La Follette Notes
Spring 2012 / www.lafollette.wisc.edu
News for Alumni & Friends of The Robert M. La Follette School of Public Affairs at the University of Wisconsin–Madison
Federal agency honors alum for gender equity work in foreign aid
A
lum Andria Hayes-Birchler’s employer
has recognized her efforts to weave
gender equity into decisions about whether
the United States should give a country development aid. She and her supervisor won
the Millennium Challenge Corporation’s
Gender Integration Award in December.
“From my perspective, the work we did
on strengthening the role of gender in the
selection system was part of a much bigger,
comprehensive review,” Hayes-Birchler says,
“so I was very surprised when my e-mail
box was flooded with congratulations.”
The award partly stems from a La
Follette School workshop report HayesBirchler coordinated for the MCC, a federal agency that directs foreign assistance
to countries that have good governance,
specifically related to ruling justly, investing
in people and encouraging economic freedom. MCC is the only foreign aid donor
that selects countries for assistance based
on policy performance on a set of transparent, third-party indicators.
As part of a comprehensive review of
the system for selecting countries to aid,
Hayes-Birchler and her team sought ways
to strengthen the role gender equity plays.
“In the spring of 2011, a team of La Follette students supported our efforts by
drafting a capstone workshop report on
the relationship between gender equity and
See Hayes-Birchler on page 3
Students gain insight
from alumni, friends
A
lumni and friends of the La Follette
School have been seeing a lot of our
students lately. Eighteen alumni and guests
attended a reception in Chicago with
myself, six students and three school staff
members. Our new career development
coordinator, Kate Battiato, a 2007 alum,
rounded out the group
that gathered for hors
d’oeuvres and drinks
at the downtown offices of the Congress for
the New Urbanism, of
which 1988 alum John
Norquist is president.
We appreciate John’s
generous offer of the
space. Our students
From the Director enjoyed talking with
Tom DeLeire
alumni about their
work and career paths.
This year I’ve been impressed by how
proactive our students have been in creating and taking advantage of career networking opportunities.
In Madison, students initiated visits
to the Legislative Audit Bureau and the
Wisconsin Department of Children and
Families. There they learned about the state
hiring process, expected job openings and
how La Follette School alumni and friends
apply their public affairs skills. A trip to
See From the Director on page 8
2005 La Follette School photo by Bob Rashid
Witte to retire in June
Political scientist John Witte will retire in June from the University of Wisconsin–Madison and head for
Kazakhstan to become dean of the new School for Humanities and Social Science at Nazarbayev University. See article, page 4.
Battiato leads career development office
F
or La Follette School alum Kate Battiato, a career is about relationships.
Her internships led to paid positions that
connected her with mentors and colleagues
she met again when she went to work for
the Legislature.
Now Battiato is bringing those relationships back to the La Follette School as its
new career development coordinator.
Battiato returns to La Follette with a
wide breadth of professional experience
in the non-profit, government and private
sectors, most recently serving as a corporate
recruiter for the Madison-based software
company Epic.
See Battiato on page 6
2 / La Follette Notes
Thorson’s service to
community recognized
1997 alum Kristi Thorson,
director of external relations
for the University of Wisconsin–Madison’s School
of Veterinary Medicine, was
awarded the Athena Young
Professional Award.
This
award
is given
to an
emerging
leader,
age 25 to
40, who
Kristi Thorson
serves
as a role model for young
women personally and
professionally and provides
valuable service to improve
the quality of life for others in
the community. The Business Forum, a Madison-area
group of women professionals, gives the award as part
of an Athena International
program.
Thorson has more than
10 years of experience
in communications and
policymaking. Prior to joining
the School of Veterinary Medicine, she served as assistant
director of state relations in
the chancellor’s office.
Thorson serves on the board
of directors for the McFarland
Youth Center, the Madison
Area Down Syndrome
Society and has participated
in the Wisconsin Women
Leadership Symposium.
www.lafollette.wisc.edu
Spring 2012
Family, friends mourn 2000 alum Darin Renner
F
uneral services for alum Darin
thorough, balanced and unbiased.”
Renner, age 40, were November 6.
