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Sanford Sterling Munro was born in Madison, Wisconsin in 1932. Use of the first name was discontinued early and he was known as Sterling Munro throughout his adult life. He moved with his family to Bellingham, Washington in 1944, where he attended junior and senior high schools. A dinner meeting with then Washington State Congressman Henry "Scoop" Jackson in 1948 substantially encouraged Munro's ambitions to seek a career in public service. Consequently after his graduation from high school in 1949, he went to Washington, D. C. There he attended George Washington University evenings, while working days in a variety of Capitol Hill jobs, including one on Congressman Jackson's staff.

Munro's career was interrupted in 1951 when he was drafted into the Army for service during the Korean War. Discharged in Oklahoma in 1953, he headed immediately for Washington, D. C. and a position on the legislative staff of Henry Jackson, who had become a Senator in 1952. Munro completed George Washington University in 1956 with a bachelor's degree in Political Science and Journalism. In 1961 he was appointed Administrative Assistant to Senator Jackson, becoming the youngest A. A. in the Senate at the time.

Munro served Senator Jackson as his chief aide until 1975, and as his campaign director until 1976. During this period he managed the Senator's three successful re-election campaigns in 1964, 1970 and 1976. He also directed Jackson's two unsuccessful efforts to secure the Democratic Presidential nomination in 1972 and 1976. Dubbed "Washington's Silent Senator," Munro also expertly facilitated the Senator's legislative agenda, particularly those interests in natural resources, conservation, and the power industry of the northwest. He was also deeply involved in the Democratic politics of the State of Washington. Munro maintained an attentive and often supportive interest in numerous local, state legislative, gubernatorial and national races both during his employment with Senator Jackson, and later as a private citizen.

Sterling Munro retired from Senator Jackson’s staff in 1976 and moved to Wenatchee to work as a consultant. In September 1977 Munro was chosen by Chelan County Public Utility District as its arbitrator in a dispute with Puget Sound Power and Light over the size of its controversial Rock Island Dam Recreational Exhibit R. An Exhibit R is a recreational exhibit required by the Federal Power Commission in licensing a hydroelectric project. This was not required when Rock Island was initially constructed. However, when the Chelan PUD applied for a license amendment in the early 1970s to build a second powerhouse at Rock Island, the Federal Power Commission required one. The plan submitted by the PUD in 1975 was valued in excess of $16 million. Puget Sound Power and Light, which purchased power from Chelan County PUD, opposed the project. Munro had been active in the Citizens for Riverfront Development Committee which supported a full scale riverfront development. Munro was one of three arbitrators.

Late in 1977 Sterling Munro was named to head the Bonneville Power Administration, the agency which constructs, operates and markets power from federal hydroelectric projects in the Pacific Northwest. One of the first major problems Munro had to deal with as B.P.A. Administrator was the Pacific Northwest Electric Power Planning and Conservation Act, which had been introduced in Congress by the Pacific Northwest Utilities Conference Committee. The bill was a response to the energy shortfall predicted in coming years and the stalled hydro-thermal program under which the state’s new nuclear plants were being built. The bill, sponsored in the Senate by Henry M. Jackson, created a Pacific Northwest Electric Power Planning and Conservation Council made up of two representatives from each of the four northwest states. The Council was charged with developing a comprehensive regional energy plan. The measure also enabled B.P.A. to purchase the output of thermoelectrical power plants. During the legislative campaign, B.P.A.’s role in promoting the bill was controversial and was criticized by some BPA critics. The Regional Power Bill passed in late 1980. Sterling Munro resigned his BPA post February 3, 1981, after a dispute over the Reagan administration’s hiring freeze.

From 1981 until his death, he was Vice President and National Director of the Public Power Group of John Nuveen & Co., a municipal bonds firm. He died of a heart attack in Seattle on March 9, 1992.