Student Profile: Patrick Hanley, MPP/MBA, Class of 2020

Patrick Hanley believes America is the land of opportunity—but he realizes that not everyone has had the same advantages he did growing up. Like all nations, the U.S. has problems that need solving. Hanley hopes to help understand and fix them.

After graduating from the three-year combined MPP/MBA degree program offered through the University of Chicago Harris School of Public Policy and the Booth School of Business, Hanley, a second-year Harris student, hopes to enter public service and engage other Americans in improving their country. “Public service is the most noble calling there is,” he says.

Hanley has already spent time in public service. He interned for the U.S. Senate and the White House and worked at the U.S. Department of Justice in Washington, D.C. He also did canvassing and phone banking in Charlottesville, Virginia, for the 2012 Obama re-election campaign. Hanley’s motivation to join the Obama campaign came after a difficult conversation he had with a diverse group while studying conflict resolution in Beirut. They didn’t agree on much, but the group shared the belief that much of what was wrong in the world was because of the United States. 

“That really hurt,” explains Hanley, who took the conversation to heart. “It put words to my sneaking suspicions about how others perceive the country I love so much.” Although Hanley didn’t agree with the perspectives offered, he became committed to understanding the root causes of those views and how negative perceptions might be shifted. He wanted then—and still wants now—to help make a change.

Hanley calls himself a “generalist by training,” an assessment he views as a strength for government service. “In government-level work, you have to deal with so many different issues that it’s best to have a decent understanding of how they all work and how they work together,” he says, adding that Harris Public Policy is a natural extension of his previous experiences; it provides the system-level perspectives required for meaningful work in government.

Hanley also says that Harris has been supportive of his professional and academic goals. A stipend provided by the school’s Institute of Politics allowed Hanley, who believes that finance is a major factor in creating change, to participate in a year-long fellowship working on economic policy in the City of Chicago treasurer’s office.

“How we raise money and how we allocate it are probably two of the most important things government does,” he says. “Our budgets reflect our priorities. Our priorities reflect our values.”

The University also supports the Prairie State Society, of which Hanley is a founding member. The Prairie State Society is a club for students to learn more about Illinois state-level government. It receives funding from Harris and the University of Chicago Graduate Council and hosts approximately three events per year, including conversations with state representatives. “Harris really allows you to choose your own adventure,” says Hanley. His position as a teacher’s assistant for Senior Lecturer Paula Worthington’s class on state and local finance also keeps him busy.

Hanley is currently completing a year with the Booth School of Business after one with Harris last year. He says the two Schools complement each other perfectly and that finding a community of peers that shares his values was natural.

“I found my people in the first week,” he says. “It’s very easy to find community and individuals that inspire you here.”