Michael Masch, Penn’s former executive director of budget management analysis and later a lecturer in the Fels Institute of Government, died on February 7. He was 70.

Mr. Masch grew up in southwest Philadelphia. He was adopted as a child and later graduated from Central High School in 1968. Mr. Masch attended Temple University for four years, majoring in urban studies, but dropped out shortly before graduating. In the 1960s and 1970s, he was heavily involved in anti-war civil disobedience, burning his draft card. After leaving Temple, he wrote for counterculture newspapers like The Jewish Exponent and The Drummer.

Mr. Masch then entered public life, getting a job on the technical staff oh Philadelphia’s City Council. He served from 1983 to 1991 as director of economic analysis for the Philadelphia City Council. In 1992, he joined Philadelphia Mayor Ed Rendell’s administration as the City of Philadelphia’s director of the office of budget and program evaluation. Mr. Rendell referred to Mr. Masch as “the unsung hero of this administration,” citing his institution of new forms of reporting for city managers and his advocacy for innovative ways to cut $750 million from the city’s costs during Mr. Rendell’s first term.

In 1996, Mr. Masch came to Penn as Executive Director of the University’s newly-renamed Office of Budget and Management Analysis (Almanac April 16, 1996). He served until 2003, when former mayor Ed Rendell, then serving as the Governor of Pennsylvania, recruited Mr. Masch to become his Secretary of the Budget (Almanac January 14, 2003). He also served as Mr. Rendell’s Secretary of Administration.

“During his six years at Penn, Mike has played a major role in enhancing our University’s financial structure, one of the key goals of our Agenda for Excellence strategic plan,” said Penn President Judith Rodin upon Mr. Masch’s departure. “Under Mike’s watch, we have developed comprehensive long-term planning processes that integrate policies and budgets for both academic and administrative units. We have also instituted new procedures for financial review and approval of capital projects. In short, Mike has set in motion a program of fiscal management and governance that positions us well for the future.”

Mr. Masch served for Mr. Rendell until 2008, eliminating state debts, producing surpluses, and increasing funding for school districts. “Elected officials get the glory and the blame, but I don’t know a more impactful public servant for the city, the state and the school district than Mike Masch,” Mr. Rendell told The Philadelphia Inquirer. “He served them all very well, and he squeezed every dime for the taxpayer.” During this era, Mr. Masch also lectured at Penn’s Fels Institute of Government from 2004 to 2006. After leaving Mr. Rendell’s administration, Mr. Masch served as the chief financial officer of the School District of Philadelphia (of whose board he had been a member since 2000) until 2012. He helped bring the school district out of the 2008 economic recession, but also incurred criticism for “Masch-O-Matics.”

In 2012, Mr. Masch served as a senior fellow at the Pennsylvania Budget and Policy Center. Then, until 2015, he was the vice president for finance and chief financial officer at Manhattan College. That year, he moved to Howard University, where he served as senior vice president, chief financial officer, and treasurer.

Mr. Masch is survived by his wife, Rachel Falkove; his children, Solomon (Isabel) and Ezra (Annmarie); and his grandchildren, Avinoam and Shaiah. A service was held on February 14. Donations in Mr. Masch’s memory may be made to the Philadelphia Interfaith Hospitality Network, 7047 Germantown Ave., Philadelphia, PA, 19119.

---

To Report A Death

Almanac appreciates being informed of the deaths of current and former faculty and staff members, students and other members of the University community. Email almanac@upenn.edu.