Edwin E. Witte

1887-1960

ED WITTE's career was approximately evenly divided between university teaching and serving as a State or Federal official. For him these areas of activity were closely related. He was a part of the "Wisconsin Idea" of public service in a period when staff members at the University of Wisconsin were pioneering in the investigation of controversial social problems and emphasizing the importance of the university in making a major contribution to public policy issues. His career included service as Secretary of the Industrial Commission of Wisconsin, as Chief of the Wisconsin Legislative Reference Service, as head of the Department of Economics at the University of Wisconsin, as President of both the Industrial Relations Research Association and the American Economic Association, as secretary to a Wisconsin Congressman, as Executive Director and Secretary of the Committee on Economic Security, as a member of the first Advisory Council on Social Security, as a member of the Federal Advisory Council on Social Security, and as a member of the President's Committee on Administrative Management.

Brief biography of Witte written by Wilbur Cohen

Additional photos of Witte

Interview with Witte

Article by Witte