Budget chief Karl Boehmke retires May 1, after 30 years

Karl Boehmke, executive director of planning and budgeting for Washington State University, retired on May 1 after more than 30 years of service. Joan King, associate budget director, has been appointed interim budget director, President V. Lane Rawlins announced.

Boehmke has been executive director of planning and budgeting since August 1999. He joined the university’s central budget office as assistant budget director in 1986 and became director in 1989.  He came to WSU’s College of Business in 1975 where he was administrative assistant to the dean and then finance and administrative officer from 1979 to 1986.

Rawlins said he hopes to negotiate a future agreement with Boehmke by which he will resume his service to the university in a similar position as is permitted by state law.  With 30 years of full-time service at WSU, Boehmke had reached the highest level of retirement benefits he can achieve under the PERS 1 retirement system.

“Karl has been essential to our efforts to advance Washington State University and to achieve our shared strategic goals,” Rawlins said.  “Our ability to direct resources to our highest priorities requires the expertise and leadership that Karl has provided. I have the deepest respect for his contributions to WSU over the past 30 years.”

Joan King came to WSU in 2001 after serving for eight years as financial manager at Carnegie Mellon University’s Software Engineering Institute in Pittsburgh, with budget and planning responsibilities. She also held budget and planning positions for corporate staff and corporate marketing at Texas Instruments in Dallas, Texas.

“Joan has extensive experience in both corporate and university budget analysis and development, and has been our associate budget director responsible for the operating budget for the past five years.  I am confident she will provide the leadership we need during this interim period,” Rawlins said.

Boehmke earned his bachelor’s degree in economics with high honors from Michigan State University in 1967 and his master’s in economics from the University of Michigan in 1972. He began his career as an economics instructor and project director for community colleges in Michigan and Georgia.

A native of Clarkston, Wash., King earned her bachelor’s degree in computer science from the University of Idaho in 1984 and her master of business administration degree with an emphasis in management information systems from the University of Dallas in 1988.