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My days in the graduate program at the O’Neill School prepared me well to succeed in a career in law and public policy. Of the many great professors, three stand out. John Mikesell was an incredible resource. Prof. Mikesell and I were both Bloomington natives with humble beginnings. He was a mentor, a role model with high standards, and a gentleman. In a tax case against Donald Trump, I relied on the knowledge of revenue policy gained from Prof. Mikesell’s textbook. Prof. O’Meara was also a huge influence on me. Even though we may have disagreed on some things, he was respectful and open to debate, a true academic treasure reminiscent of the caliber and character of Herman B Wells. I remember the last time I saw Prof. O’Meara at an opera on campus. We sat near each other and fondly reminisced about the O’Neill School. Though I never had Nobel Prize-winning Elinor Ostrom as a professor, I had the privilege of working for her just after earning my MPA. I traveled the world to support Prof. Ostrom’s research on the human dimensions of global environmental change, of which Prof. J.C. Randolph was integral. The outstanding faculty at the O’Neill School prepared me to succeed in law school, where I graduated with honors. I ultimately served at the White House as ethics counsel to the Office of the Vice President of the United States (a nonpolitical position). The photo above is the view of the White House from my office in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building. Thank you, O’Neill School, and the amazing faculty who have taught there. I would never have been able to achieve all I have done without you.

Where is Indiana? It was my first question when I listened to Prof. Charlie Wise talk about the School of Public and Environmental Affairs, Indiana University, and Bloomington in May 1980. He was recruiting students from Paris Sud Law School to launch an exchange program between the two schools. I became the first of those students. At first, I was set to earn a Certificate in Public Management. I ended up graduating with a Master of Public Affairs in 1982. My husband, David, who also earned a Certificate in Public Management, worked in the school’s placement office from 1982–83 with Jack Merritt. While a graduate student, I was asked to create a student guide for incoming French students. I was one of the first employees of the Indiana Department of Environmental Management. Leadership positions in health consulting, not-for-profit, and philanthropy management at Mayo Clinic followed. I am now teaching the French language to proficient learners. What started as a one-year experiment at IU became a lifelong adventure, and I am very grateful for the opportunity I received 42 years ago.

These two ladies, I met them in the O’Neill School and am still friends with them today! Both ladies helped me in my journey with study groups, learning from each other, and loving IU!

I graduated from the O’Neill School of Public and Environmental Affairs in 1987 with a BSPA. In 2005, I was named the director of Indiana State Parks—a position I held for more than 15 years. During that time, I served three different governors—Governor Daniels, Governor Pence, and Governor Holcomb. I also served as the president of the National Association of State Park Directors and on the board of the America’s State Parks Foundation. When I left that position in August of 2020, I was the third-longest tenured state parks director in the nation at that time and the longest serving director of state parks in Indiana history. In August of 2020, I was asked by Governor Holcomb to join his cabinet as the director of the Indiana Department of Natural Resources. I hold this position still and am proud to say that the education and experiences I gained while a student at IU and the O’Neill School help me to navigate the challenging world of natural resources.

I started my MPA studies at IUPUI in 1995, right after getting married. Our son, Cade, was born in 1997, so I took a leave from my MPA studies, as I was a full-time employee, supervising the criminal division courts clerks office in the City-County Building, and I had a newborn. My husband volunteered to do an active duty Army tour after 9/11 and we ended up stationed overseas and lived in Italy (with the 173rd airborne), then in England, then Fort Bragg, North Carolina, and finally Fort Carson, Colorado. During these years of moving and working—primarily for the Department of Defense in different civilian jobs—I always missed working in the judiciary. In 2013, I was given a unique opportunity to become the first Veterans Trauma Court Coordinator for the 4th Judicial District in Colorado Springs, Colorado. My boss pushed me to finish my MPA. I reached out to the advisors at the O’Neill School and they did an amazing job digging through old records and going over the faxed documents I had kept to help me get re-enrolled. I only needed four classes to finish, but now classes could be completed virtually! I was motivated by my employer, but I was more determined to finish MY degree before my son. Remember Cade? That newborn, who I took a “break” from school to raise in 1997? He got a full scholarship to attend the Kelley School of Business at IU in 2015. I was not going to let the kid beat me to graduation! I finished my MPA in December 2018. It took me 23 years to complete my MPA, but it was worth the time and I learned so much. Besides still being the VTC coordinator in Colorado Springs, a national peer training court, I am also now an adjunct faculty member for Justice for Vets. I help stand up and provide training to vet courts around the country. The O’Neill School is a wonderful place to learn problem-solving skills. The staff are dedicated and persistent. They helped an “old school” alum finish her degree. Hoosiers never give up! (Graduation picture from my B.S. at IU in 1991.)

