Spencer Black (born May 25, 1950) is an American educator and retired politician. A member of the

Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to: *Democratic Party (United States) Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to: Active parties Africa *Botswana Democratic Party *Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea *Gabonese Democratic Party *Demo ...

, he represented

Madison Madison may refer to: People * Madison (name), a given name and a surname * James Madison (1751–1836), fourth president of the United States Place names * Madison, Wisconsin, the state capital of Wisconsin and the largest city known by this ...

in the

Wisconsin State Assembly The Wisconsin State Assembly is the lower house of the Wisconsin Legislature. Together with the smaller Wisconsin Senate, the two constitute the legislative branch of the U.S. state of Wisconsin. Representatives are elected for two-year terms, ...

for 26 years, and was Minority Leader for most of the 2001-2002 session.

Early life and education

Born in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

in 1951, Black graduated from New York's

Stuyvesant High School Stuyvesant High School (pronounced ), commonly referred to among its students as Stuy (pronounced ), is a State school, public university-preparatory school, college-preparatory, Specialized high schools in New York City, specialized high school ...

and received his

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six ...

in economics and history from the

State University of New York at Stony Brook Stony Brook University (SBU), officially the State University of New York at Stony Brook, is a public research university in Stony Brook, New York. Along with the University at Buffalo, it is one of the State University of New York system's ...

. He moved to

Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...

to attend the University of Wisconsin–Madison for graduate studies, receiving his first

master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice.

in urban and regional planning in 1980, and receiving his Master of Public Policy and

Public Administration Public Administration (a form of governance) or Public Policy and Administration (an academic discipline) is the implementation of public policy, administration of government establishment (public governance), management of non-profit establ ...

in 1981. He worked as a high school teacher and coach, as Curator of Education of the

Wisconsin Historical Society The Wisconsin Historical Society (officially the State Historical Society of Wisconsin) is simultaneously a state agency and a private membership organization whose purpose is to maintain, promote and spread knowledge relating to the history of N ...

and as a conservationist for the

Sierra Club The Sierra Club is an environmental organization with chapters in all 50 United States, Washington D.C., and Puerto Rico. The club was founded on May 28, 1892, in San Francisco, California, by Scottish-American preservationist John Muir, who be ...

Wisconsin Assembly

He was first elected to the Assembly in 1984 and was subsequently re-elected twelve times. In 1998, Black endorsed Kenosha representative

James Kreuser James E. "Jim" Kreuser (born May 20, 1961) is an American politician and former County Executive for Kenosha County, Wisconsin, serving from 2008 to 2022. A member of the Democratic Party, he previously represented Kenosha in the Wisconsin State ...

in his unsuccessful bid for Democratic Minority Leader. A few years later, following Democrats' disappointment with the results of the 2000 election, Black challenged Marlin Schneider for the role of Assistant Minority Leader and won a surprising upset victory. He worked with Kreuser over the next few months to bring a challenge to Minority Leader

Shirley Krug Shirley Krug (born January 29, 1958) is an American politician and public administrator from Wisconsin. A member of the Democratic Party, she represented Milwaukee in the Wisconsin State Assembly for 20 years, and was the first woman to serve as ...

, culminating in their May 2001 victory in which Black was elected Minority Leader and Kreuser Assistant Minority Leader. Their victory was seen as a repudiation of the Democratic Leadership Council in Wisconsin, which some in the caucus blamed for a strategy which saw Democrats stuck in the minority. Black relinquished his leadership role after less than one session, endorsing Kreuser as his successor. He served for many years as the Chair of the Assembly Natural Resources Committee. He authored numerous environmental laws including the Knowles-Nelson Stewardship Fund, the Mining Moratorium law, the Lower Wisconsin Riverway, the statewide recycling program, and the endangered species matching grant program.

Later years

He is currently a Professor of Urban and Regional Planning at the

University of Wisconsin-Madison A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, the ...

and was Vice President of the 2014 board of directors for the

, one of the nation's oldest and most prestigious environmental activists agencies. He continues to reside in Madison and often writes as an opinion columnist for '' The Capital Times''.

References

External links

* * ''Follow the Money'' – Spencer Black
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campaign contributions {{DEFAULTSORT:Black, Spencer Robert M. La Follette School of Public Affairs alumni 1950 births Living people 21st-century American politicians Democratic Party members of the Wisconsin State Assembly