 |
|
|
|
|
|
Graduate Programs
Alumni |
 |
Life after Graduate SchoolIntroductory Note: In our annual newsletter (and in person to every alum I meet), I ask alums to send us information about "Life after Graduate School." Below are the reflections of George Whelan, Urban Affairs MS, 1972. They provide a wonderful example of a life trajectory in which we at UWM played a small, but we hope, significant, part. Thanks, George for taking the time to send this! Reflections on Urban Studiesby George J. Whelan (gwhelan@comcast.net)
1) As a senior in college, decided that I wanted an administrative/policy-making role in addressing social problems. I am a product of the 60's. 2) I loved Cities. 3) Loved my experience at UWM. At first, my fellow students from the "biggies" such as Syracuse, Michigan, and USC awed me vs. my alma mater, Mt. Saint Paul College in Waukesha. We all blended in nicely and had fun imitating our teachers' mannerisms. 4) I had an internship with a Governor's Task Force on Metropolitan problems (Gov. Patrick Lucey) where I was able to do research on my thesis at UWM, i.e. the Federal 235i Housing Program. This was subsidized housing of a limited size for low and moderate-income persons. 5) Wanted to move home to the Philadelphia area. Got a job with a good government group (reformers in government from the 50s). Here I learned budgeting. Took a direction in government finance and enjoyed it. Despite postgraduate work in accounting and finance, I always yearned for more of that kind of training. 6) In my restlessness to advance, took a position on a consultant project for the State Legislative Leaders Conference with the Louisiana Legislature. This addressed the administrative mechanisms and financial disclosure/conflicts of interest efforts of the mid seventies. This was a Ford Foundation funded project in six states aimed to enhance legislative bodies around the country. 7) Returned to Philadelphia in 1975 when an old resume in an office file returned to haunt me. The Federal Community Development Block Grant program was starting. The President of City Council created a staff for legislative oversight of approximately $60 million received each year by the City. In City Council, I saw big city politics up close, both the good and the bad. For example, the President of City Council, the Majority Leader, and another member now deceased who became a good friend of mine went to jail in the Abscam FBI sting of the early 80s. None of it involved me except for the shock of it all. 8) Then I was asked to join the Finance Department staff early in Mayor Green's administration as the Capital Program Director, i.e. the construction budget. Got involved in the Government Finance Officers Association where I was on the standing committee for Debt and Fiscal Policy for six years. I also published a lot in the GFOA Government Finance Review, e.g. economic development and public finance, the Philadelphia Gas Works utility rate case. I also went to Russia in 1991 as part of a GFOA/People to People delegation. My finance work involved the capital budget, working with the City Treasurer on General Obligation and some other debt issues, liaison with the Southeastern Pennsylvania Regional Transportation Authority and the Philadelphia Gas Works. The culmination of this fourteen-year stretch was to move to the Treasurer's office during the Philadelphia fiscal crisis of the early 90s. This was high drama for a finance officer. To illustrate, I would be investing on average $200- $300 million a day usually in mortgaged backed repurchase agreements while meeting with bond lawyers, the City Controller's staff, and a side trip to the U.S. Department of the Treasury for discussions about arbitrage rebate requirements and the City's fund accounting method. For a technical explanation of this, see Handbook of Debt Management, Gerald I. Miller, editor, "Tax Exempt Debt and U.S. Department of the Treasury Regulations," by George J. Whelan and Michele M. Patrick, Marcel Dekker, Inc., New York, 1996. 9) This was a very draining experience so I moved to the Commerce Department for the closing of the Philadelphia Civic Center due to the construction of the new Pennsylvania Convention Center in downtown Philadelphia. For the past ten years, I have been in the Philadelphia Department of Public Health (PDPH) as an Executive Assistant in the Information Technology and Services Division. This span has involved in recent years emergency services planning for IT/Telecommunications. Prior to that as the PDPH prepared for managed care, was intimately involved with all the planning/installation/maintenance of digital phone "switches" and voice mail for all PDPH facilities. 10) Other interests of mine as avocations were psychology and teaching. I was a long-term member of the Board of Directors for Mental Health and Mental Retardation agencies. In one instance, Northwestern Human Services of Erdenheim, Pennsylvania that operates in a number of Eastern states presented me with the Chairman's Award of Recognition for my years of service. I have also taught public finance and business finance at Temple University and Philadelphia University. 11) I retire in June of 2007. I am a member of the Companions of Vincent, Eastern Province of the Congregation of the Mission (Vincentians). I will be involved with Catholic parish planning and renewal primarily in the East. My wife of 35 years, Mary Eileen, is from St. Nazianz, in Manitowoc County, Wisconsin. She is a social worker in the City's prison system. We have two grown children and one grandson. Back to Alumni Page. |
|
Send your comments concerning the site to usp@uwm.edu |
|
