John Maggiore is one of nine fellows under the Robert G. Wilmers State and Local Public Service Fellowship, and Aileen McNamara is this year's recipient of the Western New York Public Service Fellowship, which is administered by the Buffalo-Niagara Partnership. Both students are from the Buffalo area and both are candidates for a master in public administration -- McNamara in 1999 and Maggiore in 2000.

Prior to coming to the Kennedy School, Maggiore worked as chief of staff to New York State Assemblyman Sam Hoyt, as a confidential assistant to Governor Mario Cuomo, and in the office of State Senator Alton R. Waldron Jr. McNamara has worked as a staff attorney for the Mental Hygiene Legal Service since 1995 and serves on the Police/Mental Health Coordination Project in Buffalo.

Wilmers remarked, "The fellowships Aileen McNamara and John Maggiore have received were created to give individuals committed to public service at the state and local levels an opportunity to earn a Harvard degree. That degree is second in importance only to the skills, ideas, and enthusiasm with which they will return to serve our community. I hope Buffalo will join me in welcoming Aileen and John when they return a little over a year from now to apply what they have learned for the benefit of us all."