The careers of Utah State University graduates Troy and Tracy Justesen are remarkable: they both had stints in the White House. Both shaped national policy before returning to Utah earlier this year.

 

USU’s Center for Persons with Disabilities recently gave the brothers its Trainee of the Year award for 2009.

 

The brothers’ career paths were similar in some ways and divergent in others, but both say their experience with grant writing at USU was important.

 

"My experience at the CPD was one of the best experiences I've had in my professional career," said Tracy, who earned his master’s at USU. "I was your quintessential kid who knows nothing and thinks he knows everything."

 

But people at the center always helped him figure out what he was doing and treated him with respect.

 

Troy’s experience led him to say that people with disabilities are an underused resource in the United States. He puts it bluntly: "I know there are many jobs that I could have had if I didn't have a disability. I think a lot of people with disabilities are written off because of their disability."

 

But USU was the exception to that rule, he said. He enjoyed the respect he received on campus and as a CPD employee. A USU bachelor’s and master’s degree graduate, he is now a vice president at Salt Lake Community College. He likes community colleges because they bring higher education to people who would not otherwise receive it, but he misses USU.

 

After leaving USU, Troy earned a doctorate in higher education policy from Vanderbilt. He worked as an investigator enforcing civil rights laws for the U.S. Department of Justice and in the White House as the associate director for domestic policy, two years before his brother had the same job title. He was the deputy commissioner of the Rehabilitation Services Administration, acting deputy assistant secretary of the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services, and acting commissioner of the Rehabilitation Services Administration. Before leaving Washington he was the assistant secretary for vocational and adult education.

 

After earning his master’s, Tracy earned two law degrees from Drake and George Washington universities. He was president and CEO of the nation's largest independent living center and joined the U.S. Department of Education as a career program specialist. Also in Washington, D.C., he worked in the Department of Justice's Civil Rights Division. He chaired the U.S. Architectural and Transportation Barriers Compliance Board. He was associate director of the White House Domestic Policy Council and assistant secretary for Special Education and Rehabilitative Services.

 

"I think it's great that two twins from a little tiny town in Utah were able to work in the White House and really make a difference," said Marilyn Hammond, who worked with both men at different times in the Utah Assistive Technology Program. "It's been a pleasure to know them."

 

 

Writer: JoLynne Lyon, 435-797-1977, jlyon@cpd2.usu.edu