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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

Alumni and Friends: La Follette Notes: Fall 2005

Working in private sector, grad values giving back to school

In some ways, Ron Luskin lives his interest in public affairs vicariously. When the La Follette School alum graduated in 1979, he fell victim to the poor economy and high unemployment that made finding work in the public sector difficult.

Ron Luskin

Update

Ron Luskin joined the University of Wisconsin Foundation as a development director for the College of Letters and Science in 2010.

Public Service

In 2011, Ron Luskin was serving in these positions:

Member, Board of Directors, Downtown Madison Inc.
Commissioner, Urban Design Commission, City of Madison
Member, Board of Directors, Daily Cardinal
Member, Downtown Coordinating Committee, City of Madison
Member, Board of Directors, Madison Committee on Foreign Relations

So, Luskin, whose graduate studies focused on health-care policy and public information, turned back to the communications field and worked for newspapers and advertising agencies for 20 years. In 2003, he returned to Madison from Milwaukee to become vice president and director of marketing for Marshall Erdman & Associates, a national firm that specializes in the design and construction of health-care facilities.

“I never really worked in the public sector,” says Luskin, who first worked in newspaper advertising sales when he received his bachelor’s degree from UW-Madison in 1976, “but my whole life I have maintained an active interest in public affairs and politics.”

He also has kept up an interest in the La Follette School by contributing money to support student activities, services and learning opportunities and to aid faculty and student recruitment. “I just had a wonderful experience there,” Luskin says, “and I believe it is important to give back.”

Luskin keeps his hand in the public affairs arena by working on political campaigns, including those of U.S. senators Herb Kohl and Russ Feingold, plus others in Milwaukee.

He attended the La Follette School during its first incarnation as the Center for the Study of Public Policy and Administration. As one of the center’s earlier students, he was largely able to craft his own academic program. His background in health-care policy informed his work in marketing communications advising the emerging health-maintenance organizations in the 1980s. His clients included HMOs and health insurance companies.

That background carries over to his position at Marshall Erdman, where he is working with La Follette School faculty to establish an internship.

Luskin still values what he learned during his La Follette School internship with the state administrator of courts office when the system was being reorganized. “Even though the experience seemed to be far afield, it was a wonderful learning experience,” Luskin says. “It gave me a great opportunity to explore the legislative process and judicial system.”

Luskin encourages alumni to support the La Follette School financially, especially those who graduated before the state Legislature christened the La Follette Institute in 1984 to honor Robert M. La Follette. “I’ve seen La Follette grow, but it’s always been a fledgling program, and it needs alumni help,” Luskin notes.

“People further along in their careers could consider doing more,” he says. “At a time when fewer resources are available from the state, more of us who have benefited from a public university need to step up to help their alma mater grow and flourish.

“Historically Wisconsin has been a leader and an incubator for programs that go on to become national models,” Luskin adds. “When competition for resources is as in-tense as it is now, alumni need to contribute the resources public affairs faculty need to craft innovative policy suggestions and to educate tomorrow’s policy makers.”

— posted fall 2005; updated October 19, 2010; March 23, 2011

Index to La Follette Notes fall 2005