Arnold Scheuer Zander, civil engineer, city planner, University of Wisconsin-Green Bay professor, and co-founder of the union of Wisconsin state civil service employees which was to become the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), AFL-CIO, was born in Two Rivers, Wisconsin, on November 26, 1901. The oldest of six children, he was the son of Arnold W. Zander and Anna Katherine (Scheuer) Zander. He received his bachelor's degree in civil engineering in 1923, his master's degree in city planning in 1929, and his Ph.D. in public administration in 1931 from the University of Wisconsin. His master's thesis was “A City Plan and Zoning Ordinance for Manitowoc, Wisconsin,” and his Ph.D. dissertation was “A City Plan and Zoning Ordinance for Fort Atkinson, Wisconsin.” Zander took additional courses in international relations, law, political science and metropolitan problems in the years between 1944 and 1966. During his lifetime he was employed as a civil engineer from 1923-1927; executive secretary to the Wisconsin League of Municipalities, 1928-1929; principal personnel examiner, Wisconsin Bureau of Personnel, 1930-1935; and professorial lecturer at the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay, 1967-1972.
In 1932 Zander, Henry Ohl Jr., and Colonel A.E. Garey organized a union of Wisconsin state civil service employees which was chartered as the Federal Labor Union 18213 of the AFL. In 1935, through Zander's efforts, the Federal Labor Union was granted a charter to operate under the American Federation of Government Employees and in 1936 the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) was chartered as an international union with Zander as its president, an office he held until May 1964.
Zander had many interests in addition to labor unions and was active in a wide range of organizations. He was deeply concerned with world peace and was president of the United World Federalists from June 1966 to August 1967. Another major interest was international planning and he was a member of the National Planning Association and its subcommittees, the Canadian-American Committee and the British-North American Committee. He was also a member of Public Service International (PSI), a free world organization of public employee unions. He also belonged to numerous other organizations such as Americans for Democratic Action, and was a member of the Cosmos Club in Washington, D.C. Zander initiated and edited the Wisconsin State Employee from 1933 to 1935 and the Public Employee from 1936 to 1964.
On June 15, 1929, Zander married Lola Dynes of Maquoketa, Iowa. They had three children, Ann (Mrs. David Tomatz), Karola (Mrs. Joe Josephson), and Steve. The Zanders were members of the Church of Christ, Scientist. Arnold S. Zander died at Green Bay, Wisconsin, on July 17, 1975.
