![[photograph of Comptroller Swann]](/msa/mdmanual/08conoff/former/images/msa11488.jpg)
ROBERT L. SWANN
Comptroller of the Treasury (Democrat), 1998-99
Comptroller of the Treasury from July 9, 1998 to January 25, 1999. Appointed by Governor to replace Louis L. Goldstein, who died July 3, 1998.
Investigator, Alcohol and Tobacco Tax Division, Office of Comptroller of the Treasury, 1961-63. Auditor, Retail Sales Tax Division, Office of Comptroller of the Treasury, 1963-66. Assistant to Comptroller of the Treasury, 1966-74. Assistant Comptroller of the Treasury, 1974-94. Deputy Comptroller of the Treasury, 1994-98.
Comptroller of the Treasury, 1998-99. Member, Board of Public Works, 1998-99; Board of Revenue Estimates, 1998-99; Capital Debt Affordability Committee, 1998-99; Maryland Industrial Financing Authority, 1998-99; Maryland Food Center Authority, 1998-99; Maryland Agricultural Land Preservation Foundation, 1998-99; Board of State Canvassers, 1998-99; Hall of Records Commission, 1998-99; Maryland Higher Education Investment Program Board, 1998-99; State Use Industries Advisory Committee, 1998-99; Maryland State Employees Surety Bond Committee, 1998-99; Board of Trustees for State Retirement and Pension Systems, 1998-99; State Information Technology Board, 1998-99.
Member, Governor's Task Force on State Procurement Regulations, 1980; Executive Task Force to Study the Agricultural Land Preservation Foundation, 1991; Governor's Task Force on School Construction, 1992. Member, Fire and Rescue Commission, Calvert County, 1992-96. Board of Directors, Jefferson Patterson Historical Park and Museum.
Born near Lower Marlboro, Calvert County, Maryland, December 4, 1935. Attended Calvert County public schools. Served in Maryland National Guard, 1953-61. Member, Prince Frederick Volunteer Fire Department, 1954-72; Standards Committee, Maryland State Firemen's Association, 1962-65. Calvert County Chair, March of Dimes, 1967-70. President, Calvert County Fire and Rescue Association, 1968. Married; one daughter; one granddaughter.
A Calvert County native and 37-year veteran of the Comptroller's Office, Mr. Swann served in several capacities in the agency before becoming Maryland State Comptroller.
He first joined the Comptroller's Office on May 10, 1961, as an investigator with the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax Division. In 1963, he became an auditor in the Retail Sales Tax Division and was promoted as an assistant to Comptroller Goldstein in 1966.
Mr. Swann was appointed Assistant State Comptroller in 1974. In that capacity, he managed the Comptroller's staff, served as the Comptroller's principal staff member for Board of Public Works issues and acted as the Comptroller's liaison to the General Assembly.
After a comprehensive reorganization of the agency in 1994, Mr. Swann was appointed by Comptroller Goldstein as one of two deputy comptrollers. As deputy comptroller, Mr. Swann oversaw the data processing, general accounting, payroll and budget functions of the agency.
Mr. Swann's expertise in State government has been widely recognized over the years. Governor William Donald Schaefer appointed him to the Executive Task Force to Study the Agricultural Land Preservation Foundation in 1991, and the Governor's Task Force on School Construction in 1992. In 1980, Governor Harry R. Hughes appointed Mr. Swann to the Governor's Task Force on State Procurement Regulations, and the State Use Industries Advisory Committee.
In addition to those appointments, Mr. Swann also represented the Comptroller on the Maryland Agricultural Land Preservation Foundation, and the Maryland Food Center Authority. Mr. Swann also served as president and member of the Board of Directors for the Jefferson Patterson Historical Park and Museum, and as a member of the Technical Planning Committee.
He was the first president of the Calvert County Fire and Rescue Association in 1968, as well as a member of the Calvert County Fire and Rescue Commission, 1992-96, and the Prince Frederick Volunteer Fire Department, 1954-72. In addition, he served on the Standards Committee of the Maryland State Firemen's Association from 1962 to 1965.
He was awarded the Jaycees Outstanding Young Man Award in Calvert County in 1968, and served as the Calvert County Chair of the March of Dimes, 1967-70.
Mr. Swann was born near Lower Marlboro, Calvert County, Maryland, on December 4, 1935. Educated in Calvert County public schools, he worked in the food distribution industry prior to his public service career. From 1953 to 1961, he served in the Maryland National Guard, and is a member of the 29th Division Association (Post 88).
An avid boater and hunter, Mr. Swann has been a member of the Calvert County Sportsmen's Club since 1953, serving as president and as a member of the board of directors. He also is Vice-Commodore of the Solomons Island Yacht Club, having been a member since 1968 and on the board of directors from 1992 to 1997. He is a member of St. Paul's Episcopal Church in Port Republic.
He is married to the former Dorothy DeBoy and resides in St. Leonard Shores, Maryland. They have one daughter, Michelle, and a granddaughter, Crystal.
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