Ron Stith was selected as the Inspector General for the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) on June 13, 2016. He leads the Office of Inspector General (OIG), with a mission to promote economy, efficiency, and effectiveness in NEA activities; and to detect and prevent waste, fraud, abuse, and mismanagement. His experience includes 20 years of executive experience in the Inspector General Community.

Prior to joining the NEA, Ron was the Assistant Inspector General for Mission Support at Amtrak and the U.S. Postal Service OIGs. He led teams delivering strategic planning, human resource and performance management, procurement, logistics, real estate, and up to $245 million in budget and finance services supporting up to 1200 employees. As the Deputy Assistant Inspector General for Audit at the Postal Service OIG, Ron led a team that helped the agency identify cost savings and improvements in telecommunications, transportation, inventory, and real estate operations. Ron leadership also resulted in the Postal Service revamping its performance management system to focus more directly on the agency mission and goals and ensure that employees’ performance was appropriately rewarded.

As the Deputy Assistant Inspector General for Audit at the Department of the Interior OIG, Ron led a team of auditors that helped the agency increase oil and gas revenue from federal lands. During a 9-month detail as the Assistant Inspector General for Audit at the District of Columbia OIG, Ron helped to reinvigorate the OIG and led a team of auditors that helped identify and recover $16 million in Medicaid overpayments. As the Director of Program Inspections at the Department of Energy OIG, Ron led teams in evaluating the Department’s defense and medical research national laboratories. These evaluations resulted in over $30 million of reduced annual contract costs, and increased contractual controls over the laboratories. For his efforts, Ron received the Department’s Exceptional Service Award for Leadership from the Inspector General.

Ron earned a Bachelor of Business Administration degree in Accounting and a Master of Business Administration degree in Finance from James Madison University. He is also a certified public accountant; and a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants and Virginia Society of Certified Public Accountants.