KSG’s Burke Resigns From Smithsonian
by Nik Steinberg on September 19, 2007 in News
Sheila Burke, an adjunct lecturer at KSG, will step down at the end of September as Deputy Secretary and Chief Operating Officer of the Smithsonian Institution, nearly three months after submitting her resignation amidst accusations of conflict of interest and chronic absences.
Burke submitted her resignation on June 17, the day before an independent investigation into the tenure of her boss, former Smithsonian Secretary Lawrence Small, found that she had been absent for 400 business days during her seven years, or roughly one-quarter of her time. The Independent Review Committee (IRC) report, which was commissioned by the Smithsonian’s Board of Regents, also concluded that Burke’s service on the board of an insurance company contracted by the Smithsonian constituted an “obvious conflict of interest.”
Congressman Robert Brady (D-PA), Chairman of the House Administration Committee, called on the Board of Regents to demand Burke’s immediate resignation after the report’s release, but she has continued to act as Deputy Secretary.
“Neither the Regents nor the Secretary asked that I stepped down,” Burke told the Citizen. “They expected me to continue to do my job, and that’s exactly what I’ve done.”
Small and Burke were hired in 2000 to fill the top two positions at the Smithsonian, a public institution that includes 19 museums and galleries and receives 70 percent of its funding from the federal government. Controversy arose in 2006 when the high wages of top Smithsonian officials drew criticism from members of the House Appropriations Committee. That year, Small earned $884,733 and Burke $400,000.
Small, who was the highest-ranking official at the Smithsonian and Burke’s sole superior, resigned in March after an inspector general’s report revealed extravagant spending and improper accounting practices, such as spending $160,000 to redecorate his offices.
On April 11, the Washington Post reported that both Small and Burke had served on the board of the Chubb Group, an insurance company under contract with the Smithsonian. In 2006, Burke earned an estimated $169,675 in cash and stocks from Chubb, as well as options to purchase 56,000 shares. The Smithsonian’s contract with Chubb, worth more than $500,000 per year, was renewed in 2001 during Small and Burke’s tenure.
Burke told the Citizen her service on the Chubb board was approved when she accepted the post of Deputy Secretary and that she disclosed her outside work and income in annual financial reports to the Smithsonian.
“I played no role in the Smithsonian’s decision to purchase insurance from Chubb at any time during my tenure,” Burke said.
But the IRC report found that the compensation Burke received for outside activities such as the Chubb Board, in addition to the days missed, prevented her from fulfilling her duties to the Smithsonian. From 2000 to 2006, Burke earned $1.2 million in cash, $3.5 million in stocks and $5.6 million in stock options for her service on outside boards, the report said.
“If one’s income from outside sources far exceeds the income from his or her main employment, it is difficult to believe that the primary employer is getting the full attention it deserves,” the IRC concluded.
Burke said the report’s calculation of her days missed was inaccurate because it did not include work after hours, on weekends or on vacation. “At no time throughout my tenure at the Smithsonian have I ever felt that not being physically in the office on a particular day diminished my ability to conduct the business of the Institution,” she told the Citizen.
The IRC report noted that those interviewed within the Smithsonian recognized Burke’s “strong work ethic” and her availability when away from the office. The real question, Burke said, is not the number of days missed, but, “Did I do a good job? And the answer in every case is yes,” she said.
Pablo Eisenberg, a Senior Fellow at the Georgetown Public Policy Institute, called that argument “nonsense,” and argued that Burke’s outside work constituted a clear conflict of interest. “She was effectively the internal manager of the whole Smithsonian – you can’t do that working part-time,” Eisenberg said.
Congressman Brady said the Smithsonian’s Board of Regents had asked her to stay on out of fear that her departure shortly after Small’s would be “too disruptive.”
“I also was informed that Ms. Burke would not attend any further outside corporate board meetings, and she has not,” Brady said in a written statement sent to the Citizen.
However, Burke said she continues to serve on the board of Chubb and other groups, and that the Board of Regents had never asked her to stop her outside work.
In the wake of the IRC report, the Smithsonian adopted a policy that “senior executives should not be permitted to serve on the board of a for-profit company,” but the policy does not take effect until after Burke’s departure.
Burke graduated from KSG’s MPA program in 1982, and went on to serve as the chief of staff to former Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole from 1985 to 1996. She returned here in 1996 as the Executive Dean – the school’s senior administrative officer – a position she held for four years while commuting daily from Washington, D.C. to Cambridge.
Throughout her tenure at the Smithsonian, Burke has continued to serve as an adjunct lecturer at the Kennedy School, a job that the IRC said accounted for approximately 95 of her 400 days out of office, and for which she receives no pay.
Asked whether Burke’s resignation would affect her relationship with KSG, Senior Dean and Director of Degree Programs Joseph McCarthy said, “I really don’t know the events that led to her resignation, and I am glad that she is continuing to teach the Spring Exercise.” Burke is scheduled to run the academic exercise in Spring 2008 for her 11th straight year.
Written by Nik Steinberg · Filed Under News
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