Renner was born September 22,
He died unexpectedly November 1 at
1971, in Friendship, Wisconsin, to
Meriter Hospital in Madison, WisconDavid Arthur and Dorothy Jean (Blesin.
sener) Renner. He graduated from
Renner graduated from the La FolAdams-Friendship High School in
lette School of Public Affairs in 2000
1990 and summa cum laude from the
with a master of public affairs degree.
University of Wisconsin–Green Bay
“Darin was one of those students I
in 1994. He and Karin Boeck married
hold dear to my heart,” says Bonnie
on September 30, 2007, in Madison,
Cleary, former student services coordiWisconsin. A son, Calvin, was born in
nator. “He was in the last class before
September 2008. Renner was a loving
my retirement from La Follette.”
father and husband.
Darin Renner
“Darin Renner is a perfect example
Renner put family first, especially
of a student who came to La Follette
Calvin, who was the joy of his life. He
from a Wisconsin small town—in this case Adamsalways looked out for other people and tried to
Friendship—excelled as a student and went on to
help people whenever he could. He enjoyed maka very promising career as a public servant,” says
ing things and woodworking. Renner was patient
professor John Witte. “Darin’s death is a tragedy,
and smart, a trivia wiz, even winning a few radio
and he will be missed by all who had the privilege
quiz contests. He enjoyed spending time with his
of knowing him.”
family and friends, playing sports and taking freAfter Renner graduated from La Follette, he
quent trips up north to fish. He enjoyed hunting
joined the Wisconsin Legislative Fiscal Bureau and
with his father and was an excellent cook. He was
was a member until his death. He was assigned to
a supporter of Big Brothers and Big Sisters.
the bureau’s General Government and Justice team
On March 6 with many members of Renner’s
and analyzed the budgets and programs of numerfamily in attendance, the Wisconsin Assembly and
ous state agencies.
Senate adopted 2011 Assembly Joint Resolution
“Darin was a skilled analyst, trusted colleague
105 honoring his life and public service.
and friend of many,” says LFB director Bob Lang.
“Darin was proud of his Wisconsin heritage,
“He earned the respect of all members and staff of
proud of his family, proud of his education, and
the Wisconsin Legislature who came to know him
proud of being a part of the Legislature and state
and recognize his work as consistently accurate,
government,” Lang says. w
Bittner seeks ways to ease transportation
M
oving people and goods efficiently is a priority for 2000 alum Jason Bittner, the new
director of the Center for Urban Transportation
Research at the University of South Florida.
“Ensuring a good return on the public investment is important to me; ensuring adequate mobility options for all people is critical for my transportation research,” says Bittner, former deputy
director of the National Center for Freight and Infrastructure Research and Education at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. “Optimal movement
of people and goods is the goal.”
Bittner held progressively responsible positions
during his 12 years at CFIRE, including service
as acting director. Transportation research saw
tremendous growth during Bittner’s tenure. He
managed large-scale, regional and national transportation initiatives, analyzed trends in intermodal freight transportation and built partnerships.
Bittner generated more than $1.2 million in re-
search funding from 2009-11. Bittner also worked
with La Follette School students as CFIRE project
assistants and urged them to apply for the Eno
Center for Transportation fellowship.
He co-chairs the Transportation Research
Board Committee on Conduct of Research and is
involved in the Council of University Transportation Centers and the American Association of State
Highway and Transportation Officials Research
Advisory Committee.
His goal for the Center for Urban Transportation Research at the University of South Florida
is for it to be “the preeminent, internationally
recognized catalyst for transportation innovation
through research, education, training and outreach,” Bittner says. “This vision follows CUTR’s
existing mission of serving as a resource for policymakers, transportation professionals, the education
system and the public by providing high quality,
objective transportation research.” w
Spring 2012
www.lafollette.wisc.edu
La Follette Notes / 3
News from alumni
and friends
Future Fighting Bobs
1990s
Allison M. Vaillancourt, 1990, is vice
Laura Miner, 2002, had a baby boy, Elliot, in
January in Portland, Oregon. He joins his big
brother, Oliver. Miner is a business development
manager with Invenergy.
