The Wisconsin Policy Forum excels at explaining complex subjects, but even we have to pause for a second while trying to do justice to our longtime leader, Rob Henken. For 16 years, Rob served as president of our organization and during that time no one observed him more closely than we did as his employees. Yet we remain as mystified as everyone else in Milwaukee and the rest of the state about how he accomplished all that he did in his role.
We can point out some of the obvious factors. For one, he never tired. He was always willing to take on tasks for his organization and community that many other leaders would have pawned onto others. Second, he was brilliant – whether in rifling through a series of budget tables, moderating a panel, or titling a report, he could arrive in seconds at the heart of a complex matter. As an executive, he was also versatile – whether planning and presenting at events, conducting research, overseeing accounting and payroll, fundraising and managing grants, and tracking every detail of the Forum’s operations, he excelled at it all.
Yet somehow, these explanations fall short in accounting for Rob’s enormous legacy. The publications, accomplishments, and acts of service that he somehow squeezed into his tenure seem to belong to a period of time that is even longer than the years he actually led our organization. He had an uncanny ability to produce more than one man – even a smart and industrious one – ought to be able to do.
Consider for a moment some of the major changes in Milwaukee and the region in which Rob had a hand: the rescue of the city of Milwaukee and Milwaukee County from fiscal ruin, the promotion of intergovernmental cooperation on services such as fire and EMS, the reform of psychiatric crisis services in Milwaukee County, the facilitation and mediation among local leaders at odds with one another, and so much more. Now reflect that these are just some of his accomplishments at the Forum – his distinguished career also included service as the Director of Research for the County Board, Director of Health and Human Services, and Director of Administrative Services. He also directed two other non-profit organizations in Milwaukee — the Alliance for Future Transit and the Milwaukee Jobs Initiative – and served as a senior aide to two congressmen on Capitol Hill.
It was no surprise to us this summer that the Governmental Research Association awarded Rob the national organization’s highest individual honor, the Frederick P. Gruenberg Award for Lifetime Achievement. This award goes to individuals who have made outstanding career contributions to the field of governmental research.
After stepping down as president of the Forum last year, Rob has decided to end his part-time employment with us so he can focus exclusively on serving as executive director of the Herzfeld Foundation and teaching a political science course at Marquette University. You can still expect to see him at Forum events, however, and he will also continue to be a trusted adviser.
It’s not possible for those of us following behind Rob to achieve anything like what he did, but we are surely holding ourselves to better and higher standards because we had the good fortune of knowing him and watching him at work. We do not have to imagine what true excellence is, because we saw it with our own eyes.
In the end, it’s difficult to convey Rob’s remarkable example to those who may not have had the chance to observe him as we did. We will simply say that, over his career inside and outside government, he has proven himself to be one of those citizens who can truly be called a public servant.