Geri M. Joseph

"My interest in the Humphrey School goes a long way back—indeed, to its very beginning. Shortly after Humphrey's death in 1978, I was asked by Muriel Humphrey to meet her in London where a large group of British friends and admirers gathered to raise money for a new facility on the University of Minnesota campus. It would be called the Humphrey School of Public Affairs. All the years I spent in political activity had educated me to the need for high-level programs that would give students both the academic information needed to be effectively involved in public service. But there was one more requirement: the involvement of practitioners who could share real-life experience in the obstacles and rewards of designing and implementing public policy. I am proud of the Humphrey School's efforts to excel in all these areas."

Areas of Expertise

Public service

Biography

From 1946 to 1953, Geri Joseph was a staff writer for the Minneapolis Tribune, specializing in social policy and politics. A winner of six American Newspaper Guild awards for outstanding journalism, she was the first woman to win the Sigma Delta Chi award for a series on Minnesota's mental hospitals. From 1973 to 1978, Joseph was a contributing editor and columnist for the Minneapolis newspaper, and many of her columns were reprinted by other newspapers, including The Washington Post.

Joseph has been active in several nonprofit and civic organizations, including the National Association for Mental Health, (now Mental Health America), a million-member organization. Politics and government, women's affairs, young people, and education are among her other interests. Long active in Democratic politics, she was state chairwoman of the party and national committeewoman for Minnesota's Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party. Joseph served as President Kennedy's Committee on Youth Employment, President Johnson's Commission on Income Maintenance Programs, and President Carter's Commission on Mental Health.

In 1978, Joseph was named the United States Ambassador to the the Netherlands, where she served until 1981. She was a free-lance writer until 1984, when she joined the University of Minnesota's Humphrey School of Public Affairs as a fellow. Retiring from the institute in 1994, she continues as to serve on the Institute's advisory council.

Among Joseph's many awards and honors are an Outstanding Achievement Award from the University of Minnesota; an honorary Doctor of Laws degree from Bates College; an Award for Excellence from the University of Minnesota Journalism School; an honorary Doctorate in Humane Letters from Macalester College; and an honorary Doctor of Laws from Carleton College. She also has been honored with a Statesman Award from the Anti-Defamation League and the Hubert H. Humphrey Public Leadership Award from the Humphrey School.

Joseph is a magna cum laude graduate of the University of Minnesota.

Resume (PDF)

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