Luther Gulick (social scientist)

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.

Luther Halsey Gulick was born January 17, 1892 in Osaka, Japan. His father was congregationalist missionary Sidney Lewis Gulick (1860–1945) and his mother was Clara May (Fisher) Gulick. Luther Gulick graduated from Oberlin College in 1914 and received his Ph.D. from Columbia University in 1920.

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.

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.

Family tree

Luther Gulick shared his name with his grandfather, missionary Luther Halsey Gulick Sr. (1828–1891), and uncle physician Luther Halsey Gulick Jr. (1865–1918). His great-grandfather was an even earlier missionary to the Kingdom of Hawaii, Peter Johnson Gulick (1796–1877).

PODSCORB

Among many other accomplishments in the field of public administration, Gulick is perhaps best known for the functions of the executive represented in the acronym PODSCORB (or POSDCORB depending on the source). Each letter stands for Planning, Organizing, Directing, Staffing, Coordinating, Reporting and Budgeting.

Keynesian policies

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 considerable emphasis on free trade.

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. Evolution of the Budget in Massachusetts. Vol. 2. Macmillan, 1920.
• Gulick, Luther, and Lyndall Urwick, eds. Papers on the Science of Administration. Institute of Public Administration, Columbia University. 1937.
• Gulick, Luther Halsey. Administrative Reflections from World War II. (1948).
• Gulick, Luther Halsey. American forest policy. Duell, Sloan & Pearce, 1951.
• Gulick, Luther Halsey. The Metropolitan Problems and American Ideas. Knopf, 1966.

Articles, a selection:

• Gulick, Luther. "Notes on the Theory of Organization." Classics of organization theory 3 (1937): 87-95.
• Gulick, Luther. "Science, values and public administration." Papers on the Science of Administration (1937): 189-195.