NASACT Announces 2017 Hall of Fame Inductees
Section: NASACT




NASACT is pleased to announce the 2017 inductees into the NASACT Hall of Fame:
 
  • Robert H. Attmore, former deputy comptroller of the State of New York and former chairman of the Governmental Accounting Standards Board
  • Harlan E. Boyles, former state treasurer of North Carolina
  • Harvey C. Eckert, former deputy commissioner for comptroller operations of the commonwealth of Pennsylvania


Shown above: Harvey C. Eckert, Robert H. Attmore, Edward Boyles and Dale Folwell.

The three were inducted into the NASACT Hall of Fame during a ceremony held on Tuesday, August 15 in Nashville, Tennessee, at the 2017 NASACT Annual Conference. Attmore and Eckert were in attendance. Accepting the honor for Boyles was current North Carolina State Treasurer Dale Folwell and Boyles's son, Edward Boyles.
 
Conceived as a way to honor those who have made major and enduring impacts on state government financial management, the Hall of Fame is meant to memorialize the vision, accomplishments, and lasting impacts of leaders among the Association’s membership and the broader NASACT community.
 
Hall of Fame nominees were evaluated on four main criteria:
 
  • Promotion or enhancement of government accountability, efficiency or effectiveness.
  • Improvement of state government.
  • Impact upon the lives of citizens or upon those employed by state governments.
  • And peer recognition of excellence and achievement. 

This year’s inductees into the Hall of Fame have made significant contributions to government accounting, auditing, and treasury management, and the broader landscape within which NASACT and its members and peers operate.
 
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Following service in the U.S. Army from 1967 to 69, where he received a Bronze Star for meritorious service, Robert H. Attmore worked as an audit manager for Deloitte Haskins & Sells CPAs.
 
He began his career in government as director of internal audit at New York’s Office of Mental Health. While there, he managed a major expansion of the internal audit unit and integrated internal audit into the culture of one of New York’s largest state agencies. He continued down this path of service and commitment to transparency and efficiency during his role as New York’s de facto state auditor between 1984 and 2003. Audits conducted during his tenure identified billions of dollars in savings for the citizens of his state.
 
Attmore was appointed chairman of the GASB in July 2004, and he served in this role for nine years through June 2013. During his time at GASB, he tackled issues including significant changes to the reporting of pension obligations, fund balance reporting, pollution remediation and financial guarantees, suggested guidelines on service efforts and accomplishments, and updates to several long-standing GASB statements.
 
He is an Audit Advisory Committee member for the U.S. Government Accountability Office, a senior fellow with the Governing Institute, and a fellow with the New York State Academy for Public Administration. He is a past president of the National State Auditors Association, he served as treasurer of NASACT’s executive committee, and he was a member of the U.S. Comptroller General’s Advisory Council on Governmental Auditing Standards.
 
Bob Attmore’s commitment to improving government operations, and his stewardship of the public interest have been hallmarks of a long and noteworthy career.
 
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Harlan E. Boyles enjoyed a distinguished tenure with the state of North Carolina. He began his service to government working in the state’s Department of Revenue and later for the Tax Study Commission. For 16 years, he was deputy state treasurer and secretary of the North Carolina Local Government Commission. In 1976, he was elected to serve as state treasurer, and was subsequently re-elected for five more terms, serving a total of 24 years in the office.
 
Boyles had many accomplishments over the years. He was president of NASACT in 1984, and he served on the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board.
 
He created the North Carolina Cash Management Trust to help units of government invest their short term moneys safely, and efficiently.
 
He updated and improved laws, rules and regulations to help local governments more effectively serve their citizens.
 
He was an early adopter of electronic securities sales to help governments increase acceptance and save money.
 
Throughout his tenure as state treasurer, North Carolina maintained its superior fiscal reputation and Triple-A rating, saving the state millions of dollars.
 
Among his many honors, Boyles was named Public Official of the Year by Governing Magazine and was presented with Distinguished Service Awards from major North Carolina citizen groups.  
 
Boyles was a public servant first, last, and always. He was guided by a simple, but profound, principle – one that he outlined in his book, Keeper of the Public Purse.
 
“We must never lose sight of the fact that the public purse is what it purports to be. It belongs to the people, not the officeholders who have been entrusted with its safekeeping.”

Harlan Boyles earned universal respect for his conservative approach to the handling of state money and his wise counsel to governors and legislative leaders. He was a true embodiment of fiscal integrity, hard work and honesty.
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Harvey C. Eckert was appointed Pennsylvania’s deputy secretary for comptroller operations in 1983. He was president of both NASACT and the National Association of State Comptrollers.
 
Under his leadership, Pennsylvania was the seventh state to receive GFOA’s Certificate of Achievement for Excellence in Financial Reporting, and the first state to receive it on the first try. He helped Pennsylvania become recognized as a model of excellence in state financial management and facilitated major improvements in administration, accounting, auditing and systems development.
 
He served during a formative time for modern government financial reporting. He was a proponent of the establishment of the GASB and the conversion by state governments to generally accepted accounting principles. He served twice as a member of GASB’s advisory group, the GASAC, in the late 80s through the mid 90s, and he was GASAC’s chairman from 1996 through June 2005.
 
Eckert established his state as a leader in the implementation and performance of the Single Audit Act, providing single audit expertise to the federal government and state and local governments around the country.
 
He was a strong advocate for the creation of a national-level CFO position as well as passage of the Cash Management Improvement Act of 1990, which enhanced the transfer of funds between the federal government and the states.
 
Eckert was a champion of new technologies that would eventually enable electronic benefit transfer and other electronic and web-based payment methods. He chaired the Mid-Atlantic Regional Coalition of EBT as well as NACHA’s Electronic Benefits Services Council.
 
He was a key partner in one of the largest state systems development efforts of the time, integrating all of the commonwealth’s central administrative systems into a central database, and generously sharing lessons learned along the way with his peers.
 
He has received numerous awards from industry groups including the prestigious Donald L. Scantlebury Memorial Award for Distinguished Leadership in Financial Management Improvement and NASC’s Louis L. Goldstein Leadership Award.
 
Harvey Eckert’s lifetime of accomplishments is a testament to his extensive knowledge and expertise, and tangible proof of his commitment to continuous improvement in government.