In his lifetime, Flournoy had a long history of service with California’s state government and USC. He made a name for himself by serving as a member of the California State Assembly for two three-year terms and as California State Controller in the 1960s and early 1970s.

“He was a fine statesman and a scholar dedicated to public service,” said Jack H. Knott, the C. Erwin and Ione L. Piper Dean and Professor at SPPD.

After running as a candidate for California governor in 1974 and losing to Democrat Jerry Brown, Flournoy returned to his first love: teaching. For nearly two decades, he served as a professor in Los Angeles and Sacramento at USC’s School of Public Administration, which is now part of SPPD.

“Teaching undergraduates about the opportunities and pitfalls of getting things done in the State of California was the most enjoyable thing Flournoy felt he had done in his career,” said Robert Biller, professor emeritus and former dean of SPPD.

Flournoy’s involvement with the university continued with his appointment to the positions of vice president for government relations and special assistant to the president. In 2007, Flournoy made a $500,000 gift to the USC State Capital Center in Sacramento to provide seed funding for an endowed professorship in state government. It is the largest gift a tenured member of SPPD’s faculty has ever made to the school.

Born in New York, Flournoy earned his undergraduate degree from Cornell University and his Ph.D. in political science from Princeton in 1956. He then served in the Air Force during the Korean War as an intelligence officer.

Flournoy first entered politics as a researcher for the New Jersey legislature and an aide to U.S. Sen. H. Alexander Smith of New Jersey. He relocated to the West Coast in 1957 to teach and eventually earn tenure at Pomona College. After retiring in 1999, he divided his time between homes in Florida and California’s Sonoma County coast.

He is survived by a son, two daughters, two grandchildren and a sister-in-law.