Labor Department Names Clisham to Head Regional Pension and Health Benefits Office

Archived News Release — Caution: Information may be out of date.

San Francisco, California - Francis Clisham has been named regional director of the San Francisco Office of the Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA), the U.S. Department of Labor announced today.

A native of St. Louis, Missouri, Clisham will manage a staff of sixty-five investigators, benefit advisors and support staff personnel, including twenty-five in EBSA’s Seattle District Office. EBSA enforces the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA), the federal pension law that sets minimum standards for private-sector pension and health plans and protects the benefits of workers in these plans.

A career civil servant since 1962, Clisham began his federal service with the Central Intelligence Agency in Washington, D.C. He later joined the Civil Service Commission in St. Louis as an investigator where he was detailed on numerous occasions to the Department of Justice in conjunction with the Voter Rights Act at polling sites in Mississippi and Alabama.

In 1970, he joined the Labor Department as an investigator and served on the Department of Justice’s Organized Crime Strike Force in St. Louis. Shortly after passage of ERISA in 1974, he was named district supervisor for the St. Louis EBSA Office and in 1991, he was selected to be the first criminal program manager for the agency in Washington, D.C.

Clisham served in this capacity until 2000 when he was appointed regional director in the New York EBSA Office. While regional director in New York, he oversaw the rebuilding of the New York Office following its destruction in the terrorist attach of September 11, 2001.

A graduate of St. Louis University with an undergraduate degree in political science, Clisham attended the Georgetown University Graduate School where he majored in government.

Among his numerous awards are the department’s Distinguished Career Service Award (1983); the Elliot Daniel Manager of the Year Award (1990); and the Attorney General’s Special Initiative Award for his contributions in pursuing pension and health plan fraud (1997).

Clisham is married and has four children and five grandchildren.

Note to editors: Clisham can be reached at 415-975-4600.

U.S. Department of Labor news releases are accessible on the Internet. The information in this news release will be made available in alternate format upon request (large print, Braille, audio tape or disc) from the Central Office for Assistive Services and Technology. Please specify which news release when placing your request. Call 202.693.7765 or TTY 202.693.7755.

Archived News Release — Caution: Information may be out of date.