Senior Fellows

The Wisconsin Institute for Public Policy and Service, in 2010, established a Senior Fellow Program to recognize outstanding and significant contributions in program, policy, and service areas of interest to the organization. Senior Fellowship work and research is also intended to support and expand further areas of interest to WIPPS.

Current WIPPS Senior Fellows include:

David R. Obey

Obey was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1969, representing the 7th Congressional District in Wisconsin, and served in theis capacity for 41 years. He previously served three terms in the Wisconsin State Assembly. Congressman Obey is the only Democratic Member of the House to have served on three major economic committees in the Congress: the Budget Committee, the Joint Economic Committee, and the Committee on Appropriations, which he most recently chaired. Education, social security, health care, the environment, and homeland security have been key areas of interest to Congressman Obey.

Dave and his wife grew up in Wausau. Both attended UW-Marathon County before transferring to UW-Madison to complete bachelor's degrees. Dave stayed to undertake graduate work, receiving a M.A. Degree in Soviet Politics. Congressman Obey was aiming for a teaching career in Soviet/Chinese studies prior to entering public service. During summers, Dave worked at a paper mill in Wausau. He is the author of the autobiography, Raising Hell for Justice: The Battles of a Heartland Progressive, published by the University of Wisconsin Press in 2007.

Dave Obey has been recognized by numerous Wisconsin and national organizations for his work, including the Associationi of Community Health Centers, the National Farmers Union, the Wisconsin Association of Independent Colleges and Universities, the National Senior Citizens, Vietnam Veterans of America, and Common Cause.

Dave Obey will serve an indefinite term as a Senior Fellow of WIPPS. During this fellowship, Congressman Obey plans to be in residence three or four days a month, and will be available, on a selective basis, to speak to both public and university audiences throughout the state. He also will be working with the WIPPS staff to advance initiatives connecting college students to public service.

James J. Lorence

James J. Lorence is Professor Emeritus of History at the University of Wisconsin-Marathon County, where he taught American History, with an emphasis on the 20th Century, for thirty-five years. From 2001-2005, Dr. Lorence served as Eminent Scholar of History at Gainesville State College in Gainesville, GA.

Dr. Lorence is the author of nine books and more than thirty articles. His most recent work has focused on labor history and film studies. His book, Suppression of Salt of the Earth: How Hollywood, Big Labor, and Politicians Blacklisted a Movie in Cold War America, was published by the University of New Mexico Press in 1999. His most recent publications include A Hard Journey: The Life of Don West (University of Illinois PRess, 2007) and The Unemployed People's Movement: Leftists, Liberals, and Labor in Georgia, 1929-1941 (University of Georgia Press, 2009). He is currently completing a biography of labor activist Clinton E. Jencks. He has won numersous awards for his scholarly work, including fellowships from the National Endowment for the HUmanities and the University of Wisconsin Institute for Research in the Humanities. In 2000, he received the Wisconsin Humanities Council's Governor's Humanities Award for Excellence in Public Humanities Scholarship. He holds the B.S. degree from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and the Ph.D. degree from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Dr. Lorence will serve a one-year term as Senior Fellow. He will assist WIPPS and the Wisconsin Historical Society through service as a consultant in regard to the organizing and cataloging of the David R. Obey Papers Collection, which ultimately will be available to scholars and the public. He will also conduct research placing David Obey's legislative career in an historical context, with reference especially to key public policy issues.