Hayes-Birchler continued from page 1
economic growth, including examining potential indicators for MCC to incorporate
into the new selection system,” says HayesBirchler, who earned a master of international public affairs degree from La Follette
in 2008. “Their work was excellent and
well-received by my colleagues. It formed
the springboard for our subsequent discussions on the role of gender in the selection
system.”
The La Follette report was part of a
broader review, Hayes-Birchler says. “We
reviewed new economic literature, indicators, data sets and potential methodologies
for selecting countries in order to propose
changes to our board of directors. Over
the course of six months, my three-person
team reviewed more than 200 indicators,
ran 30 simulations and consulted with
more than 50 U.S. government colleagues,
NGOs and academics.”
Santosh Lamichhane, 2011, reports the
birth of his daughter, Kavya, in February. “The
mom and daughter are healthy; and the dad,
relatives, and friends are happy,” says Lamichhane, who is an energy analyst at DNV KEMA
in Madison.
MCC adopted two of the La Follette
team’s recommended indicators, “Girls’
Secondary Education Enrollment Rates”
and “Access to Credit,” plus a third called
“Gender in the Economy,” based off data
from the World Bank’s International
Finance Corporation. Hayes-Birchler again
tapped the Workshop in International Public Affairs in spring 2012 to produce recommendations on indicators.
The MCC board vote on revising the
selection system, including adding the new
gender indicators, came in September.
“I had the thrill of listening to Hillary
Clinton talk about the rigor and value of
my research at the board meeting, which
just happened to take place two weeks
after I completed an Ironman triathlon in
Madison,” Hayes-Birchler says. “It’s hard
to imagine my personal and professional
goals ever colliding so perfectly again.” w
Share your news
president for human
resources at the
University of Arizona.
Alumni and friends
can follow her professional adventures in
her weekly Chronicle
of Higher Education
“On Hiring” column.
She earned her Ph.D.
from the University of
Colorado’s Graduate School of Public
Affairs.
Allison M.
Vaillancourt
2000s
Matthew Steinberg will become an assistant
professor of education at the University of Pennsylvania in July 2012. After graduating from the La
Follette School in 2007, he went on to earn a Ph.D.
from the Harris School of Public Policy Studies at
the University of Chicago.
Ulrike Nischan, 2010, is a senior research assistant in the Markets, Trade, and Institutions Division
of the International Food Policy Research Institute
in Washington, D.C.
Andy McGuire, who earned a master of interna-
tional public affairs degree in 2009, is in his second
year with the Wisconsin Legislative Audit Bureau,
where his assignments have included audits of the
Medicaid, Family Care and FoodShare programs.
He shifted his focus back to international issues in
January when he began a one-year mobilization to
Afghanistan with the Navy Reserve.
Seth Nowak, 2009, will present the results of a
national survey of utility energy efficiency program
evaluation practices at the American Council for
an Energy-Efficient Economy Summer Study on
Energy Efficiency in Buildings conference in Pacific
Grove, California, in August. He also has started
the Green Rental Property Owners Group, an ecofriendly apartment association, based in Madison.
large and
small
Send your news or update your records by e-mailing alumni@lafollette.wisc.edu or by calling 608-263-7657
4 / La Follette Notes
www.lafollette.wisc.edu
Spring 2012
Witte to retire after 35 years of teaching, research, service
J
“
J
Witte returned to
ohn Witte tends to learn a subject as he
Yale to write his
goes along.
dissertation. ProFrom industrial relations to education
fessors and colpolicy, the La Follette School political scileagues involved
entist accepts a challenge and becomes an
with establishing
expert.
what became the
Kazakhstan is next on Witte’s agenda.
School of ManAfter he retires this summer, Witte will
agement, Yale’s
head for Astana and become dean of the
business school,
new School for Humanities and Social
asked the budding
Science at Nazarbayev University.
political scientist
Witte retires after 35 years as a profesJohn Witte
to give a presentasor with the La Follette School of Public
tion on the 1976
Affairs and the Department of Political
tax reform act. “I didn’t know anything
Science at the University of Wisconsin–
about it, and I was working hard on my
Madison. In April he received the campus
dissertation, but I put together a presentaHilldale Award, one of the university’s top
tion,” says Witte, noting that Yale handhonors for faculty members. It recognizes
picked the business school’s first class to
professors who excel in teaching, research
ensure success. “I did not realize that my
and service.
audience included congressional staff memWitte has been part of a group of UW
bers who had helped to write the legisfaculty members who have extended the
lation. They murWisconsin Idea to
dered me with their
Kazakhstan in Cenquestions and comtral Asia. “I was part
s a student and member of the student
ments.”
of a delegation from
association I looked to John as an
Witte survived the
UW who traveled
important mentor. He helped me understand
session and resolved
to Astana to see if it
the interplay between budgeting and political
to become an expert
would be feasible for and policy objectives. He was always willing
in U.S. tax policy.
