Dennis was elected Mayor of Wauwatosa in April 2020, after serving 10 years on the City of Wauwatosa Common Council and 15 years on the Wauwatosa Civil Service Commission.
A life of service …
Dennis was a co-founder of Friends of Hoyt Park & Pool, Inc., which provides a community swimming pool and beer garden for Wauwatosa, and of Support Our Schools (SOS) Wauwatosa.
Some of his other community activities include:
· Member of the State of Wisconsin Retirement Board
· Director (Ex Officio) of the UWM Foundation
· Member of the UW-Milwaukee Board of Visitors
· Member of the Wauwatosa School District’s Long-Range Planning Committee
· Co-founder of Wauwatosa East High School’s “Wall of Inspiration”
A life of leadership …
Dennis served two terms as President of the Wauwatosa Common Council. He also served as Chair of the Council’s Financial Affairs Committee and the Transportation Affairs Committee.
While on the Council, Dennis was a director of the Wauwatosa Revolving Loan Fund Corporation and a member of the Village Streetscaping Committee, and served as the Council’s liaison to the Wauwatosa Historic Preservation Commission.
A partial list of his other leadership roles in Wauwatosa and Milwaukee includes:
· Chair of the City of Wauwatosa Civil Service Commission
· Co-Founder and President of the Pasadena Neighborhood Association
· President-Elect of the UW-Milwaukee Alumni Association
· Co-Chair of the Wauwatosa High School Memorial Project (which restored the historic lobby at Wauwatosa East High School and created a history museum)
· Vice President of Support Our Schools (SOS) Wauwatosa
· Vice President of the Wauwatosa Historical Society
· Coordinator of the Hedge School at Milwaukee Irish Fest
A life of achievement …
Dennis is a graduate of Wauwatosa East High School and earned a bachelor’s degree in journalism from UW-Milwaukee, a master’s degree in public administration from Princeton University, and a law degree from New York University.
As a UWM senior, Dennis was inducted into the Phi Beta Kappa and Phi Kappa Phi honor societies and received the Chancellor’s Award as the university’s top scholar-athlete.
An attorney for more than 30 years in government and private practice, Dennis spent 24 years as a Senior Trial Attorney and Supervisory Trial Attorney for the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. He also worked as Public Relations Manager for Rexnord Inc.
Dennis has received UWM’s Alumni Citizenship Award and the Federal Executives Association of Milwaukee’s Community Service Award. He has been rated “AV Preeminent” (highest for legal ability and professional ethics) in a legal community poll, and in 2014 was named a Fellow of the Wisconsin Bar Foundation, an honor given to only a small percentage of Wisconsin attorneys.
A member of UWM’s Athletics Hall of Fame, Dennis twice won the Milwaukee Mayfair Marathon, the predecessor to the Lakefront Marathon. More than 45 years after graduation, he still holds one of the fastest 10,000-meter times ever run by a UWM athlete.
A member of Tosa East’s 1972 state championship track & field team and an all-conference athlete in three sports, Dennis is a member of Tosa East’s Athletics Hall of Fame.
A life well-lived …
Dennis is a member of the Charles Jacobus Park Neighborhood Association and St. Matthew’s Evangelical Lutheran Church, where he sings in the Senior Choir.
Dennis is married to Karen Barry and is the proud father of Meredith, Gillian, and Donovan McBride, father-in-law of Matthew Meltzer, and grandfather of Ezra and Leonard.
Dennis’ parents were prominent journalists Raymond E. McBride and Marian “Toni” McBride, both of whom are members of the Milwaukee Press Club Hall of Fame.
