William Gorham

Gorham was a researcher at the RAND Corporation from 1953 to 1962,[1] working on issues including manpower planning.

Because compensation and training costs are significant issues for the military, Robert McNamara, John F. Kennedy’s Secretary of Defense, hired Gorham in 1962 as Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Manpower.

In 1965, after President Johnson declared a War on Poverty, Gorham moved to the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare as Assistant Secretary for Program Coordination until 1968.

[2] In 1968, he was among a group of economists hand-selected by President Lyndon B. Johnson to launch a new, independent research organization to evaluate the Great Society social programs, a mandate that led to the formation of a nonpartisan nonprofit, the Urban Institute.

Gorham had five daughters from his first marriage to Kathryn Aring Morton (died 1980), including Sarah Gorham, a writer and publisher of Sarabande Books; Nancy Haiman, a retired senior vice president and publisher at Kaufman Hall; Kim Umbarger, a retired special education teacher; Jennifer Ackerman, a science writer; and Beckie Gorham, who predeceased him.