UW to help Kazakh- to take the time in and out of class to talk
Years later he sent
stan establish a new
through the real-world implications of the
each of his interrouniversity,” Witte
decisions I would make as a public servant.
gators copies of his
says. “Now about
John affirmed my commitment to make
20 people at UW are government work. I am grateful for his career second book, The
Politics and Developadvising and support- of service and the opportunity to know him
ment of the Federal
ing Kazakhstan in the as a teacher, mentor and friend.
two-year effort.”
Sarah Barry Income Tax.
Witte says he
Witte’s research
Class of 2001
rejects
the idea that
interests have always
Chief of Staff
the
rich
drive tax
been eclectic. His
Wisconsin State Senator Jessica King
policy. Rather, the
Ph.D. in political
middle class governs
science, completed at
tax policy. “Politicians want to keep taxes
Yale University in 1978, examined how to
on the middle class constant, but we see
establish industrial democracy and grasspolicies that favor the rich, like the capital
roots management in a factory. “I spent
gains tax, fluctuate,” Witte says. One of
two years working in a factory in Calithe worst aspects of U.S. tax policy is that
fornia that built high-fidelity speakers,”
Republicans and Democrats support loopWitte says. “The research and subsequent
holes for their constituents. “The result
book employed sociology, political science
is we have a tax code that is impossible to
and public management, and in the end I
control and understand, and it is hard to
concluded that economic democracy was
raise enough money to fund programs,”
very difficult to make work. Before my
Witte says.
work, many others had assumed it would
Witte came to Wisconsin in 1977 and
be easy.”
joined the Center for the Study of Public
After spending two years in California,
A
“
”
ohn has been one of the most important
influences on my career. As an
undergraduate, I admired that he was willing
to be open to points of view that were not
held by the majority of faculty members in
the department. After I graduated, I was
considering whether to do a Ph.D. John
thought maybe policy would be a better fit for
me, but I wasn’t convinced, so he advised
me to take a Ph.D. level poli sci course with
him as a special student. I quickly decided he
was right and enrolled at La Follette, where
he continued to teach me about policy. When
I did decide to do my Ph.D. in educational
leadership and policy analysis, he continued
to be a helpful connection. When I finished
and was applying for jobs, he encouraged
me to do a practice job talk and gave me all
kinds of useful advice about how to improve
it. When I worked for Governor Doyle, John
remained a trusted ally, providing me with
reinforcements (Ph.D. students), valuable
information and the moral support I needed.
Finally, when I decided to leave the university
and wound up at the State Capitol as an
education policy advisor, he continued to
provide support. One of the things I’ve learned
working on both sides of the aisle in policy
is that it is important to hone your argument
— and you can’t do that as effectively when
everyone always agrees with you. With John’s
retirement, we are losing one of the few
professors I had who challenged me to say
why I believed as I did, and to back it up with
evidence.
Sarah Archibald
Class of 1998
Education Policy Advisor for Wisconsin
Senator Luther Olsen
”
Policy and Administration (a La Follette
School precursor) and the Department of
Political Science. He taught La Follette’s
beginning and advanced statistics courses, policy evaluation, and, more recently,
courses on the policymaking process, federal budget and tax policy and administration, and an education policy seminar.
He counts himself lucky to have gotten
a job in American politics in 1977. “They
took a chance on me,” Witte says, “because
See Witte on page 5
Spring 2012
www.lafollette.wisc.edu
Conference, reception to honor Witte
To celebrate John Witte’s retirement, a conference and reception will be held on Saturday,
June 9, at the Pyle Center. Among others, a number of Witte’s doctoral students will return
to Madison to present papers that explore higher education issues. The conference on
Issues for Universities in the 21st Century will be 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. The reception will
be 4:30 to 7 p.m. with a formal welcome and remarks at 5:30 p.m.
