Dr. Ray Scheppach retired as the executive director of the National Governors Association (NGA) in March 2011, a post he held since 1983. He is currently a professor of public policy at the Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy at the University of Virginia.

Prior to his position at NGA, Dr. Scheppach worked for seven years at the Congressional Budget Office, serving the last two years as deputy director. Previous to that, he worked for seven years in economic consulting and two years as an economist with the Standard Oil Company (Ohio).

Under his leadership, NGA became one of the most powerful lobbying groups in Washington, ranked 12th by Fortune magazine in its 1999 annual survey of the most influential trade associations, labor unions, and interest groups. As an advocate for federalism, Dr. Scheppach has testified before Congress on behalf of the nation’s governors on numerous occasions.