Bob Lavigna: Finding His Purpose in Public Service

Bob Lavigna’s passion for public service traces back to his childhood, taking in a pivotal moment in American politics.

“My interest in government and public service began early. I still remember staying up late as a young boy, listening to the returns from the 1960 presidential election between John F. Kennedy and Richard M. Nixon,” recalls Lavigna, who retired from full-time work in November 2025 after a 51-plus year career as a public servant.

That experience, along with a ninth-grade class trip to the nation’s capital of Washington, D.C., “sparked a fascination that never left me,” says Lavigna.

That fascination ultimately led him to George Washington University in D.C., where he majored in public affairs.

After earning his undergraduate degree in 1974 , Lavigna went to work as an evaluator with the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO), then known as the General Accounting Office. He spent six years in that role before moving into HR as a recruiting director and later HR director for the GAO’s Washington Regional Office, the agency’s largest field office at that time.

He quickly realized “something fundamental” upon taking on his GAO HR role in 1980.

“Government’s ability to serve the public depends almost entirely on having the right people in the right places at the right times,” he says. “HR wasn’t just a function. It was a mission. I knew I had found my purpose.”

The GAO sent Lavigna to Cornell in 1987, where he earned a master’s degree in human resources. His time at Cornell helped shape the remainder of his career.

“Attending this premier institution for HR and workforce studies deepened my understanding of how organizations attract, engage and retain talent, especially in the public sector, where the work is both uniquely challenging and uniquely important.”

Lavigna spent more than 50 years in federal, state and local government, as well as public higher education, focusing on helping public institutions find and develop the type of talent needed to serve the public.

“I believe the public sector is the most essential sector of our economy,” says Lavigna, who also served as an adjunct associate professor and assistant vice chancellor/director of human resources at the University of Wisconsin from September 2010 to July 2016.

“[It’s] the only sector that touches every person in our nation, every day.”

Lavigna joined PSHRA as a member more than 30 years ago, and quickly discovered “a professional home” in an organization that understood the unique challenges of public sector HR.

“Through my local, regional and national involvement, I found colleagues who understand the work, the mission and the complexity of public service. It was—and remains—a uniquely invaluable professional community,” says Lavigna, the recipient of a PSHRA Honorary Life Membership, winner of PSHRA’s Warner W. Stockberger Achievement Award and a former regional and national PSHRA president.

“Our organization is a community of practitioners grounded in research, committed to solving real problems and generous in sharing solutions.”

PSHRA membership “has also provided me with leadership and growth opportunities that shaped my career,” says Lavigna, who continues to speak, write and consult on how government can attract, develop, engage and retain talent.

“I deeply value PSHRA’s commitment to diversity and inclusiveness. At a time when these principles are increasingly challenged, our organization continues to model and champion them. I greatly admire and value our commitment to this important value,” he adds.

“My PSHRA leadership also enabled me to travel internationally and interact with other public sector HR leaders around the globe. These unique opportunities have greatly enriched my life professionally and personally.”