Skip to main content
skip

Search form


  • About
    • About
    • Why the Ford School?
    • Legacy of Gerald Ford
    • Diversity commitment
    • Engagement
    • Global Ford School
    • Ford School Committee
    • Jobs
    • Contact us
    • Ford School Centennial
  • Academics
    • Academics
    • Course listing
    • Master's programs
    • Undergraduate program
    • Doctoral program
    • Academic resources
    • STPP Grad Certificate
    • PPIA program
  • Admissions
    • Admissions
    • Tuition and residency
    • Planning your visit
    • Request more information
  • Careers & internships
    • Careers & internships
    • Undergraduates
    • Graduate students
    • Why hire from the Ford School?
    • Policy Grads at work
  • Research & action
    • Research
    • Faculty experts
    • Visiting policymakers
    • Research centers
    • Faculty publications
    • Research publications
  • Student life
    • Student life
    • Student organizations
    • Housing
    • Ann Arbor
  • News & events
    • News & events
    • News
    • Events
    • Publications
    • Video
    • Social media
  • Giving
    • Giving
    • Why give
    • Where to give
    • How to give
  • Prospective Students
  • Current Students
  • Faculty/Staff
  • Employers
  • Policymakers & Press
  • Alumni
    • Alumni
    • Alumni events
    • Stay connected
    • Staebler Award
    • Alumni Board
Ford School Home PageThe Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy at the University of Michigan
  • Request a room
  • People
  • Intranet

Search form

  • About
    • About
    • Why the Ford School?
    • Legacy of Gerald Ford
    • Diversity commitment
    • Engagement
    • Global Ford School
    • Ford School Committee
    • Jobs
    • Contact us
    • Ford School Centennial
  • Academics
    • Academics
    • Course listing
    • Master's programs
    • Undergraduate program
    • Doctoral program
    • Academic resources
    • STPP Grad Certificate
    • PPIA program
  • Admissions
    • Admissions
    • Tuition and residency
    • Planning your visit
    • Request more information
  • Careers & internships
    • Careers & internships
    • Undergraduates
    • Graduate students
    • Why hire from the Ford School?
    • Policy Grads at work
  • Research & Action
    • Research
    • Faculty experts
    • Visiting policymakers
    • Research centers
    • Faculty publications
    • Research publications
  • Student life
    • Student life
    • Student organizations
    • Housing
    • Ann Arbor
  • News & events
    • News & events
    • News
    • Events
    • Publications
    • Video
    • Connect with us
    • Weiser Diplomacy Launch Series
  • Giving
    • Giving
    • Why give
    • Where to give
    • How to give
  1. Home
  2. News
  3. Donor-funded fellowship lets students serve Michigan’s senior representatives

News


  • Upcoming Events
  • Past Events
  • News
  • Publications
  • Video
  • Social media
  • Upcoming Events
  • Past Events
  • News
  • Publications
  • Video
  • Social media

Donor-funded fellowship lets students serve Michigan’s senior representatives

Thursday, December 21, 2017
Sam Geller (MPP '17)
Sam Geller

For Sam Geller (MPP '17), the Riecker Michigan Delegation Fellowship offered an opportunity to see the full scope of Congressional responsibility.

Geller spent the first six months of this year in the Washington, DC office of U.S. Senator Gary Peters, Ranking Member of the Senate Subcommittee on Federal Spending Oversight and Emergency Management. Geller’s role: Assisting with inquiries into federal spending, ethical compliance, FEMA appropriations, federal flood insurance programs, and more.

"Congress has a much larger role than just passing appropriations and legislation," Geller says, looking back on the experience. "It’s also in charge of ensuring that government operations and processes are moral, ethical, and efficient."

For Myra Lee (MPP '16), who was the first to hold the title of Riecker Michigan Delegation Fellow, the fellowship demonstrated how legislators balance federal, state, and local interests.

In the office of U.S. Senator Debbie Stabenow, Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry, Lee helped with a range of projects, including supporting state of emergency efforts in the City of Flint.

Myra Lee (MPP '16)
Myra Lee

As a native Detroiter with extensive experience in urban agriculture, nutrition, and community development issues, Lee focused on healthy food access and nutrition interventions to mitigate the harmful health impacts of lead.

The Riecker Michigan Delegation Fellowship, established with a generous planned gift from Margaret Ann (Ranny) Riecker (HLLD '05) and her husband, John Riecker (AB '52, JD '54), makes it possible for Ford School students to provide useful support to Michigan’s DC delegates while acquiring professional skills that will advance their own careers and interests.

