Bill Holzerland, ’01, credits some of his successes to his tenure at St. Bonaventure, or more specifically to his time as a student of Denny Wilkins, Ph.D.
Holzerland was recently named a member of the 2016-2018 Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) Advisory Committee, which works with the White House to help increase the transparency of FOIA. He said his interest in affecting policy at a national level stemmed from a class he took with Wilkins during his freshman year.
“Something Denny [Wilkins]said really impressed upon me the need to question your government,” Holzerland said. “He said it’s so easy to do. You use the access laws, you attend briefings. You always have something to write on and you always have a calculator handy.”
Holzerland said a summer spent interning on Capitol Hill helped him realize that in addition to policy work, he was keenly interested in helping people.
“It sounds very trite and very simple, but that mattered to me,” he said.
After graduating college, he knew his best bet was to head to Washington, D.C., and that he wanted to work specifically for the then newly minted Department of Homeland Security, where he hoped to be a “voice for transparency.”
“I came [to D.C.] with $465 in my pocket and no place to live. I stayed on a friend’s couch and eventually landed my first job as a federal contractor.”
Since then, he’s moved around to various government agencies, always working in their FOIA offices, which he feels is “a perfect niche.”
“I like journalism and I like transparency,” Holzerland said. “I like the law, and I like how law works.”
He noted that during his time working FOIA in the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, he also spent four years taking night classes in Baltimore to become a lawyer.
While his time in law school was definitely grueling — he was still working full time — he feels that having a law degree has ultimately helped his career, he said.
Currently, Holzerland is the FOIA director at the Food and Drug Administration’s Center for Devices and Radiological Health.
He will continue to hold that position while working on the FOIA Advisory Committee, which began its work in July.
Part of his duties with the committee will be to help the 50-year-old act maintain its relevance well into the 21st century.
Holzerland said Bona’s and the Jandoli School of Journalism and Mass Communication was a major part of shaping his career.
“I think Bonaventure was instrumental in me getting where I am,” he said. “Being able to write clearly, efficiently and effectively, and sometimes persuasively… these are all important skills. Jandoli School taught me those,” he paused. “More specifically, Denny Wilkins beat them into me.”
mcelfrdh14@bonaventure.edu
