Department Finance Directors

Hale Champion was appointed Director of Finance by Governor Edmund G. Brown on July 1, 1961. He was born in Coldwater, Michigan, on August 27, 1922. Champion attended public schools in Michigan and later enrolled at the University of Michigan from 1940 to 1942. However, he left in 1942 to join the Army, where he served as a sergeant until the end of World War II.

After the war, Champion began his career as a reporter. He then enrolled at Stanford University, where he earned his bachelor's degree in English in 1952. In addition, he was a Nieman Fellow at Harvard University from 1956 to 1957. Champion worked as a reporter for several publications, including United Press, Milwaukee Journal, Sacramento Bee, and the San Francisco Chronicle. From 1950 to 1951, he also served as an assistant to U.S. Representative Andrew J. Biemiller of Wisconsin.

On January 5, 1959, Champion was named Press Secretary to Governor Brown. He later transitioned to the role of Executive Secretary on September 1, 1960, before being appointed Director of Finance. In 1965, during his tenure as Director, Champion and his wife were kidnapped by two inmates who had escaped from an Oregon jail. The inmates randomly entered a Sacramento home, which happened to be where Champion and his family lived.

Champion, his wife, and their daughter were forced to drive to Nevada, where at a casino, the inmates were recognized by an intoxicated patron who attempted to apprehend them by firing a gun. The shot missed but hit Champion in the thigh. The inmates then fled the scene with Champion and his family. This abduction garnered national media attention. Champion was eventually thrown from the car during their escape into Yosemite National Park, while his wife and daughter were later released unharmed, along with $600 from the suspects as hush money. Ultimately, the inmates were captured in Yosemite National Park.

After his role in Finance, Champion held numerous academic and public sector positions. At Harvard University, he first served as a Kennedy Fellow at the Institute of Politics in 1966. He then became the Vice President in charge of Financial Affairs from 1971 to 1977 and the first Executive Dean of the Kennedy School of Government starting in 1980. He continued to teach at Harvard until his retirement in 1995. Additionally, he served as the director of Boston's Redevelopment Authority from January 1968 to August 1969, the Undersecretary of Health, Education, and Welfare in President Jimmy Carter's administration from 1977 to 1979, and as the Chief of Staff for Michael Dukakis when Dukakis was the Democratic Party nominee for president in 1988. Champion also chaired the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation from 1990 to 1992.