Witte continued from page 5
I am so interdisciplinary.” The position
was especially meaningful because Witte’s
grandfather Edwin Witte was a longtime
member of the UW economics faculty who
chaired the federal committee that developed Social Security and wrote the legislation that created the program in 1935.
After Witte got tenure, Wisconsin’s governor tapped him to lead a commission on
public schools in the Milwaukee metropolitan area. “I knew nothing about education
policy, but I knew about politics,” Witte
says. “It was a very intense year. The National Association for the Advancement of
Colored People was filing a lawsuit, and the
secretary of the Department of Employee
Relations wanted to expose the problems
blacks faced in Milwaukee Public Schools.”
With Witte as executive director, the
commission studied the school districts in
the metropolitan area and produced 1,000
pages of reports. “We published the students’ test scores, broken down by school,
grade and race, almost two decades before
such publications were required by law
throughout the state and nation,” Witte
says. “The Milwaukee Journal published
the story; our work had a huge impact.”
Witte returned to Madison to serve as
associate director of the La Follette Institute of Public Affairs. He won a fellowship
to study at the Center for Advanced Study
in the Behavioral Sciences on Stanford
University’s campus. In 1998-99, he again
served as associate director at what was
to become the La Follette School. School
status was conferred when he was director from 1999 to 2002. Witte helped to
design and implement the master of international public affairs degree program and
he created the accelerated program through
which admitted UW-Madison undergraduates can complete a master’s degree public
affairs with a fifth year of study.
The connections Witte made through
his work with the Milwaukee area schools
task force resonated through the rest of
J
“
ohn has been my advisor since I came to
UW seven years ago, and he has been
instrumental in guiding me through graduate
school and on into my professional career. He has been incredibly supportive of all my
choices and goals, and he has gone out of
his way to provide advice, encouragement
and resources. I have learned an immense
amount from working on several projects with
John, and the knowledge I’ve gained through
these collaborations has greatly improved the
work I’ve done as a graduate student and will
surely prove invaluable in my professional
career. John is undoubtedly one of the most
important factors in helping me get to where I
am today. Everyone should be so lucky as to
have an advisor like John Witte.
Deven Carlson
Class of 2007
to join political science department at the
University of Oklahoma in fall 2012
”
his career as he spent the next 25 years
studying urban school systems, including
Milwaukee. In 1990 the superintendent
of public instruction asked Witte to be the
state evaluator of Milwaukee’s new school
choice program that gave vouchers to lowincome parents to send their children to
private schools.
From 1996 to 2006, the Legislature required no evaluation, but then in 2005 it
authorized a five-year study, and Witte was
drafted as one of the principal investigators. The new research studied the effects
of vouchers and charter schools and the
cost effectiveness of the various programs
to expand school choice. Witte and his
colleagues released the last round of findings in February 2012, including studies of
student achievement, graduation from high
school and attendance in college, and estimates of how many students with disabilities use vouchers to attend private schools.
J
“
La Follette Notes / 5
ohn Witte taught me the difference
between a teacher and a mentor. I met
John in the early 1990s after moving to
Madison, Wisconsin, from California to
enroll in an MPA program at the La Follette
School of Public Affairs. In my second year
I took John’s course on ethics and values in
policymaking. As in all great courses John
didn’t teach students in the traditional sense;
he connected with them, got them to care
about the subject and, most importantly,
made them appreciate on a gut level how the
theories of Locke and Rawls were relevant
to their lives. On my final paper John wrote
a set of comments including instructions to
come see him. John spent two hours outlining
how I could turn the paper into something
publishable and how he would help. In
subsequent conversations we discussed
policy, academics and my career, and I came
to understood that academia and public policy
were not mutually exclusive. He taught me
how two people could disagree about policy
yet still share a commitment to a public good.
And finally, he continues to show me that
an excellent teacher inspires and motivates
students and a mentor provides guidance to
channel that inspiration and motivation into
a career or calling. I was fortunate nearly 20
years ago to meet someone who excelled at
both — John Witte.
