ABFM Annual Awards and Winners

Aaron Wildavsky Award

The Aaron Wildavsky Award was established in 1993 in memory of Dr. Aaron Wildavsky as a liftime achievement award for work in budgeting and financial management. Dr. Wildavsky was a pioneering scholar in the fields of public policy, government budgeting and risk management. Wildavsky is most commonly associated with his theory of budget incrementalism, which argues that the most important predictor of a future budget is the previous one, contrary to rational decision models. He spent most of his career at the University of California at Berkeley where he was, among other things, the founding dean of the Graduate School of Public Policy. His academic contributions include 37 books on budgeting, presidential elections and risk and regulation as well as a wide range of articles covering everything from PPBS to the abolitionists role in the years before the civil war. His article “Rescuing Policy Analysis from PPBS” is a staple of most American Public Administration curriculum, and his book “Risk and Culture” introduced the Cultural Theory of Risk to the 1980’s.

The S. Kenneth Howard Award was established in 1986 in memory of S. Kenneth Howard to honor lifetime achievement by a practioner in the field of budgeting and financial management. Dr. Howard was a faculty member at UNC Chapel Hill and held a joint appointment in the Department of Political Science and the Institute of Government. Dr. Howard also played a key role in establishing the University’s Master of Public Administration degree program.

 S. Kenneth Howard Award Winners
 2007 - Merl Hackbart
 2006 - Robert Kilpatrick
 2005 - Hank Huckaby
 2004 - Marvin Phaup
 2003 - A. John Vogt
 2002 - G. Edward DeSeve
 2001 - Martin Ives
 2000 - Richard Keevey
 1999 - Thomas J. Cuny
 1998 - Dall Forsythe
 1997 - David Mathieson
 1996 - Stanley Collender
 1995 - Alice Rivlin
 1994 - David L. Manning
 1993 -
 1992 -
 1991 -
 1990 -
 1989 -
 1988 - Alair Townsend
 1987 - Alan Post
 1986 - T. Norman Hurd

The Michael Curro Award was established in 2002 in honor Michael Curro. Prior to that time the ABFM student achievement award was not titled. Mr. Curro was an active and engaging member of the ABFM; serving on the Public Budgeting and Finance editorial board, ABFM's exuecutive committee as well as the board of directors of Public Financial Publications, Inc. He worked for the GAO in a variety of capacities for well over 30 years starting in the regional office of his hometown Cincinnati, Ohio in 1974. Mr. Curro often wrote about budget and finance topics in professional journals and taught classes at Georgetown University, USDA Graduate School, and Central Michigan University. Among other accomplishments, Mr. Curro helped shape and implement the Government Performance and Results Act through the General Accounting Office. His body of work on performance budgeting and the federal budget account structure continue to be important documents with a wide audience.

 Michael Curro Award Winners
 2007 - Robert Nye
 2006 - Quian (Janey) Wang IV
 2005 - Olha Krupa
 2004 - Seth Payton
 2003 - Justin Marlowe
 2002 - Deborah A. Carroll
 2001 - Kyle I. Jen
 2000 - Changhoon Jung
 1999 - Kara Lindaman
 1998 - Mike Gray and Michael West
 1997 - Carol McMillan
 1996 -
 1995 -
 1994 - James True
 1993 -
 1992 -
 1991 - Willamette Seminar
 1990 -
 1989 - Charles Crawford and
             Linda Gilbert