UW–Madison alumnus Joseph Marinelli credits his experiences with the Department of Educational Leadership and Policy Analysis with changing the course of his career — and he explains that it was Richard Rossmiller who had the most significant effect.
“Because of what he did for me, it really changed my whole trajectory,” Marinelli, who earned his PhD from the School of Education in 1976, says of Rossmiller. “It gave me national exposure in the profession and the speed of progression throughout my career.”
The program, which was called educational administration in 1976, turned out to be an atypical stepping-stone for Marinelli. He had been a guidance counselor in Florida, then worked in the school district’s central office. A consultant recommended Marinelli pursue a PhD at UW–Madison.
During a campus visit, Marinelli met with Rossmiller, a professor and expert in school finance, and was offered a research assistantship. Without the benefit of today’s digital technology, Marinelli recalls Rossmiller went above and beyond as his dissertation adviser. In fact, when Marinelli decided he wanted to start wrapping up his dissertation, he would take each chapter to the airport in Washington, D.C., and have it delivered to the Madison airport. Rossmiller would then drive out and pick it up, review it, and send it back within days.
To honor Professor Emeritus Rossmiller, when Marinelli chose to establish a student support fund with the department, he wanted to be sure the named fund included Rossmiller. He established the Drs. Joseph J. Marinelli and Richard A. Rossmiller Scholarship.
“I’d say I was surprised when Joe called me,” Rossmiller says. “I felt gratified. Sometimes you wonder if the work you do has had any impact. I guess it did for Joe.”
Indeed it did. “I had the opportunity to do an internship in Washington, D.C., because Dick recommended me,” Marinelli says. “It opened doors that set me on an atypical and rewarding career path.”
Marinelli adds that he caught “Potomac fever,” wanting to be where the action is. He stayed as the first Washington-based lobbyist for Florida’s education system. With expertise and visibility in govern- mental relations, he landed positions as associate superintendent and lobbyist for Orange County (Orlando) schools, president of Florida’s school administrator organization, and president of two national associations. He also was a school district superintendent in Michigan and a regional superintendent in New York.
Marinelli is proud of his degree from the School of Education. “The department continues to rank nationally in the top five. I want others to benefit from it and be able to afford to attend it,” he says.
Marinelli and his wife, Becky, wrote their wills last spring. They discussed making gifts to the universities they are most passionate toward.
“We don’t have children to leave our assets, but there are plenty of young people who could benefit from our assets,” says Marinelli. Each left an estate gift to the universities that impacted them the most.
Marinelli lives in the Finger Lakes (Rochester) area of upstate New York. He is the part-time executive director of a nine-county network promoting quality STEM education.
This estate gift is a way to show our love for our universities and a way to provide resources to people that need them to further their education,” says Marinelli.
To learn more about making an estate gift and leaving your own School of Education legacy, contact Betsy Burns. Call 608-712-9376 or email: betsy.burns@supportuw.org