Houston I. Flournoy

Houston Irving Flournoy (October 7 1929 – January 7 2008) was an American politician who served as a California legislator and State Controller. He later became a professor of public administration at the University of Southern California (USC).

Born in New York City, he attended Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, where he was active in the Cornell University Glee Club and the Lambda Chi Alpha fraternity. He studied under Clinton Rossiter, a Cornell faculty member who was an authority on "The Federalist". He received a Ph.D. from Princeton University in New Jersey. After graduating from Cornell in 1950, he served in the United States Air Force during the Korean War, then relocated to California where he became active in Republican Party (GOP) politics.

He was on the Pomona College faculty in the Department of Political Science from 1957-1960. He was elected to the California State Assembly and served 1961-1967, when he was elected California State Controller. He served as Controller from 1967 to 1975. In 1974 he ran for Governor of California. He defeated Ed Reinecke in the GOP primary but then lost to Jerry Brown in a heavily Democratic year.

In 1976, he was appointed professor at USC in Los Angeles. He taught at the School of Public Administration (now part of the School of Policy, Planning, and Development) until 1993. He also served the USC administration as a governmental affairs advisor until 1999. He has also served on the boards of several corporations. After retirement he resided in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida, and California until his death.

External links

* [http://www.sacbee.com/114/story/620251.html Houston Flournoy, former GOP candidate for Calif. governor, dies] - AP via Sacramanto Bee
* [http://www.latimes.com/news/obituaries/la-me-flournoy10jan10,1,5252363.story "Los Angeles Times"] - more comprehensive obituary