UWM Alumni - Spring 2013

Magazine of the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee

Spring 2013

Vol. 15, No. 1

THE AGE OF ENTREPRENEURS ON CAMPUS

Table of CONTENTS

1 Panther & Proud

2 Quotable & Notable

4 New @ UWM

6 Two Peck grads named Alumni Fellows

7 Greenstreet awarded top honor in architecture education

8 THE RISE OF UWM’S ENTREPRENEURIAL CULTURE From internships to student-idea incubation to help for faculty startups, UWM is fueling a campus entrepreneurial spirit.

16 CONTROLLING RISKY BUSINESS It’s baptism by fire in UWM’s elite Investment Management Certificate Program

18 ARCHITECT AND URBAN EXPLORER Ryan Tretow began photographing Milwaukee’s industrial past as a class project. Things clicked.

20 Career Questions

22 Michelle Grabner chosen for 2014 Whitney Biennial

24 Panther Athletics

26 Bass named new leader at UWM Alumni Association

27 Homage to education

28 Gardening for the greater good

29 Class Notes

32 Writes poetry, loves to teach

34 Nominate now, celebrate in November

36 Coming up

On the cover: UWM is ramping up its entrepreneurial culture for faculty and students. Jesse DePinto, a senior in mechanical engineering, is part of a new breed of UWM student – aspiring entrepreneurs. He and partner Matt Juranitch were also among the first winners of the Student Startup Challenge, a university-sponsored competition based entirely on the strength of a product idea. With their winnings, the two students are launching a business of their own, while they are still in college.

S P R I N G 2 01 3 VO L . 1 5 , N O. 1

Chancellor: Michael R. Lovell

Vice Chancellor for University Relations and Communications: Tom Luljak (’95)

Vice Chancellor for Development and Alumni Relations: Patricia Borger

Associate Vice Chancellor for Alumni Relations: Adrienne Bass

Interim Assistant Vice Chancellor of Integrated Marketing & Communications: Laura Porfilio Glawe (’89)

Editor: Nancy A. Mack (’71) Associate Editor: Angela McManaman (’00, ’08) Assistant Editor: Laura L. Hunt

Design: Mario Lopez, Gina Johnson (‘04)

Photography: UWM Photo Services

UWM Alumni is published two times a year for alumni and other friends of the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.

Send correspondence and address changes to: UWM Alumni Association P.O. Box 413 Milwaukee, WI 53201-0413

Phone: address changes 414-906-4667 all other inquiries 414-229-4290

ISSN: 1550-9583

Not printed at taxpayer expense

Alumni

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A L U M N I . U W M . E D U

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SPRING 2013 UWM ALUMNI • 1

PANTHER CUBS

PANTHER & PROUD

TELL US ABOUT IT

Have a Panther Pride photo you’d like to share? Want to comment on something you’ve seen or read in the magazine? We welcome your input. Send submis-sions by email to [email protected], or by snail mail to Angela McManaman, UWM Alumni, Mitchell Hall B95, 3203 N. Downer Ave., Milwaukee WI 53211. Please include your name, address and degree year(s).

SPRING BREAK: SUN, FUN, SERVICE

Two groups of UWM students headed south during spring break for sun, a little fun and lots of hard work to help others.

The students on an Alternative Spring Break in Asheville, N.C., were hosted by Cliff Christian and The Timothy Project, and served at food banks, women’s shelters, veterans’ rehabilitation quarters and environmental agencies in the area. The project was organized by UWM’s Center for Community-Based Learning, Leadership and Research, with sponsorship help from the Campus Activities Board.

The UWM Habitat for Humanity team headed to Delaware to join other college students in doing some home building as part of Habitat’s Collegiate Challenge 2013.

The Asheville team pulled 70 old tires from a neighborhood creek as part of an environmental cleanup.

Khary Penebaker (’01 BBA) and his wife Amanda welcomed Jocelyn (Josie) Sofia Penebaker on March 1. Josie was 7 pounds, 12 ounces, and 21 inches long. Khary is director of strategic business development at Waukesha-based Metal-Era Inc.

