Anita F. Alpern (February 18, 1920 in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

– October 31, 2006 in

Silver Spring, Maryland Silver Spring is a census-designated place (CDP) in southeastern Montgomery County, Maryland, United States, near Washington, D.C. Although officially Unincorporated area, unincorporated, it is an edge city with a population of 81,015 at the 2020 ...

) was an assistant commissioner of the

Internal Revenue Service The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is the revenue service for the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government, which is responsible for collecting Taxation in the United States, U.S. federal taxes and administerin ...

. 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 A university () is an institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly means "community of teachers and scholars". Uni ...

and did graduate work in public administration at

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

before moving to

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

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

Department of Labor A ministry of labour (''British English, UK''), or labor (''American English, US''), also known as a department of labour, or labor, is a government department responsible for setting labour standards, labour dispute mechanisms, employment, workfor ...

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

Defense Department A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is the part of a government responsible for matters of defence and military forces, found in states where the government is divided ...

, 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 The American University (AU or American) is a Private university, private University charter#Federal, federally chartered research university in Washington, D.C., United States. Its main campus spans 90-acres (36 ha) on Ward Circle, in the Spri ...

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''. {{DEFAULTSORT:Alpern, Anita 1920 births 2006 deaths American University faculty Internal Revenue Service people University of Wisconsin–Madison alumni School of International and Public Affairs, Columbia University alumni