Alice M. Rivlin, Founding Director of the Congressional Budget Office, Dies at the Age of 88

Rivlin once described herself as, ” a professional critic of wishful thinking”.

This critic of wishful thinking characteristic was an ideal trait for someone in charge of governmental purse strings; a perfect attribute for a budget official.

Georgianna Alice Mitchell began life on March 4, 1931 in Philadelphia. She spent her childhood years primarily in Bloomington, Indiana. Her father, Allan C.G. Mitchell, was a physicist who helped develop the Atomic bomb as part of the Manhattan Project. Her mother, Georgianna (Fales) Mitchell, was a national officer of The League of Women Voters.

Alice was a Havard graduate and recipient of the Brookings fellowship. Her Ph.D dissertation was on Projecting Demographic Trends.

Alice died Tuesday May 14, 2019 at her home in Washington at the age of 88.