Alumni Profile: Wayne Garris, AM’20

Wayne Garris, AM’20, Assistant Inspector General with the City of Chicago, investigates misconduct, fraud, or corruption allegations in the city government.

“Before my current role, I worked in government as an attorney,” said Garris. “I’ve seen firsthand how—even if it’s just an accusation—fraud or misconduct can really hinder your work, damage people’s confidence in your work, or even ruin your agency. It was important to me that the government is being a good steward of taxpayer money. Now, in my current role, I’m able to play a part in that.”

Garris had worked in various legal roles since earning his Juris Doctor from Georgetown University in 2010, including with law firms, the U.S. Department of Education, and the Illinois Human Rights Commission. However, he came to recognize he wanted something different. “I was at a point in my career where I was thinking about changing it altogether,” he said. “I wanted to understand policy, gain some quantitative skills, and receive more training in leadership and negotiations. The EMP [Evening Master’s Program] at Harris was especially appealing because it was geared towards professionals.”

In his current role with the City of Chicago, Garris works in teams with lawyers and non-lawyers. “Harris, especially the leadership classes, really helped me with how I negotiate and navigate working in teams—and at times having to take leadership roles in those teams,” said Garris.

“The quantitative skills Harris emphasized also helped me better understand the data side of my work: the Statistics 1 class was definitely a standout,” he said. “The professor broke down concepts in a way that everyone in class could understand, which was invaluable because most of us didn’t work in professions where we did a lot of data analysis,” said Garris. “Statistics I was an ‘Aha’ moment for me, because it showed me that not only could I understand this material, but I could do this sort of statistical work and apply it to my actual profession.”

However, Garris said the most valuable aspect of his EMP experience was the school’s career support. “I actually was introduced through Harris to the kind of work performed by Inspectors General,” he said. Garris had attended a presentation sponsored by the EMP on the work of an inspector general in a federal agency and subsequently grew interested in the work.

 “Since I was looking to change careers, I spoke with the Career Development Office (CDO) at the downtown location quite a bit,” said Garris. “CDO helped me revise my resume in ways that would make me competitive for both legal and non-legal roles and helped me find Harris contacts in other professions.”

Garris recommends that anyone considering the EMP be sure to try and take advantage of the offerings at the Hyde Park campus. "EMP offers full support downtown with office hours, advisors, and so on, but students have access to all UChicago offers. If your time and circumstances allow,” said Garris, “the programs offered at the Keller Center are a great complement to the EMP experience.”