Luther Halsey Gulick (1892–1993) was an American political scientist, Eaton Professor of Municipal Science and Administration at Columbia University, and Director of its Institute of Public Administration, known as an expert on public administration.
Gulick taught at Columbia from 1931–1942, where he was appointed Eaton Professor of Municipal Science and Administration. In 1921 he had become president of its Institute of Public Administration and served until 1962. He then became its chairman and served until 1982. From 1936–1938 he served on the three member Committee on Administrative Management (better known as the Brownlow Committee) in 1937 appointed by President Franklin D. Roosevelt to reorganize the executive branch of the federal government.
From 1954 to 1956, he served as city administrator of New York City.[1]
He died January 10, 1993, in Greensboro, Vermont. His first wife Helen Swift died in 1969. His second wife, Carol W. Moffett, died in 1989. He had two children, Luther Halsey Gulick Jr. and Clarence Gulick.[1]
Among many other accomplishments in the field of public administration, Gulick is perhaps best known for the functions of the chief executive represented in the acronym POSDCORB. Each letter stands for Planning, Organizing, Staffing, Directing, Co-ordinating, Reporting and Budgeting.[5] Although not originating from Gulick, at least one other sequence has been uncovered, yet containing the same elements.[6] Since these are among Gulick's organizational patterns, they are interrelated. According to Gulick, POSDCORB reflected the way in which his organizations approached projects. Early on, these included The Institute of Public Administration and New York's Bureau of Municipal Research.[7]
Gulick's advocacy (with Alvin Hansen) during World War II of Keynesian policies to promote full employment post-war helped to persuade John Maynard Keynes to help develop post-war plans for the international economy that included a considerable emphasis on free trade.[8]
In a time where the prevalent theme was the separation of politics and administration, Gulick advocated that it was impossible to separate the two.
Gulick, Luther Halsey. The Metropolitan Problems and American Ideas. Knopf, 1966.
Articles, a selection:
Gulick, Luther. 1937. "Notes on the Theory of Organization." In Gulick, Luther; Urwick, Lyndall. Papers on the Science of Administration. New York: Institute of Public Administration. pp. 3–45.
Gulick, Luther. 1937. "Science, values and public administration." In Gulick, Luther; Urwick, Lyndall. Papers on the Science of Administration. New York: Institute of Public Administration. pp. 189–195.
^Luther H. Gulick (1937). Notes on the Theory of Organization in Papers on the Science of Administration. Eds. Luther H. Gulick and Lyndall F. Urwick. New York: Harcourt.
^Lyle C. Fitch (1996). Making Democracy Work: The Life and Letters of Luther Halsey Gulick, 1892–1993. Berkeley: Institute of Governmental Studies Press. p. 107.
