’s Office of the Comptroller of the Treasury in the mid-1980s, as Education Coordinator in Governor Ned McWherter’s budget office, and as Assistant Commissioner of Education for Finance, Accountability and Technology during Governor Don Sundquist’s Administration. In those roles, Ms. Roehrich-Patrick developed expertise in public policy and finance and more particularly in education finance and accountability, having participated in the development and implementation of the BEP funding formula for education and the financial accountability system created to support it.
While Assistant Commissioner of Education, Ms. Roehrich-Patrick was a member of the Advisory Committee to the Governmental Accounting Standards Board that developed the GASB publication What You Should Know About Your School District’s Finances: A Guide To Financial Statements; the Information Committee for the National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Department of Education, assisting in the 1990s update of NCES's Financial Accounting for Local and State School Systems Handbook; and the AllStates 2000 Task Force of the National Center for Education Statistics, which was charged with developing a strategy and plan to recruit all 50 states to participate in the 2000 National Assessment of Education Progress. She also served on Governor Don Sundquist’s Reading Initiative Task Force. She has served the Commission for 12 years, most recently as its Deputy Executive Director. During her tenure with the Commission, Ms. Roehrich-Patrick was instrumental in developing the State’s Public Infrastructure Needs Inventory, which received the National Association of Development Organization’s 2009 Innovation Award.
Ms. Roehrich-Patrick currently serves on the following committees and boards:
· Water Resources Technical Advisory Committee, Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation, representing TACIR
· Basic Education Program Review Committee, Tennessee State Board of Education, representing TACIR
· Consolidated Utility District of Rutherford County, as an advisor
· Cumberland Region Tomorrow, representing Rutherford County
Ms. Roehrich-Patrick began her career in state service as one of the first two women hired as wildlife officers by the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency, serving in Montgomery and White counties. She received her J.D. from the George C. Taylor College of Law at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, and a B.S. in Wildlife & Fisheries Science, also from the University of Tennessee. She lives in rural Rutherford County with her husband Steve Patrick, Assistant Executive Director for the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency.
Press Releases | Advisory Commission on Intergovernmental Relations