About Gary
Background
I grew up in Urbana, was served well by our public schools, and want to insure similar educational opportunities for all children in our community today. The public schools afforded me opportunities on many fronts: academic (where I graduated near the top of my class), civic (where I earned citizenship awards and represented my high school class on the "Tiger’s Den Council", a student organization that operated a teen center in downtown Urbana), cultural (where I served as an AFS foreign exchange student to Switzerland), and athletic (where I earned all-conference honors in basketball in 1960/61). It was upon the foundation laid by our local schools that I went on to accomplish the following in my adult life:
Education
- Antioch College (1961-63)
- B.A in Sociology and the Teaching of Social Studies at UIUC (1964-67)
- M.A. in Social Studies Education at UIUC (1967-69)
- Ph.D. in Educational Policy Studies at UIUC (1969-73)
NOTE: My college education included significant electives in the natural sciences and my Ph.D. dissertation was entitled "Philosophical Perspectives on Environmental Education", an early indicator of my lifelong interest in environment/ecology.
Professional Career
- Faculty member at Sangamon State University (SSU) in Social Justice Professions—a program bridging social work and criminal justice (1972-78)
- Dean of Human Services and Sciences, SSU—a 4-year elected position coordinating eight academic programs (Child, Family and Community Services, Social Justice Professions, Human Development Counseling, Nursing, Teacher Education, Educational Administration, Psychology, Sociology/Anthropology) and the Center for Legal Studies—one of four public affairs centers on campus (1978-82)
- Faculty member and Chair of Teacher Education, SSU (1982-88)
- Faculty member in Teacher Education, SSU and later UIS—with two sabbatical leaves to work on middle school reform and a Communities-in-Schools project (1986 through retirement in 2004)
Other Interests and Travel
I consider myself a lifelong environmentalist. My interest in the environment was influenced greatly by my father’s career as a geologist/publisher and by my grandfather’s avocation as a naturalist and photographer. As a young person, I also had an opportunity to travel throughout the U.S. with my family in conjunction with my father’s work. This introduced me to many state and national parks during my formative years, and my grandfather’s movie footage of the west reinforced my commitment to nature preservation. These experiences then influenced the focus of my university studies culminating in my Ph.D. dissertation on environmental education, my public affairs involvement with Lincoln Memorial Garden in Springfield, and my efforts to establish a green residential community in Missouri.
My experience as a high school foreign exchange student to Switzerland reinforced my appreciation for natural beauty and the beauty of well designed communities that were modern and efficient but preserved many traditional architectural styles. This experience also introduced me to the role the United Nations played in the world since many of its specialized agencies were located in Geneva. I also came to appreciate the peacekeeping role Switzerland has played in international diplomacy through the years.