All decked out in Panther gear is Eli Jacob Peterson, born Nov. 13. Eli is the son of Brent Peterson and Lora Strigens (’02 MArch, MUP). Strigens received a UWMAA GOLD (Graduate of the Last Decade) Award in 2009. She is with HGA architects and engineers in Milwaukee.

Margaret Josephine Mills, born March 1, has two proud Panther parents – John Mills (’05 BBA Marketing and M.I.S.) and Sara Mills (’06 MA History). Dad works at UWM as a senior Web designer and developer. Mom is a lawyer with Crivello-Carlson in Milwaukee.

CHANCELLOR’S WELCOME

It’s often said that one of the few constants in the world is change. This certainly is true at universities as we adjust to the ever-evolving needs of the students we educate and the communities we serve. This issue of UWM Alumni takes a closer look at an area I believe is both important and exciting: the rise of UWM’s entrepreneurial culture.

Earlier this year, I accepted an invitation to speak at the BizStarts Milwaukee College Consortium Leaders Luncheon. My topic was “Building an Innovation Ecosystem in Southeastern Wisconsin,” and I told the university and business leaders present that today’s university has three related responsibilities to build that ecosystem:

• Produce innovative and entrepreneurial graduates who will be future leaders in the workforce.

• Generate fundamentally new ideas and technology that will add value to existing companies within the ecosystem.

• Produce intellectual property and a regional culture that will lead to the creation of new startup companies.

The articles about UWM’s entrepreneurial culture in this issue show the progress being made in areas like the Lubar School of Business’s New Venture Business Plan Competition; the Student Startup Challenge, a combined effort of the College of Engineering & Applied Science, Peck School of the Arts and UWM Research Foundation; and faculty spinoff companies. The combined effect is a university changing so that it can facilitate and nurture innovation.

It’s an exciting time at UWM, and I encourage you to read more about our entrepreneurial culture and other university innovations on the pages of this issue.

Michael R. Lovell Chancellor

2 • UWM ALUMNI FALL 2012

NEW BOOK TAKES ‘OLD-SCHOOL’ LOOK AT CITY ARCHITECTURE

Bobby Tanzilo (’89 BA Mass Communication) opened doors to myriad Milwaukee

schools and dug deep into city archives to research his October 2012 book, “Historic Milwaukee Public Schoolhouses.”

Tracing the history of Milwaukee Public Schools (MPS) buildings past and present is an elegant, elegiac way to look at the city’s history, he says.

“I get sad when I see the places that are gone. When 21st Street School was razed and replaced by Gwen T. Jackson School, they replaced a beautiful old building with one that resembles a box, without windows.”

Architectural success stories remain, however, and are testaments to the blend of aesthetic integrity and civic duty that dominated Milwaukee’s public construction projects in the 19th and early-20th centuries.

“You start to see that basically all of the MPS buildings were designed by the best architects in Milwaukee at the time. “

The dominant example is Civil War veteran Henry Koch, the architect behind Gesu Church, City Hall and the Pfister Hotel. Koch designed many MPS sites, including buildings housing two of the district’s most popular programs today: Golda Meir Urban Gifted and Talented and Maryland Avenue Montessori. Eighth Street School, Koch’s 1884 creation, remains standing on its namesake street as the oldest building still operating as a district school, but most of his other schoolhouse designs are long gone.

Full disclosure: Tanzilo’s children attend Maryland Avenue Montessori. His appreciation for the elegance and historical significance of the older buildings is tempered by a parent’s-eye view of a tightly packed lunchroom and flights of old wooden stairs that small feet must navigate daily.

“I can’t say if the learning experience is shaped positively by the architecture,” says Tanzilo, the managing editor of OnMilwaukee.com.

“An argument could be made against some of these buildings, that kids don’t have enough room, that they’re not ADA compliant, that there’s no space for a lab. But in these older buildings there’s a beauty that you hope creates an atmosphere of pride and is conducive to learning in that sense.”

