BEP Directors

Harry Clements was born in Blackwell, Oklahoma, and was raised in both Oklahoma and Kansas.  After graduation from high school, he served in the Army for a short time and then earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in aeronautical engineering from Wichita University (now Wichita State University) in Kansas.  Clements worked in the aerospace and transportation industries in a variety of technical and managerial positions for over 20 years.  He entered government service in 1972 through a personnel exchange program, working at the Occupational Safety and Health Administration.  The next year, in 1973, Clements was appointed by President Richard Nixon as Deputy Director of the Rehabilitation Services Administration of the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare.  He then served as head of the National Industries for the Severely Handicapped for three years before joining the Bureau of Engraving and Printing as the Director.  After resigning from the BEP in 1982, Clements returned to the private sector and held various positions in the aerospace and defense industries.  He also earned a master’s degree in economics from George Mason University in Virginia.  Clements returned to Kansas in 1988 where he headed a manufacturing firm and later taught economics at Wichita State University.