Biography
Frederick P. Kessler was born
January 11, 1940 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He is a
graduate of Milwaukee Lutheran High School and the
Capitol Page School in Washington D.C. He served as a
page in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1955 to
1957. Kessler was first elected to the State Assembly
in 1960. On his 21st birthday, January 11, 1961, Fred became
the youngest person up to that time, ever to serve in
the legislature. In 1962 he received a B.A. from the
University of Wisconsin-Madison. In 1964 he was
re-elected to the Assembly, where he served until 1972.
In 1966 he also received his law degree (LLB) from the
University of Wisconsin-Madison. After leaving the
Assembly, Kessler served as a Milwaukee County Judge
from 1972 to 1978 and a Milwaukee County Circuit Court
Judge from 1978 to 1981 and 1986 to 1988; resigning both
times in unsuccessful attempts to become a member of
the U.S. House of Representatives. From 1977 to 1978
Fred served on the Committee on Court Reorganization
which drafted the landmark Court Reorganization Act of
1978. Kessler also works as a labor arbitrator and
redistricting consultant. In 2004, Representative
Kessler was once again elected to the Wisconsin State
Assembly, and in 2006 the people of the 12th
District sent him back to Madison once again to
represent them.
Representative Kessler has long
been active in the Milwaukee community. In 1986 he
organized AWARE (A Wisconsin African Relief Effort),
a group dedicated to fighting drought in West Africa.
He is the current vice president and former president of
the Goethe House, the current secretary and a
former board member of the Wisconsin Academy of
Literature, Arts, & Sciences, and a member of the
board of directors for the World Affairs Council of
Wisconsin. Fred has served on the Labor Law and
Alternative Dispute boards for the Wisconsin Bar
Association, on the board of directors and as former
president of the Milwaukee Chapter of the American
Civil Liberties Union, as a unit chairperson for the
Democratic Party of Wisconsin, as chairman of
Amnesty International Group 107, and as vice
president of the Milwaukee Chapter of DANK
(German-American National Congress). Fred is a
member of the Milwaukee Donauschwaben, the
Milwaukee Turners, and the National Association
for the Advancement of Colored People. He is also a
former advisory board member of the Milwaukee Chapter of
the Industrial Relations Research Association and
a former member of the City of Milwaukee Harbor
Commission.
Fred is married to Appeals Court
Judge Joan Kessler and they have two adult daughters.
He and his wife provide annual scholarships to graduates
of four Milwaukee area high schools to continue their
education at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.