Even the oldest buildings, many vacant or repurposed for complex financial and political reasons, remain valuable, vivid signposts of Milwaukee history.

“Even if you could not date a neighborhood by its houses, you could by its schools,” Tanzilo says.

“By 1905 neighborhoods and schools had expanded beyond that initial ring of older city buildings. You can easily spot schools from the post-war boom, right after WWII. Eighty-first and 55th street schools, Clement Avenue and Goodrich. They stop looking like Koch schools and become boxier one or two-story ranch-house versions of school buildings compared to Victorian-mansion buildings.”

“Ten Must-See Schoolhouses” is the book’s final chapter. With more than 17.7 million square feet to cover, Tanzilo had to make some hard choices. Two obscure finds that didn’t make the list are shared below.

• Thirty-first Street School, built in 1895 and open today as Westside Academy, is the school Tanzilo calls a surprising, in-plain-view gem tucked into a neighborhood just off Lisbon Avenue.

• Tanzilo recently stumbled on the standing remains of Second Ward School, an Italianate building erected in 1858 and purchased by the Pabst family in 1889. Now part of the Best Place complex downtown, it’s believed to be the oldest surviving building affiliated with the school district.

QUOTABLE & NOTABLE

Above: Garfield Avenue School, built in 1887, was designed by renowned architect Henry C. Koch.

Left: Student graffiti documents the history of Maryland Avenue Montessori.

FACEBOOK BONUS The first reader to post the name of his/her favorite example of Milwaukee architecture at facebook.com/uwmalumni wins an autographed copy of “Historic Schoolhouses.”


WHAT’S DRY, 22” X 22”, AND HAS THE LAKEFRONT ALL OVER IT?

Hannah Jablonski (’06 BFA Art) loved the Milwaukee lakefront as a UWM

undergrad. It was the route she took to the Milwaukee Art Museum, seeking inspiration and information as a graphic-design student.

In 2010 she made the lakefront her business by hand-drawing the design for a souvenir cotton bandanna. The idea originated with Jablonski’s cousin and now business partner Colleen McCarrier. She wanted to create a retro-inspired souvenir tablecloth, but didn’t have the fine-art skills necessary to get her ideas onto fabric.

Together, Jablonski and McCarrier got it done as HANmade Milwaukee. They work-shopped the idea in their homes and local coffee shops as it evolved from vintage tractors on a tea towel to the bandanna, featuring dozens of colorful micro-illustrations of Milwaukee lakefront landmarks.

“In a good way, I didn’t know what I was getting myself into,” Jablonski says. “Every time we go to a market, people ask us: ‘Why this? Why not that?’”

Alas, the bandanna just isn’t big enough to capture every lakefront favorite, let alone peripheral Milwaukee icons. “The Domes were

just too far south. We did include the U.S. Bank building to get a little taste of downtown.”

One “designer’s choice” icon is a woman doing push-ups on Bradford Beach. “Milwaukee Adventure Boot Camp,” explains Jablonski, “where we’re literally running in the sand and crawling on our arms through the water.”

She says the best aspect of the business is meeting buyers at artisan events and seasonal markets, where they talk about how they’ll use the bandanna – in a frame, on a dog, as an apron – and offer suggestions for additions and future projects. “I like getting out there and being part of the community, and seeing places in town I might not otherwise have ever seen.”

The bandanna also is sold online at Etsy and HANmadeMilwaukee.com.

Jablonski calls this a “100 percent American-made” product. Milwaukee’s Clark Graphics prints the package sleeve on recycled product supplied by Neenah Paper. The package is conservatively wrapped in domestic cellophane. The cloth is screen-printed at Redwall Screen Printing in St. Francis.

Jablonski says a new design will happen, but for now she’s happy balancing her two-woman enterprise with a career at STIR Advertising.

“I don’t feel a strong need to express myself through personal artwork,” says the junior art director. “I love the communication aspect of graphic design, helping clients who say ‘this is what I want to communicate’ get

their message across through print production, logo and Web design work.”