In the fall of 2015, the Harry A. And Margaret D. Towsley Foundation of Midland, MI made a generous multi-year pledge that will allow the Ford School to expand the impact of this fellowship in the years ahead.

Myra Lee, who graduated from the Ford School this spring and is now working as district business outreach coordinator in the Southfield and Detroit offices of U.S. Congresswoman Brenda L. Lawrence, says the Riecker fellowship experience informs her work daily.

"I can talk policy all day, but how do I frame my briefing so, when [the congresswoman is] speaking to her constituency, they know what she’s advocating for and how she’s fighting for them?" Lee says the fellowship, which let her observe how staffers briefed the senator on the challenges and controversies in their issue areas, taught her to do that.

One of Sam Geller's main tasks was assisting with research related to the National Flood Insurance Program, which was up for reauthorization in September.

"Michigan has one of the largest per-capita flood insurance policy rates and the largest freshwater coastline in the country, so there are a lot of people who need to take advantage of this program at home," he says.

For both fellows, the experience was a value add—both personally and professionally. Not only was it "a unique time to be working in government," says Geller. "It was a great opportunity to join the work of governing at a time when people with an understanding of policy are needed most."


Below is a formatted version of this article from State & Hill, the magazine of the Ford School. View the entire Fall 2017 State & Hill.

 

 

Share This
Tags: 
Domestic policy, Leadership, Public and nonprofit management, Sam Geller, Riecker Michigan Delegation Fellowship, Myra Lee, Margaret Ann Riecker, John Riecker, Harry A. and Margaret D. Towsley Foundation, Sam Geller, Michigan

Related News

View All
Mar 28, 2019
Towsley courses offer unique learning experience
The Harry A. and Margaret D. Towsley Foundation Policymaker... more
Jan 28, 2019
Riecker Fellowship sends two MPP students to Capitol Hill
The Ford School is sending two students, Chelsea Davis (MPP... more

Related events

View All
Mar
16
Continuing Challenges to Suffrage in Michigan in 2020: Who Still Can’t Vote?
This panel will address the long struggle for women’s right... more
Jan
20
Susan Rice on "Tough Love: My Story of the Things Worth Fighting For"
Former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations and National... more

Related Past Events

View All
Feb
21
Climate Change in the Great Lakes Basin: Policy Options and Public Opinion
Free and open to the public. Panelists: Christopher Borick... more
2011 - 
  • 4:00 pm to 5:30 pm
Apr
04
About Us Without Us: Decision Making and Activism in Policy
Join the Diversity Student Coalition (DiSC) for the 2016... more
2016 - 
  • 4:30 pm to 6:00 pm

RESOURCES FOR:

  • Prospective Students
  • Current Students
  • Faculty/Staff
  • Employers
  • Policymakers & Press
  • Alumni
UMFS Ford School Link

Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy

University of Michigan

735 South State Street | Ann Arbor, MI 48109

P: 734-764-3490 | F: 734-763-9181

Twitter
Facebook
Instagram
Flickr
Youtube
Mission & Values
How to Give
**APPAM** **APSIA** **NASPAA** **PPIA**

About

  • About
  • Why the Ford School?
  • Legacy of Gerald Ford
  • Diversity commitment
  • Engagement
  • Global Ford School
  • Ford School Committee
  • Jobs
  • Contact us
  • Ford School Centennial

Academics

  • Academics
  • Course listing
  • Master's programs
  • Undergraduate program
  • Doctoral program
  • Academic resources
  • STPP Grad Certificate
  • PPIA program

Admissions

  • Admissions
  • Tuition and residency
  • Planning your visit
  • Request more information

Careers & internships

  • Careers & internships
  • Undergraduates
  • Graduate students
  • Why hire from the Ford School?
  • Policy Grads at work

Student life

  • Student life
  • Student organizations
  • Housing
  • Ann Arbor

Research & Action

  • Research
  • Faculty experts
  • Visiting policymakers
  • Research centers
  • Faculty publications
  • Research publications

News & events

  • News & events
  • News
  • Events
  • Publications
  • Video
  • Connect with us
  • Weiser Diplomacy Launch Series

Giving

  • Giving
  • Why give
  • Where to give
  • How to give

Alumni

  • Alumni
  • Alumni events
  • Stay connected
  • Staebler Award
  • Alumni Board

Intranet

Ford School Home Page© The Regents of the University of Michigan | Non-discrimination policy | U-M | Webmaster | Sitemap | Contact