Dan Crippen serves as the executive director of the National Governors Association (NGA). As executive director, he works with governors to identify and prioritize the most pressing issues facing states and oversees the day-to-day operations of the association. Founded in 1908, NGA is the only bipartisan organization of the nation’s governors. NGA promotes visionary state leadership, shares best practices and speaks with a collective voice on national policy.

Crippen brings a wealth of experience in state and federal budgets, health care and retirement issues. Prior to his work at NGA, Crippen served as the director of the Congressional Budget Office from 1999 to 2002, supporting the Congressional budget process and providing expert analysis to guide and inform economic decision making.   
Since CBO, Crippen has worked in the private and nonprofit sectors primarily on health care – including Medicaid, health IT, and health care for elderly and complex patients.

In the early 1980s, during a time of great economic upheaval and uncertainty, Crippen served as the Chief Counsel and Economic Advisor for Senate Majority Leader Howard Baker. This position paved the way for his role as the Deputy Assistant to the President for Economic Policy and Assistant to the President for Domestic Policy under the Reagan administration, from 1987 to 1989.

Crippen is a member of the Board of Trustees for the Center for Health Care Strategies, a non-profit health policy center focusing on Medicaid; a member of the board of Father Martin’s Ashley, a drug and alcohol rehab center; and a member of the CBO Economic Advisors. He has also served as senior advisor to the chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission and as a member of the CEO Health Transformation Community, the NASA Aeronautics and Safety Advisory Panel and the Google Health Advisory Committee.

Crippen completed his undergraduate work at The University of South Dakota and earned a Ph.D. and a master's degree in public finance from The Ohio State University.