FACEBOOK BONUS First two readers to post the name of their favorite lakefront landmark at facebook.com/uwmalumni win a signed bandanna.

YEAR OF THE SNAKE IS LUCKY FOR UWM STUDENTS IN CHINA

4 • UWM ALUMNI FALL 2012

A UWM team of four Peck School of the Arts students won third place in the

Harbin Engineering University International Collegiate Snow Sculpture Competition in January. The contest was held on the university’s campus in Harbin, located in the northernmost province of China and nicknamed “Ice City of the Northland.”

Fifty-seven teams competed, representing the U.K., Russia, Ukraine, Thailand, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Taiwan and China. UWM was the only team from the U.S. Team members turned

an 11-1/2-foot block of snow into a towering rattlesnake in a little more than three days in frigid temperatures.

The students chose the rattlesnake for three reasons: It is native to North America; it represents nature; and 2013 is the Year of the Snake in the Chinese calendar.

The UWM team members (from left) were Michael Ware, Arthur Vannoy, Edmund Mathews and Chad Bridgewater. They were accompanied by David Yu, interim dean of the Graduate School.

NEW @ UWM

UWM PREMIERES UW FLEX OPTION PROGRAM

UWM will begin offering three degree programs and a certificate

as part of the University of Wisconsin System’s innovative Flexible Option degree program.

Under the Flexible Option, students will progress toward a degree by passing assessments that demonstrate mastery of required knowledge and skills. Students can acquire mastery through materials developed by UWM faculty, on-the-job expertise, “MOOCs” (massive open online courses), military training and other experiences.

The UW System is expected to be the first public university system in the nation to offer this type of competency-based, self-paced learning option. UW System

President Kevin P. Reilly described the new program as the 21st-century face of the Wisconsin Idea. “This is a new direction in American higher education, and Wisconsin is at the forefront.”

Initial programs include a bachelor’s in Nursing for RNs, a bachelor’s in Biomedical Sciences aimed at diagnostic imaging professionals, a BS in Information Science & Technology, and a Certificate in Professional and Technical Communication.

On campus for the announcement were (from left) Aaron Brower, interim provost and vice chancellor for UW Extension and special assistant to the UW System president; UW System President Kevin Reilly; Regent Michael Falbo; Rosemary

Potter, special assistant to the chancellor, UW Colleges and UW Extension; and Chukuka Enwemeka, dean of UWM’s College of Health Sciences.

For more information, visit flex.wisconsin.edu.

AMANDA BRAUN NAMED ATHLETICS DIRECTOR

Amanda Braun has been named UWM’s new athletics director,

effective May 1. Currently executive senior associate director of athletics at Northeastern University in Boston, Braun is a Wisconsin native who previously served in athletic administration positions at the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay.

Braun succeeds Andy Geiger, who joined UWM in May 2012. Geiger – a member of the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics Hall of Fame whose

programs achieved great success at Ohio State, Stanford and other universities – came to UWM on a 13-month contract to help the university through a transitional period. Geiger has agreed to stay on at UWM once Braun has arrived to support an upcoming university-wide fundraising campaign.

“Amanda Braun is the future of UWM Athletics,” said Geiger. “I’ve worked with many outstanding athletic administrators and have been extremely impressed with Amanda. She’s ready to lead an NCAA Division I program, and I look forward to working with her.”

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Courtesy David Yu


DIG IT! WORK BEGINS ON KIRC

A groundbreaking ceremony last fall celebrated the start of construction on the first building in the new Kenwood Interdisciplinary Research Complex (KIRC).

With $75 million from the Milwaukee Initiative and an additional $1.6 million gift from Alfred and Isabel Bader, the 93,000-square-foot building is the largest investment in a single building in UWM history and the first new academic building on the UWM campus in more than a decade.

The Physics Department will be the anchor tenant. UWM’s Center for Gravitation and Cosmology will be named in honor of UWM Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Physics Leonard E. Parker, former director of the center.