Mark Cassell
Class of 1992
Associate Professor of Political Science
Kent State University
”
Overall, income-targeted school choice
is not a bad policy, Witte says. “We have
found modest advantages for choice students in student achievement if they remain in choice schools, and about a 4 to 6
percent advantage in graduating from high
school and attending college. However,
poor families all have the same problems
that affect how students perform, whether
they attend public or private schools. A
voucher program does give low-income
students who otherwise can’t afford private
school the chance to go to schools they
could not otherwise attend, and which may
prove to be better for them. In a small way
vouchers equalize choices for poor families — and that is very important in my
view.” w
6 / La Follette Notes
Alumni association
honors Khanal
The Wisconsin Alumni
Association has honored
alum Shisir Khanal for
development work building
international organizations
from the bottom up.
Khanal,
who
earned
a master
of international
public
affairs
degree
in
Shisir Khanal
2005, is
president of Sarvodaya Nepal
and executive director of Sarvodaya USA, nonprofit organizations that have worked in
Nepal, India, Haiti, Sri Lanka
and the United States to create nonviolent social change
that starts with local residents
and their values. “Sarvodaya”
translates from Sanskrit as
“awakening of all.”
WAA named Khanal one
of the 2012 Forward under
40 honorees, University of
Wisconsin–Madison graduates younger than 40 who
are making an impact on the
world by living the Wisconsin
Idea, that principle that the
boundaries of the university
are the boundaries of the
state (and beyond) and the
charge that the purpose of
a university is to produce
practical good in the world.
www.lafollette.wisc.edu
Spring 2012
Alum honors WWII vets by coordinating DC flights
F
red Olson believes service to the nation must
be honored.
Since 2009, the retired Army colonel has been
devoting his attention to the Honor Flight program that raises money to organize charter trips
for World War II veterans to visit the World War
II Memorial and other memorials in Washington,
D.C., dedicated to their service and sacrifices.
“Our military veterans are truly heroic men and
women who saved the world from the Nazism and
fascism that threatened us all, then came back and,
with no fanfare, built the greatest nation in the
world,” Olson says. “We Americans are the most
fortunate people on earth. We should all be given
an opportunity to serve our country for a year or
two in some manner so we gain an appreciation of
the great country in which we live.”
Olson has spent nearly all of his career and his
retirement in public service. He graduated in 1971
from the Center for the Study of Public Policy
and Administration, a precursor of the La Follette
School. He was 11 years into his 23-year military
career when the Army selected him to attend graduate school and offered a slot at the University of
Wisconsin–Madison, where he had completed
a bachelor of science in social work and Reserve
Officers Training Corps in 1959.
“Wisconsin’s master’s degree in public policy
gave me a bit of an advantage in my Army duty
assignments at the Pentagon, as director of ROTC
at Georgetown University and my assignment
as director of the Schools
Division at Department
of the Army Research and
Development Command,”
Olson says.
When Olson completed his military career, he
and his wife of 54 years
moved to St. Petersburg,
Florida, where he ran a
Fred Olson
small business until he
started working for Florida’s Agency for Health Care Administration. He
retired in 2001 and moved on to volunteer work,
helping to build four homes through Habitat for
Humanity.
Olson became interested in Honor Flight in
2009 when a World War II friend of his made the
flight and one of his brothers sponsored a veteran
on another flight. After discovering West Central
Florida lacked a hub to serve area veterans, Olson
started Honor Flight of West Central Florida.
Olson encourages people interested in helping
with Honor Flight to contact him, fnolson@
earthlink.net. “If any other Wisconsin grads in
the Tampa Bay area want to get involved in this
rewarding volunteer activity I would be delighted
to hear from them,” he says. w
Battiato continued from page 1
“I look forward to seeing our current students
grow into successful professionals making a positive
impact on our society,”
Battiato says.
After graduating from
La Follette in 2007 with
a master of public affairs,
Battiato joined the Wisconsin School Association of School Boards as a
Kate Battiato
policy consultant.
Battiato put her policy analysis skills to work
when she became an aide to a Wisconsin state representative in 2009. She found that her ability to
frame policy problems and solutions in economic terms was essential. “I owe that skill to David
Weimer’s Introduction to Policy Analysis course,”
Battiato says. “I brought my copy of Weimer and
[Aidan] Vining’s textbook Policy Analysis to work.”
