Ronald H. Walker
| Ronald H. Walker | |
|---|---|
Ronald H. Walker
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| Born |
July 25, 1937 Bryan, Texas |
| Occupation | Director of the White House Office of Presidential Advance Director of the National Park Service Senior Partner, Korn/Ferry International Chairman of the Board, the Richard Nixon Foundation |
Ronald H. Walker (born July 25, 1937) is an American executive. Walker served in the administration of President Richard Nixon, first as the first Director of the White House Office of Presidential Advance, and later as Director of the National Park Service (1972-1975). Walker went on to become a senior partner at Korn/Ferry International, President of the Richard Nixon Foundation, and is currently the Chairman of the Board of the Nixon Foundation.
Walker was born in Bryan, Texas. He earned a degree in political sciences from the University of Arizona, served as an officer in the United States Army in Okinawa, Japan, and later became an insurance and marketing executive. A soft-spoken and affable man, Walker had been President Nixon’s special assistant responsible for both domestic and international travel. As such, Walker coordinated President Nixon's groundbreaking voyage to the People's Republic of China in February 1972.
At 36, Walker was the youngest Director to hold the office and the second appointed from outside NPS. Lacking park experience, Walker made Russell E. Dickenson, an NPS careerist, his deputy. Walker advocated a policy of “stabilization”, foreseeing that NPS funding and staffing would be inadequate for a continuing high influx of new parks and program responsibilities. Fourteen areas nevertheless joined the park system during his two years as director, including the first two national preserves. Nixon's resignation in August 1974 presaged Walker's replacement five months later.
As Director, he realigned NPS regional boundaries and added North Atlantic and Rocky Mountain offices. Under Walker, the early planning was done for the Servicewide American Revolution Bicentennial activities.
The National Park Service established a plan to restructure organizationally in response to the diverse changes that have confronted it over the past several decades, to the National Performance Review, and to legally mandated personnel reductions. The resultant Restructuring Plan for the National Park Service built upon earlier efforts within the Service – the 21st Century Task Force Report, the VAIL AGENDA, the NPS STRATEGIC PLAN, and the Recommendations of the Reorganization Work Group –- all of which have proposed significant, substantive improvements in the organization.
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