Shown here wielding ceremonial shovels are (from left) UW Regent Charles Pruitt; UWM Provost Johannes Britz; Milwaukee Alderman Nik Kovac; Rodney Swain, dean of the College of Letters & Science; UWM Chancellor Michael R. Lovell; Gloria and Professor Emeritus of Physics Leonard Parker; Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett; and David Black, design principal, Flad Architects.

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CUDAHY VISITS STEM ‘BOOT CAMP’

A two-story building tucked into a wooded parcel on Milwaukee’s northwest side that once served as the “think tank” for

Marquette Electronics is now serving as a place where students can discover careers in science, technology, engineering and math (the STEM disciplines).

Philanthropist Michael Cudahy, one of the founders of Marquette Electronics, donated the building to UWM. In January, he visited with UWM students taking part in a STEM “boot camp” at the center, talking about his memories of the building and some of the internationally successful products developed there, and discussing the importance of innovation and entrepreneurship in his career. (Cudahy is seated at right in the photo above.)

Cudahy built the center in 1983 and retained it after selling Marquette Electronics to GE Medical Systems, now GE Healthcare, in 1998. UWM had leased all or part of the building before Cudahy donated it to the university. Cudahy received an honorary Doctor of Science degree from UWM in 2003.

2013 RESEARCH REPORT NOW ONLINE

P owerful ideas and partnerships are energizing our research engine along the path to proven results.

At UWM, we are creating dynamic research relationships throughout the region, in areas ranging from health care and engineering to the arts and education. We believe such collaborations are an integral part of the future of higher education because these interactions will generate new and better processes, technologies and products.

The just-released 2013 Research Report celebrates our powerful partnerships. Review it online at researchreport.uwm.edu.

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6 • UWM ALUMNI SPRING 2013

UWM Foundation announces 2013 Alumni Fellows

A s UWM celebrates the 50th anniversary of the Peck School of the

Arts and the Year of the Arts, two Peck School alumni have been selected as the UWM Foundation Alumni Fellows for 2013.

Henry Godinez (’84 MFA Professional Theatre Training Program) is an associate professor in the Department of Theatre at Northwestern University and the resident artistic associate at Chicago’s Goodman Theatre, where he is the director of the Latino Theatre Festival. Kevin Stalheim (’81 MM–Conducting) is the founder and artistic director of Present Music in Milwaukee.

Alumni Fellow is a lifelong designation that recognizes prominent and outstanding alumni who demonstrate leadership and accomplishment in their professional fields and personal lives. The Alumni Fellow program brings honorees back to campus to share their knowledge, insight and stories with students, faculty, staff and members of the community.

HENRY GODINEZHenry Godinez is recognized as a leader

in Chicago Latino theater. Most recently, he fostered an unprecedented collaboration at the Goodman Theatre with Teatro Buendia of Cuba – a co-production of the “Pedro Paramo” premiere at the Goodman during March 2013.

Godinez has numerous directing credits at the Goodman Theatre and other Chicago-area theater companies. He is the co-founder and former artistic director of Teatro Vista (Theatre with a View), which stages Latino-oriented works that often challenge both cast and audience. Godinez also has directed at Portland Center Stage, Signature Theatre Company in NYC, Kansas City Repertory Theatre and Colorado Shakespeare Festival.

As an actor, Godinez has been seen at Goodman Theatre, Chicago Shakespeare, The Kennedy Center and on TV and in films, including “The Fugitive,” “Above the Law,” “The Beast,” “Boss” and “Chicago Fire.”

He is the recipient of the 1999 TCG Alan Schneider Directing Award, the 2000 Distinguished Service Award from the Lawyers for the Creative Arts and the 2008 Chicago Latino Network’s Latino Professional of the Year Award. In 2010, he was appointed by Governor

Pat Quinn to the Illinois Arts Council, where he serves on the Executive Committee.

Born in Havana, Cuba, Godinez serves on the Editorial Board of the Northwestern University Press and the Board of Directors of Albany Park Theatre Project.

