Stephen R. Willand, Ph.D. BIOGRAPHY
For 30 years, Stephen R. Willand, Ph.D., was the Director of the City Manager's Office of Employment and Training and Executive Director of the Central Massachusetts Regional Employment Board (REB). In this capacity Dr. Willand oversaw an extensive and extremely successful employment, education and training system serving both private and corporate citizens throughout Worcester and 37 surrounding communities. Funded by the Workforce Investment Act (WIA), these services are delivered through 3 Workforce Central locations (Worcester, Milford, Southbridge), all officially certified Massachusetts One-stop Career Centers.
Dr. Willand began his career with the City of Worcester in 1977 as coordinator of youth programs where he designed and delivered a system of services for at-risk youth and dropouts which gained national commendation for programming and efficiency. Promoted to the position of Director of Public Service Employment, he coordinated an array of public projects and employment programs for a consortium of 13 communities. Directing the area's first comprehensive vocational assessment center which to this day is a statewide model, he also served as coordinator of private sector initiatives and Deputy Director.
Dr. Willand serves as Adjunct Faculty at several local colleges and universities with continuing education programs at both the graduate and undergraduate levels., He has designed and delivered over 240 courses of various curricula including Ethics, Professionalism and Public Policy, Public Management, Public and Business Administration, Human Resource Management, Marketing, Macro and Microeconomics, and U.S. History.
A native of Worcester, he attended Worcester Public Schools before graduating from St. Peter's Central Catholic High School. He followed his Baccalaureate Degree in history from the College of the Holy Cross with a Master of Arts Degree at the University of Miami, and earned his Doctorate from the University of Massachusetts (Amherst) in Political Science.
Dr. Willand has served on a number of boards and committees including Friendly House, Inc., the Central Massachusetts Health Care Foundation, Junior Achievement, and chaired the 150th Anniversary Committee for the City of Worcester. He also served on the Governor's Advisory Committee on the Impact of the Nuclear Arms Race on the Massachusetts Economy.
For 12 years he coordinated the highly successful City of Worcester United Way Campaign. He was Chairman of the Comprehensive Economic Development Strategies Committee for Central Massachusetts. He also served as a member of the National Employer Leadership Council, and the Business Leadership Network of the of the President's Committee on Employment of People with Disabilities. He received the Greater Worcester Jaycees Outstanding Young Leader Award, and also served as President of the City of Worcester's Administrative Officers Association.
"YOU are an inspiration to many people – I am certain you don’t even know the realm of the people’s lives you have touched."
Sandra,
student, Nichols College
"Over the past year, I have been a student of Dr. Stephen Willand not just once, but three times. Even though each of these three classes were required for the Masters degree program of Non-Profit Management, Dr. Willand turned them into enjoyable experiences with his genuine and sincere demeanor. Sitting through just one session of any of the classes he teaches, it becomes evident that he is not only passionate about the subject at hand, but also compassionate towards the students in that class. I have experienced his patience, good-natured humor, and inspiring intelligence first hand, and can honestly say that I feel I am a better person for having had our paths cross multiple times. He does not hesitate to go the extra mile for his students, and is eager to help them succeed, whether it is in the classroom or in the working world. I hope to achieve the level of respect that Dr. Willand receives from both his peers and his students, and in doing so, live my life in an upstanding and respectful way, as he has done so well."
Erin, Student Worcester State College School of Continuing Education
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Video: Stephen Willand on WCVB's"Chronicle"
History. What is history, and what meaning does it have for us today? There are those who would dismiss history as irrelevant; a meaningless accounting of events of the past that cannot possibly have any bearing on the current and very complex world in which we live today. There are many students who loathe taking a history course as it represents a class of boring lectures and of memorizing an endless list of names, places and events that will be forgotten when the semester is over. Then, there are those who are obsessed with history and constantly strive to learn from the “sins of the past” so as not to commit them again.
We are all familiar with the famous phrases teaching us to study and learn from the lessons of history. George Santayana has given us the most often referred to quotation by warning us that: “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” He, and so many others, have looked to the past to find examples of mistakes made, bad judgment used and poor leadership exercised. From this perspective the past and the lessons of history provide little more than a litany of errors and blunders that we would do well to avoid in the modern era. Thus, history teaches what not to do and what not to repeat. Full Article Continued Here
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