Anita F. Alpern was an assistant commissioner of the Internal Revenue Service

Internal Revenue Service

The Internal Revenue Service is the revenue service of the United States federal government. The agency is a bureau of the Department of the Treasury, and is under the immediate direction of the Commissioner of Internal Revenue...

. At the time of her retirement in the late 1970s, she was the highest ranking woman in the federal career service.

Alpern received her degree at the University of Wisconsin–Madison

University of Wisconsin–Madison

The University of Wisconsin–Madison is a public research university located in Madison, Wisconsin, United States. Founded in 1848, UW–Madison is the flagship campus of the University of Wisconsin System. It became a land-grant institution in 1866...

 and did graduate work in public administration at Columbia University

Columbia University

Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...

 before moving to Washington, D.C.

Washington, D.C.

Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....

 during World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

. She entered the federal workforce as a labor market economist in the Department of Labor

United States Department of Labor

The United States Department of Labor is a Cabinet department of the United States government responsible for occupational safety, wage and hour standards, unemployment insurance benefits, re-employment services, and some economic statistics. Many U.S. states also have such departments. The...

. Later she held a position as a systems research and management analyst at the Defense Department

United States Department of Defense

The United States Department of Defense is the U.S...

, before moving on to the IRS in the Treasury Department in 1960.

At the IRS, Alpern was one of the first eight women to be appointed to a GS-18 level and the first woman appointed an assistant commissioner in the Treasury Department. She was one of six in 1975 to receive the Federal Woman's Award, and in 1985, she was the first woman to receive the President's Award from the Washington chapter of the American Society for Public Administration.

After she retired from federal service, Alpern became a professor at American University

American University

American University is a private, Methodist, liberal arts, and research university in Washington, D.C. The university was chartered by an Act of Congress on December 5, 1892 as "The American University", which was approved by President Benjamin Harrison on February 24, 1893...

where she supervised the School of Public Affairs' internship program. She was credited with the school's success in placing an exceptional number of graduates in the Presidential Management Fellows Program.

External links/references

• Obituary, November 6, 2006, Washington Post.