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40 Women of Historical Significance in Montgomery County

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Lucille Maurer


Lucille Maurer
(1922-1996)
 

First woman elected to the position of Treasurer for the State of Maryland

First woman to serve on Maryland's highest administrative council, the Board of Public Works

Lucille Maurer was born in New York City and grew up in Rockland County, New York. She attended the Women's College of the University of North Carolina and graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill with a Bachelor of Arts in Economics. She worked as an economist for the U.S. Tariff Commission. She later attended Yale University where she obtained a Master of Arts in General Studies in 1945. In 1984, she was awarded an honorary Doctor of Humanities from Hood College, and in 1990, was awarded a Doctor of Humane Letters by the University of Maryland’s University College. 

A resident of Montgomery County since 1950, Maurer was active in the local PTA and the League of Women Voters. Maurer was twice elected to the Montgomery County Board of Education between 1960 and 1968. As a member of the Board of Education at a time when Montgomery County was still struggling to implement desegregation, she was determined to ensure that the Board was committed to full integration and equal services to all county residents. During this time, Maurer also served as a Trustee of Montgomery College. In 1967, she was elected to the Maryland Constitutional Convention, serving on its Executive Branch Committee. She was delegate to several Democratic Party National Conventions.

Maurer served in the House of Delegates from 1969 to 1987. She was a member of the Ways and Means Committee for sixteen years and chaired the Joint Committee on Federal Relations for four years. She was also vice chair of the Maryland State Pension and Retirement Systems. In the legislature, she became known for her experience in developing funding formulas for public schools and for her leadership in fiscal affairs. She was also an integral part in the passing of many significant bills, including those supporting tax benefits for the elderly, stricter child sexual abuse laws, and special education for handicapped children. During her legislative career, Maurer was active in the Nation Conference of State Legislatures, chairing the Education Committee from 1979-1980, and the Tax and Trade Committee from 1985-1986. She served on the Intergovernmental Advisory Council of the U.S. Department of Education as a Presidential appointee of President Carter from 1980 to 1982. 

In 1987, Maurer was elected as the first woman State Treasurer for Maryland. As Treasurer, she also was a member of the Board of Public Works, the first woman to serve on Maryland's highest administrative council. Maurer was re-elected for this position in 1991 and 1995. She retired in 1996 for health reasons.

Maurer was very active in several national professional and community organizations. She was an active member of the National Association of State Treasurers, serving as its President in 1993, and of the Executive Committee of the National Association of State Auditors, Comptrollers, and Treasurers, serving on its State/Federal Cash Management Reform Task Force. She held a number of offices and leadership roles in the Women Executives in State Government and was involved in the League of Women Voters. Maurer was also a board member of the James MacGregor Burns Academy of Leadership at the University of Maryland College Park. The Lucille Maurer Leadership Library was founded there in her memory.

During her career, Maurer received many honors and awards. She was honored by the Maryland Association of Boards of Education, Montgomery County Board of Education, Maryland Association of Counties, Maryland Association for Retarded Children and by chapters of the Business and Professional Women, National Organization for Women, and the American Association of University Women. In 1988, she was awarded the prestigious Louis B. Brandeis Justice in Government Award by the American Jewish Congress. In 1989, she received the Judge Sarah T. Hughes Award for Distinguished Public Service from Goucher College, and the William G. Baker, Jr. Memorial Fund Award from the University of Baltimore's William Donald Schaefer Center for Public Policy. In 1994, Maurer received the prestigious Jesse Unrah Award from the National Association of State Treasurers, and the Energy Warrior of the Year Award from the Maryland Energy Administration. In March of 1990, she was inducted into the Maryland Women's Hall of Fame. In 1996 she was a recipient of the Second Annual Thomas Kennedy Award. The award is given each year to a member of the Speaker's Society of the Maryland House of Delegates in recognition of his or her outstanding contribution to the democratic process and to extending the ground of public confidence in government of the people, by the people, and for the people. The Speaker's Society of the Maryland House of Delegates is composed of all past and present members of the House of Delegates.

Among many other publications, Maurer was listed in Who's Who in America, Who's Who in American Politics, Who's Who of American Women, Foremost Women of the Twentieth Century, and Community Leaders and Noteworthy Americans.

Maurer lived in Silver Spring, was married and had three children. She died in 1996 of a brain tumor.

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