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Robert M. La Follette
School of Public Affairs
1225 Observatory Drive
Madison, WI 53706
Telephone: 608.262.3581
Fax: 608.265.3233
Last updated:
August 18, 2011
© Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin System
Alumni and Friends: La Follette Notes: Fall 2008
Champion of the Wisconsin Idea:
Alumni, friends value Dresang’s expertise, style, advice
Dennis Dresang’s influence reaches all of Wisconsin, not just with his service to the state, but through the hundreds of students he has taught and mentored. These students are now local, state, federal, and international public officials and civil servants.
“Each of his students has taken the tools, education, and commitment to serving the public that Professor Dresang helped us cultivate,” says Peter Tempelis, a 2006 alum and one of three siblings to earn master’s degrees in public affairs under Dresang’s tutelage. He is assistant district attorney in Jefferson County, while his brother Eric, 2003, holds the same position in Brown County. Their sister Mindy, 2002, is a managing deputy district attorney in Outagamie County.
Tempelis and his siblings say that as Dresang’s students they lived the Wisconsin Idea, the extension of the university’s resources to the borders of the state, by traveling with Dresang and fellow students across Wisconsin to research public policy problems and make recommendations to address them. “While we each became lawyers, we bring something special to the table because of our training at La Follette,” Peter Tempelis says. “We see things differently than a lot of other lawyers, thanks in part to Professor Dresang.”
2000 graduate Amy Brennan gained many valuable lessons while watching Dresang interact with national public policy experts and with the people affected by the policies the experts advocated. “As we hosted gang prevention conferences, Professor Dresang made at-risk kids from throughout the state feel at ease with his down-to-earth style and genuine listening skills,” says Brennan, a lobbyist for nonprofit organizations in Illinois. “I feel blessed and thankful to have worked with him and learned from him. What he taught me keeps me a little more grounded as I navigate Illinois politics.”
Dresang’s teaching style, plain-spoken manner, commitment to good public policy, plus solid advice about courses and career decisions made him a popular teacher. “He always encouraged you to think outside the box with his probing questions or gentle direction to see a different perspective,” says Frances Huntley-Cooper, a 1994 graduate who is now a division administrator with the Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development. “It was great to have a professor with experience in the community and the state that he brought into the academic world of public policy.”
Dresang also brings his students and his academic expertise into the practitioner’s world. As part of Lieutenant Governor Barbara Lawton’s Wisconsin Women = Prosperity initiative, Dresang oversaw 35 students’ independent studies every semester for two years as they helped develop public policy on the status of women in Wisconsin. “Dennis Dresang works at the top of his field, leading with an infectious spirit of generosity that kindles innovative research and brings all of us — students, community and state officials — to better imagine the possibilities for public policy,” Lawton says.
Dresang is always ready to give advice or serve as a sounding board. “He takes the time to talk with you,” says 2000 graduate Wes Sparkman, contract compliance officer for Dane County, Wisconsin. Sparkman still values Dresang’s advice and approach, especially when trying to solve complex policy questions. “He reminds me that it is OK to solve really big problems and keep it simple,” Sparkman says. “You can tell that he cares about what he talks about.”
This plays out in Dresang’s service to the state. “I consider him the foremost scholar on public personnel administration in Wisconsin because he has dealt with so many departments and institutions,” says Sparkman, who also serves on the Madison Police and Fire Commission. “It’s a testament to him and the quality of his work that he has had state agencies coming to him to work on projects and that they keep coming back to ask for help.”
Roberta Gassman, secretary of the Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development, echoes that sentiment. “I can think of very few individuals who so embody the Wisconsin Idea as does Dennis Dresang,” she says. “Throughout his career he has shared his nationally recognized expertise and research capacity with many units of government to spark the very best in public policy. Multiple governors, mayors, county executives and legislators have all turned to him. Not only is Dennis an incredibly principled and trusted advisor, but he has been a remarkable leader on behalf of equality and fairness in the workplace.”