Dennis J. Conta

Class of 1962: Politics and public service

For nearly 50 years, Dennis Conta has impacted public policy and politics in the state of Wisconsin as a State Representative, a Secretary of the Wisconsin Department of Revenue, and a public policy consultant.

He was born Dennis John Conta on March 24, 1940, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. At Ripon, he majored in philosophy, participated in Sigma Chi/Omega Sigma Chi, and served as catcher on the baseball team that won the 1962 Midwest Conference Championship.

Professor of Philosophy William Tyree mentored Conta’s growing interest in politics and public service. “I entered Ripon with an eye on playing four years of baseball, majoring in physical education and becoming a physical education teacher and I left with a philosophy major and an interest in politics and public service.”

After commissioning through ROTC at Ripon, Conta served in the United States Army from 1962-1964.

After leaving the Army, Conta spent four years earning a a master’s degree in public administration from Harvard University and a master’s degree in social welfare from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee; and serving as a Project of the India Peace Corp Training Program at UW-Milwaukee.

In 1968, he was elected to the Wisconsin State Legislature, representing the east side of Milwaukee, and served four terms. After five years as the co-chairman of the Joint Committee on Finance, Conta was appointed Secretary of the Wisconsin Department of Revenue by Gov. Patrick Lucey in 1976 and served through 1979.

Conta said he is most proud of his fight in the 1970s to integrate schools, leading to Chapter 220, a state program that bused tens of thousands of Black and lower-income students in Milwaukee to suburban schools and suburban students into the City of Milwaukee.

Conta was appointed by Gov. Jim Doyle to be chairperson of the State of Wisconsin Health Insurance Risk Sharing Program Authority, governed by a Board of Directors consisting of policyholders, health care providers, insurers and small business leaders. Doyle also appointed Conta to the Board of Governors of the Wisconsin Injured Patients and Families Compensation Fund, for which he served as chairperson of the Finance, Investment and Audit Committee.

In 1980, he left government and established Conta and Associates, a public policy consulting firm that focuses on project management, research and analysis, and strategic planning
He was extensively involved with Milwaukee and Wisconsin charter schools. Conta served as the executive director of the Milwaukee Charter School Advocates and was appointed to the boards of both the Wisconsin Charter School Association and Seeds of Health Inc., a network of charter schools in the City of Milwaukee.

In 1985, Conta married Deborah Gardner and together they became active in a variety of organizations and groups in Milwaukee area. Both are active with the Unitarian Church in Milwaukee.

Conta also is co-founder of Tenor High School, a trade-oriented school established in 2006, chartered by UW-Milwaukee and administered by Seeds of Health Inc. In 2009, the school was named Charter School of the Year in 2009, and Conta was named Charter School Person of the Year.

He continues to facilitate group studies in philosophy and aesthetics and hold a discussion group focusing on politics, political elections and political advocacy.