On Wednesday, March 21, Richard Eckstrom received the 2018 President’s Award, given by the National Association of State Comptrollers (NASC) to recognize exceptional leadership and service to the association. The award was presented at the 2018 NASC Annual Conference in Montgomery, Alabama, by NASC President and Wyoming State Auditor Cynthia Cloud.

Eckstrom has served the citizens of the state of South Carolina since 2003 as the elected comptroller general. From 1994 to 1998, he served as state treasurer. He is the first CPA to hold the positions of state treasurer or comptroller general in South Carolina.

He is a past president of NASC and currently represents the state comptrollers as an officer on the Executive Committee of the National Association of State Auditors, Comptrollers and Treasurers (NASACT).

Eckstrom was heavily involved in NASC’s former international exchange program with NASC’s counterparts in Mexico, travelling to Mexico several times to present at conferences and represent the U.S. state comptrollers.

He is an active participant on various committees of NASACT and NASC and an active volunteer for NASC’s Outreach Committee, serving as a mentor to new state comptrollers. He is always willing to volunteer or share information to help his peers.

In addition to his government service, Eckstrom served in the Navy for three years and also joined the Navy Reserve while he was in graduate school, retiring as a Captain in 1995. In 2004 he accepted a commission in the SC State Guard. In 2011 he became its commanding general and served in that role until retiring in 2014 at the rank of Major General.