She found that relationships she established
during the Public Affairs Workshop were help-
ful in her work at the Legislature. “Our capstone
was on recidivism rates, and we produced it for the
Legislative Council,” Battiato says. “When I went
to work at the Capitol, I was fortunate to be able
to build on my relationship with my contact at the
council.”
“Among legislators and staff at the Capitol,
the La Follette degree definitely gave me a certain
amount of credibility,” Battiato says. “Also, I had
instant rapport with lobbyists who were alumni.”
Battiato is now sharing her experiences with
La Follette School students as she conducts career
assessments, reviews résumés and advises on cover
letters as students seek jobs and internships.
“My experience as a student here has really
helped me understand the needs of the students
and ways to make the career development program
even stronger,” she says. “My favorite part of the
job, hands down, is getting to know the students
and helping them get ready to land that first job
out of grad school. It’s extremely fun and rewarding to get to be a part of this exciting point in their
professional lives.” w
Spring 2012
www.lafollette.wisc.edu
La Follette Notes / 7
Tempelis leads Milwaukee County domestic violence unit
P
eter Tempelis, 2006, is interim head
of the Domestic Violence Unit of the
Milwaukee County District Attorney’s Office. He previously served as a felony and
chronic offender domestic violence prosecutor in Milwaukee. “In my new role, I
am responsible for supervising 10 prosecutors appearing before three specialized DV
courts and will continue to handle felony
and chronic offender cases,” Tempelis says.
He was elected in 2011 to the executive
board of the Wisconsin District Attorneys’
Association, which has been addressing assistant district attorney turnover, among other
issues, in Wisconsin’s criminal justice system.
Tempelis, 2002 La Follette alum Melinda
Tempelis and other district attorneys met
with professor Dennis Dresang in 2010 to
discuss an independent study relating to
ADA retention in Wisconsin. Melinda Tempelis, Peter’s sister, is deputy district attorney
for Wisconsin’s Outagamie County.
Dresang and three graduate students published the findings and recommendations of
their study, “Public Safety and Assistant District Attorney Staffing in Wisconsin,” which
found high and rising ADA turnover attributed to an ineffective compensation system.
That study formed the basis for a bill that
would create a pay progression system for
prosecutors. In addition to Dresang, the
authors are La Follette School alum Jerrett
Jones, a doctoral student in the University of
Wisconsin–Madison’s Department of Sociology, and second-year students Alex Marach
and Hilary J. Waukau. w
Students use scholarships to explore energy analysis, health care
C
ontributions from alumni and friends
of the La Follette School are helping two students focus their public affairs
careers on energy analysis and health-care
management.
While Shaun Hernandez was an undergraduate at the University of Wisconsin–
Madison, he served as administrator of the
student government’s judiciary committee.
He also interned with an aide to a member
of the Wisconsin Assembly. These experiences prompted Hernandez to rethink going on to medical school, an assumption
he’d held since about the eighth grade.
After graduating in December 2008
into one of the worst job markets in decades, Hernandez looked for work then
started interning with the same aide, who
had since joined the staff of a state senator.
“This experience revitalized my interest
in government and made me think that a
career in the public sector would be a possibility,” Hernandez says. As Hernandez
explored the La Follette School’s master of
public affairs degree program, he realized
it would provide a perfect mix of experiences and training. “I felt that the core curriculum, emphasizing competency in both
management and quantitative analysis,
would equip me well for an array of career
opportunities upon graduation,” he says.
He found his niche in health-care management and policy. As a special project
assistant with American Family Children’s
Hospital, part of UW Health, he developed
the strategic vision and operational framework for the new Child Health Advocacy
Center, advised the program director about
operational, human resource and budgetary decision-making, researched programs
Support La Follette
School students
and programs
Information available online at
www.lafollette.wisc.edu/giving
Shaun Hernandez
Ed Cubero
to establish benchmarks and determine
program content, and led projects that supported the center’s goals and vision.