In 1975, I had not been able to find an education that matched my heart, my intellect, and my skills. Then came the new school in the basement of Poplars Hotel and I enrolled for a bachelor’s degree in land use planning. We used Ian McHarg’s textbook, Design with Nature, which discussed how ag and land use maps could be placed as overlays on topographical maps to better visualize impacts and make decisions based on several dimensions. I loved it, and during an Allen County internship, I did that very task: overlaying land uses, corridors, and natural features to assist in a highway decision. Sound familiar, like today’s GIS? ESRI? After more than 20 years in the environmental field (freshwater plant identification and environmental permits for major linear projects), I retired so grateful. I was able to find my niche where my skills, training, and intellect were able to flourish. I said my retirement farewells to some of the best people around—environmental lawyers, scientists, biologists, and so on—who had the best hearts and minds. Now I am retired and having a lot of fun meeting new people and volunteering (that’s me in the center of the photo). Thank you, O’Neill School, many times over. Keep up the good work for another 50-plus years, the world needs O’Neill grads.

Unlike most of my peers, I did not get my start at the O’Neill School. I transferred to IU my sophomore year from another university and was encouraged by Brian Seavey and members of the admissions council to apply to transfer into the O’Neill School. At that time, I felt excited for a fresh start and to show my true potential to IU after struggling through an unfulfilled life at my prior school with not a good environment nor many opportunities. My first day of class, I knew my life was going to change for the better. O’Neill gave me my first home and the opportunities to become the person I had always wanted to be. This school changed my life by giving me friends that I will cherish for a lifetime and happiness that I never thought I could have. My first day of classes, a very wise and inspiring professor wrote a single quote on the board, “We cannot change the cards we are dealt, just how we play the hand.” I took this to heart while navigating a new campus and rebuilding my life, I decided to choose positivity over negativity. During my three years at O’Neill, I helped to co-found the O’Neill Undergraduate Student Council, I was in the Washington Leadership Program, I used the skills I learned at IU to pass a bill in Congress advocating for service animals, and I made friends and relationships that will last me a lifetime no matter where I go. I am a proud alum of the O’Neill School and I am honored to have been in the O’Neill Honors Program and spend a year working on my senior thesis on the mass incarceration system with so much support and help from my professors and peers. Eventually, all of these experiences and lessons led me to becoming the commencement speaker for my graduating Class of 2022 at the O’Neill Recognition Ceremony. I truly believe that I would not be as accomplished nor successful today, on the path to law school, without the education I received at O’Neill.

I was the first doctoral student in the now defunct Ph.D. program in Regional Analysis and Planning that was offered jointly with the Department of Geography. While it was often challenging straddling multiple disciplines and fields of students, Indiana University and the O’Neill School, in particular, trained me extremely well for a productive career in academia (20 years at Michigan Technological University) and 11 years working for the federal government (EPA and DOE). I fondly remember our early days in the Poplars Building and finally the move to the current location in 1982. I am very proud to be an alum of this truly model school. Dean Bonser was a great leader and a kind man, and I was fortunate to have great advisors and mentors in Kingsley Haynes and Barry Rubin.