[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 26 (Tuesday, March 8, 2005)]
[Senate]
[Page S2242]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         PROFESSOR RON SHAFFER

 Mr. FEINGOLD. Mr. President, it is with great sadness that I 
note the recent passing of Professor Ron Shaffer, a man who dedicated 
his career to helping communities discuss and plan their economic 
development.
  Ron joined the faculty of the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 
1972, the same year he received a doctorate in agricultural economics, 
and he soon became a pillar of that great institution. For three 
decades, until his retirement from UW in 2001, Ron was one of the 
State's--if not the country's--leading experts on community economics 
and he wrote extensively on the subject. But, throughout his many years 
in academia, Ron always remained focused on the real world applications 
of his teaching. Economic development was not an abstract concept for 
him--it was a way to help people live better, happier, more productive 
lives. Particularly in the decade he spent as director of the 
University of Wisconsin Center for Community Economic Development, Ron 
devoted himself to bolstering the many and varied rural communities 
that are the backbone of Wisconsin.
  Ron won many honors and accolades throughout his career. His work 
attracted international attention, and he was called upon by 
governments from Australia to Norway to advise on local economic 
development policies. In a particularly fitting move, the year he 
retired from UW, the National Rural Development Partnership established 
the Ron Shaffer Award, to be given annually for outstanding 
collaboration in rural America.
  But I suspect that none of the honors he won mattered as much to Ron 
as the love and companionship of his family and friends. They loved his 
decency, his compassion, and his willingness to lead a patient ear. 
They admired him for the courage with which he handled his diagnosis of 
ALS, or Lou Gehrig's Disease. It was typical of Ron that he used his 
illness as an opportunity to advocate for others afflicted with this 
terrible disease--after all, he spent his life helping others. He will 
be sorely missed as a husband, a father, a friend, and a deeply good 
and giving man.

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