Edward Joseph Collins Jr.U.S., Social Security Applications and Claims Index, 1936-2007Boston College Bulletin, Law, 1969
/ref> (June 29, 1943 – January 29, 2007)Social Security Death Index was an American

government official An official is someone who holds an office (function or mandate, regardless of whether it carries an actual working space with it) in an organization or government and participates in the exercise of authority (either their own or that of th ...

for the state of

Massachusetts Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...

, the

town A town is a type of a human settlement, generally larger than a village but smaller than a city. The criteria for distinguishing a town vary globally, often depending on factors such as population size, economic character, administrative stat ...

of Saugus and the city of

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

. He is the namesake of the Edward J. Collins Jr. Center for Public Management at the

University of Massachusetts Boston The University of Massachusetts Boston (stylized as UMass Boston) is a Public university, public US-based research university. It is the only public research university in Boston and the third-largest campus in the five-campus University of Ma ...

Early life

Collins was born and raised in Hyde Park. He attended

Archbishop Williams High School Archbishop Williams High School is a coeducation, co-educational Catholicism, Catholic school in Braintree, Massachusetts, Braintree, Massachusetts, United States. It was founded in 1949 by the Sisters of Charity of Nazareth. Archbishop William ...

Boston College Boston College (BC) is a private university, private Catholic Jesuits, Jesuit research university in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1863 by the Society of Jesus, a Catholic Religious order (Catholic), religious order, t ...

, and

Boston College Law School Boston College Law School (BC Law) is the law school of Boston College, a private Jesuit research university in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts. It is situated on a campus in Newton, Massachusetts, about from the university's main campus in Chestn ...

.Boston College Bulletin, Law, 1966
/ref>

Massachusetts Department of Revenue

In 1978 Collins was named a Deputy Commissioner of the Massachusetts Department of Revenue. He was in charge of the newly created Division of Local Services (DLS), which assisted local officials with the complexities of the recently passed

Proposition 2½ A proposition is a statement that can be either true or false. It is a central concept in the philosophy of language, semantics, logic, and related fields. Propositions are the object s denoted by declarative sentences; for example, "The sky ...

. He also helped create cutting edge computer technology to help cities and towns set and collect property taxes. In 1987, he received the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation Award for Outstanding Service to the Commonwealth. He was succeeded by his protégé and future Secretary of Administration and Finance Leslie Kirwan.

Saugus, Massachusetts

Collins was a 30-year resident of Saugus, Massachusetts. He spent one year as a town meeting member and one term (1977 to 1979) as a member of the Board of Selectmen. He then spent ten years as a member of the Board of Appeals. In 1991 he was named Town Manager of Saugus. He was the architect of the town's Capital Improvement Plan, which resulted in the construction of the new public safety building, senior center, library and public works facility. He also secured funding for the renovation of Saugus Town Hall.

Boston

In 1996, Collins resigned as Saugus Town Manager to become the chief financial officer and treasurer of

. In this position he oversaw a $1.8 billion budget and brought fiscal discipline during a time of financial pressure. He was a childhood friend of Mayor

Thomas Menino Thomas Michael Menino (December 27, 1942 – October 30, 2014) was an American politician who served as the mayor of Boston, from 1993 to 2014. He was the city's longest-serving mayor. He was elected mayor in 1993 after first serving three mont ...

and was seen as part of his "inner circle". In the fall of 2000 he suffered a stroke which limited his ability to work. He retired in 2002, but stayed on as a special advisor until 2005.

Death and legacy

Collins died on January 29, 2007, at his home in

North Reading, Massachusetts North Reading (pronounced, as is with Reading, Massachusetts, Reading as ()) is a town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 15,554 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. History The area was first settled ...

, after a lengthy illness. In July 2008, the new Center for Public Management was established at the University of Massachusetts Boston by Governor

Deval Patrick Deval Laurdine Patrick (born July 31, 1956) is an American politician who served as the 71st governor of Massachusetts from 2007 to 2015. He was the first African Americans, African-American Governor of Massachusetts and the first Democratic Pa ...

and the

state legislature A state legislature is a Legislature, legislative branch or body of a State (country subdivision), political subdivision in a Federalism, federal system. Two federations literally use the term "state legislature": * The legislative branches of ...

and was named in his honor.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Collins, Edward J. Jr. Carroll School of Management alumni Boston College Law School alumni Politicians from Boston People from North Reading, Massachusetts People from Saugus, Massachusetts Town managers of Saugus, Massachusetts 2007 deaths 1943 births American chief financial officers People from Hyde Park, Boston Archbishop Williams High School alumni 20th-century American lawyers 21st-century American lawyers 21st-century American politicians 20th-century Massachusetts politicians