Donations to the La Follette School
provided scholarship funds for Hernandez’s
second year. “Without the scholarship, I
would have had to acquire a project assistantship for my second year, which would
have meant that I would have to end my
employment with the hospital,” he says.
“Since I’m doing now exactly what I would
like to do long-term, having my tuition
paid and being able to keep working was
the best possible outcome for me.”
Ed Cubero spent five years as a financial
analyst before turning his attention to energy policy and analysis. He graduated from
New York University in 2004, worked in
insurance for a year, then joined Moody’s
Investors Service. “I happened to work at
Moody’s during an interesting time as I was
able to see the changes in the performance
of individual companies through the economic cycle,” says Cubero, who is pursuing
a master of public affairs, plus a certificate
in energy analysis and policy.
For Moody’s, Cubero analyzed a portfolio of small, private firms across a range of
or call 608-263-7657 or
email giving@lafollette.wisc.edu
industries. “The volatile energy costs over
the past few years had a significant impact
on the earnings of some companies,” he says.
“This led to my interest in energy policy.”
Cubero’s observations got him thinking about public affairs. “I always knew
graduate school was on the horizon, and I
became particularly interested in renewable
energy and the development of long-term,
energy solutions,” he says. Cubero believes
that his experience in financial analysis can
help in the energy policy field, particularly
in evaluating the costs of new energy investments. Though environmental policy is
important, “it must be done in a cost-effective manner so it does not hurt economic
growth,” he says.
Contributions helped to make it possible for Cubero to pursue his graduate
studies. “The award from the Clara Penniman fund has made my move from New
York City to Madison much easier and is
allowing me to focus on my coursework,”
Cubero says. “I appreciate the generosity of
Dr. Penniman in establishing the fund and
of the alumni and friends who are sustaining it to help myself and other students
achieve their career goals.” w
8 / La Follette Notes
From the Director continued from page 1
energy consulting firm Kema highlighted
the versatility of the La Follette skill set and
its applicability in the private sector. At
all three sites, employers emphasized how
excited they are about hiring our talented
grads.
We appreciate the work our alumni and
friends do to welcome our students. Much
of that assistance is informal in nature and
all of it is appreciated. Staff may make introductions by email so the student can
follow up and ask an alum questions about
her or his job and how best to find an internship or job.
Our receptions also help introduce students to alumni. We had excellent turnouts
for our receptions in Madison in February
and in Washington, D.C., in November.
We intend to again hold a summer picnic
“hosted” by Belle and Bob La Follette here
at the top of Observatory Hill.
www.lafollette.wisc.edu
Other news of which we are proud:
Two more students have been selected as
finalists for the Presidential Management
Fellowship, a program that has launched
the careers of many of our alumni. We are
proud that our rigorous program is preparing people to serve their country as analysts
and program coordinators.
In addition, the campus has recognized the work of our faculty. John Witte
received the campus Hilldale Award, one
of the university’s top honors for faculty
members. It recognizes professors who excel in teaching, research and service. We
wish John well as he retires from the University of Wisconsin–Madison and as he
and his wife leave for Kazakhstan to establish the School for Humanities and Social
Science at Nazarbayev University.
We’re proud to report David Weimer
has been awarded a Wisconsin Alumni
Research Foundation professorship. This
Spring 2012
program recognizes what many of us in
the La Follette community have known for
years: Dave has made many distinguished
research contributions and has advanced
our knowledge through his research, teaching and service.
Our alumni and friends know and value
the high quality of the La Follette School’s
programs, and I am proud that this quality is getting better and better. The U.S.
News and World Report rankings of public
affairs graduate programs are a testament
to the terrific work of our school. In the
survey results released in March, our ranking improved to 12th in the nation. In addition, six of our specialty areas rank in the
top 15. Support from alumni and friends
helps us strengthen our programming, and
the work you do and the public service you
perform demonstrates every day the quality
of the training and mentoring the La Follette School offers. w
Want to hear about career opportunities?
Send an email to CareerDevelopment@lafollette.wisc.edu to be added to our alumni jobs list serve
Robert M. La Follette School of Public Affairs
University of Wisconsin–Madison
1225 Observatory Drive
Madison WI 53706
La Follette Notes
Non-Profit Org.
U.S. Postage
Paid
Madison WI
Permit No. 658