BIA Financial Management Officer Named

Media Contact: Lovett 202-343-7445
For Immediate Release: April 14, 1976

Joseph W. Gorrell, Deputy Director of Interior's Bureau of Outdoor Recreation (BOR), has been appointed to direct financial management programs for the Bureau of Indian Affairs, Commissioner of Indian Affairs Morris Thompson announced today.

Commissioner Thompson said, ''This is a position of critical importance so I am pleased to fill it with someone so highly qualified and competent."

Gorrell, 43, has been BOR's Deputy Director since January, 1975. He was formerly a staff assistant to Interior's Assistant Secretary for Land and Water Resources, a budget examiner with the Office of Management and Budget and a program analyst with the Department of Agriculture.

Gorrell began his government service as a forester after graduating in 1954 from Purdue University with a BS in Forestry. He later earned Masters' degrees from both the University of California at Berkeley and Yale. In 1968 he received the Doctor of Jurisprudence degree from Catholic University.

In his new position as Assistant Director (Financial Management) in the Office of Administration, Gorrell will be responsible for program planning and budget development for the Bureau. He will also have responsibility for the accounting operations and the compensation and employee data systems.

Gorrell reported for duty April 12. He succeeds John P. Sykes who has retired.