Alair Townsend was the first woman to hold the position as New York City’s Budget Director (1982-1985), before becoming Deputy Mayor for Finance and Economic Development (1985-1989) under Mayor Ed Koch. Before her NYC positions, she served in Washington, DC as Associate Director of the Budget Committee of the House of Representatives, Assistant Secretary for Management and Budget of the U.S. DHHS, and Staff Director of the Subcommittee on Fiscal Policy of the Joint Economic Committee of Congress where she worked on its influential Studies in Public Welfare. She received AABPA’s Blum Award for her work at OMB (1982). After her public service positions, she was Vice President and Publisher of Crain’s New York Business for 18 years, vice-chairman of the financial control board for Buffalo, on the board of TIAA-CREF, and a former governor of the American Stock Exchange. Ms. Townsend is a Phi Beta Kappa sociology graduate of Elmire College and holds a master’s degree in sociology from the University of Wisconsin (1964).