Katherine Archuleta

Katherine L. Archuleta
Katherine Archuleta
Director of the United States Office of Personnel Management
In office November 3, 2013 – July 10, 2015
President	Barack Obama
Preceded by	Elaine D. Kaplan
Succeeded by	Beth Cobert
Personal details
Born	1949 (age 67–68) Denver, Colorado
Nationality	American
Education	Hinkley High School (1965)
Alma mater	Metropolitan State University of Denver (bachelor of arts, elementary education, 1971) University of Northern Colorado (master's degree, education, 1976)

Katherine L. Archuleta (born c.1949) is an American teacher and a political executive. She was the director of the United States Office of Personnel Management. President Barack Obama appointed her on May 23, 2013. She was sworn in on November 4, 2013. She had previously served as National Political Director for Obama's 2012 reelection campaign. Prior to that, she had been Executive Director of the National Hispanic Cultural Center Foundation in New Mexico, had co-founded the Latina Initiative, had worked at a Denver law firm, and had worked in the Clinton Administration as chief of staff to the Secretary of Transportation, Federico Peña. She became embroiled in controversy after the disclosure of a massive national security breach in June 2015. The hack involved the theft of millions of federal employee records and included security-clearance details dating back 15 years, which prompted lawmakers from both political parties to demand that she resign. On July 10, 2015, Archuleta tendered her resignation.

Archuleta, who is of Mexican American descent, was born in Denver, Colorado, raised in Aurora, Colorado, and graduated from Hinkley High School in 1965. She graduated from the Metropolitan State University of Denver with a bachelor of arts degree in elementary education in 1971. She also has a master's degree in education from the University of Northern Colorado (1976).

Archuleta was the executive director of the National Hispanic Cultural Center Foundation in Albuquerque, New Mexico, from 2002 to 2005. Before that, she was an administrator for Denver Public Schools. From May 1996 to January 1997, she worked in the political world as a senior advisor to Denver politician Federico Peña. She was deputy chief of staff to Peña from 1983 to 1991, while he was the mayor of Denver. She was also a senior advisor to John Hickenlooper during the time he was mayor of Denver. In 1997, she was on the Board of Trustees of the Institute of American Indian and Alaska Native Culture and Arts Development (also called "Institute of American Indian Arts") in Santa Fe, New Mexico.