Four inducted into the UIS Legislative Internship Hall of Fame during ceremony

The Samuel K. Gove Illinois Legislative Internship Hall of Fame at the University of Illinois Springfield honored four individuals who have served as legislative interns at the state capitol. Mark Denzler, Marcilene Dutton, DeShana Forney and David Joens were inducted during a ceremony at the Old State Capitol on Monday, March 12, 2018. Inductees are selected based on their contributions to Illinois and its citizens. The Hall of Fame is also recognition of the important role that public service internships play in developing public sector leadership.

Mark Denzler is vice president & chief operating officer for the Illinois Manufacturers' Association (IMA), a statewide advocacy organization representing nearly 4,000 member companies and facilities. Denzler assumed his current post in January 2006 and is responsible for all government affairs, membership and human resource activities. Prior to IMA, Denzler served in various posts including overseeing Illinois government affairs for State Farm Insurance, a Fortune 50 company headquartered in Bloomington. He served as director of government affairs for the IMA and was a legislative analyst in the General Assembly focusing on taxes, education and transportation. Denzler was appointed by Governor Pat Quinn and reappointed by Governor Bruce Rauner to Illinois Workers' Compensation Advisory Board. He serves on the Board of Directors for Ronald McDonald House Charities of Central Illinois, Sangamo Club, and sits on the National Public Affairs Steering Committee for the National Association of Manufacturers. Denzler is a 2015 selection as an Edgar Fellow at the University of Illinois and a graduate of the inaugural class of the Crain's Chicago Business Leadership Academy. Denzler is a 1993 graduate of Illinois Wesleyan University and currently lives in Springfield with his wife and son.

Marcy Dutton serves as general counsel to the Teacher’s Retirement System of Illinois (TRS) which is a $6.4 billion pension fund providing financial security to retired public-school teachers employed in school districts outside of the City of Chicago. Prior to joining TRS, Dutton worked for eight years at the Illinois State Board of Education as its deputy general counsel although she pitched in and served as general counsel twice when called upon to do so. The majority of Dutton’s professional career has been public school and public service focused. Dutton graduated from Millikin University with degrees in political science and English. After completing the legislative internship program in 1986, she attended Louisiana State University where she earned a Juris Doctor degree. A lifelong learner, in 2010 she completed the Chief School Business Official endorsement program offered by the University of Illinois Springfield. Since 2007, she has taught school law classes at UIS on a part-time basis. Dutton and her husband live in Chatham.

DeShana Forney is senior director of government and community relations for Peoples Gas and North Shore Gas, subsidiaries of WEC Energy Group. In this role, she is responsible for leading the company’s Illinois government and community relations strategy. Prior to joining Peoples Gas and North Shore Gas, Forney was the associate director of governmental relations for the University of Illinois. She has more than twenty years of legislative, budgetary and management experience, which includes leading the Illinois Housing Development Authority (IHDA) as its executive director, serving as the director of public safety and house legislative liaison in the Office of the Governor, and working on Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan’s issues development staff. In addition to her government affairs work, Forney has held numerous senior political campaign positions in races for state legislative, constitutional, Supreme Court and countywide offices, and formerly served as the Democratic Party of Illinois’ deputy executive director. She holds a bachelor’s degree in political science from Howard University in Washington, D.C. and a master’s degree in political studies from the University of Illinois Springfield. She was born and raised in Springfield.

David Joens, director of the Illinois State Archives, worked on the Illinois Senate Democratic staff for seven years. A U.S. Army veteran and former newspaper reporter, he was a press secretary for Democratic members of the Senate, including the Senate’s Black Caucus. In 1996, he began work as the assistant director of the Illinois Legislative Studies Center at the University of Illinois Springfield, where he authored two “Almanac of Illinois Politics” books. In 2000, he moved to the Illinois Secretary of State’s office, where he worked for four years on the policy staff. In 2004, he was picked by Secretary of State Jesse White to serve as the fifth director of the Illinois State Archives, a position he holds today. Joens has an undergraduate degree from Northern Illinois University, two master’s degrees from the University of Illinois Springfield and a doctorate in Illinois history from Southern Illinois University. In 2012, he authored the book “From Slave to State Legislator: John W. E. Thomas, Illinois First African American Lawmaker.” Joens is married to Mona Martin, who is also a former legislative staff intern and who was inducted in the Samuel K. Gove Hall of Fame in 2013. They live in Springfield.

The Hall of Fame is hosted by the UIS Center for State Policy and Leadership and the Illinois Department of Natural Resources Historic Preservation Division. The Hall of Fame is named for the late Samuel K. Gove, founding director of the internship program and one of the founders of Illinois Issues magazine. Established in 1990, the Hall of Fame, including this year’s inductees, now numbers 68 individuals, among them a former governor and several former and current state and federal legislators. The names of the Hall’s members are inscribed on a plaque that hangs on the fourth floor of the Illinois Statehouse.

For more information, contact Rob Fafoglia with the UIS Center for State Policy and Leadership at 217/206-7163 or rfafo2@uis.edu.