KEVIN STALHEIM Committed to commissioning new music

and supporting residencies, Kevin Stalheim has worked closely and extensively with many of the most important composers of our time.

Through his considerable efforts, Present Music – currently celebrating 31 years – is now regarded as one of the foremost national organizations in the development and presentation of new music. Present Music is known for having one of the largest audiences for new music in the country; the opening concert of its 30th season attracted more than 2,000 people.

Among Stalheim’s accolades and honors are the UWM Alumni Association’s 2011 Distinguished Alumnus award, City of Milwaukee Arts Board’s 2002 Artist of the Year award, the Civic Music Association’s 2001 Distinguished Citizen award and the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel’s nod as 1989 Musician of the Year.

In addition to serving as Present Music’s artistic director, Stalheim has participated on funding panels for the National Endowment for the Arts, the Aaron Copland Fund, Meet the Composer (now New Music USA), Chamber Music America and the American Composers Forum.

In 2000, Stalheim instituted the Creation Project, a 10-week residency that teaches students in grades K-12 to compose and perform their own original works under the guidance of a composer-in-residence.

Present Music remains at the forefront of new music in the United States, a testament to Stalheim’s dedication to commissioning, recording projects, touring engagements, and educational programming and youth concerts in schools and community centers.

B Y B E T H S T A F F O R D

Godinez (above) Stalheim (below)

Joo Photography


B Y L A U R A L . H U N T

Greenstreet awarded top honor in architecture education

E very major building project in Milwaukee during the last 20 years

shares a common feature: the input of Robert Greenstreet, dean of UWM’s School of Architecture & Urban Planning (SARUP).

The pervasive Greenstreet has played a role in the selection of architects for projects ranging from the Milwaukee Public Market to the Santiago Calatrava addition to the Milwaukee Art Museum.

Within the school, his influence is just as evident, with a scholarship fund in his honor that is supported by gifts exclusively from alumni.

So it isn’t surprising that Greenstreet has been awarded the 2013 Topaz Medallion for Excellence in Architectural Education by the American Institute of Architects (AIA) and the Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture (ACSA).

Greenstreet is in his 35th year of teaching and his 22nd year as SARUP dean, making him one of the longest-serving architecture deans in North America.

While the recognition affirms his long career, the real professional payoff for Greenstreet is the ocean of architects he’s trained – and what those generations of students have contributed to the built environment as practitioners.

“I am always struck – and humbled – by the impact of our faculty, students and alumni on the skyline of Milwaukee and beyond,” he says. “Pretty much every building you can see here

in the past 40 years has SARUP’s fingerprints on it. In terms of making a better city, a better world, the school has made its mark.”

While he points with pride to alumni, the alumni are pointing right back at him.

Minneapolis architect Theresa “Terry” Olsen (’90 BS, ’92 MArch) credits Greenstreet with playing a pivotal role in bringing the Spanish “starchitect” Calatrava to the city. People who come to see the museum addition also can see works by UWM-educated architects,” she says.

“I’m proud to claim UWM SARUP as my alma mater and Bob as my dean – both then and now.”

Greenstreet grew up in London and received his undergraduate and doctoral degrees from Oxford Polytechnic University. He moved to the United States in 1980 and recently became a U.S. citizen.

As Milwaukee’s chair of city development, Greenstreet consults with the Mayor’s Office on design and development, but also coordinates the activities of SARUP with the city’s projects in a “town and gown” relationship.

More than a decade ago, he established Community Design Solutions, a program that pairs UWM students with AIA members

to provide pro bono services to central-city neighborhoods and community groups.

When internationally renowned architect Antoine Predock was hired to design Milwaukee’s Indian Community School, Greenstreet acted as an adviser and even suggested Predock lure Native American architect and UWM alumnus Chris Cornelius (’96 BS Architectural Studies) away from Virginia to join the design team (which he did). Today, Cornelius is on the UWM faculty.

“His energy, enthusiasm and scope are boundless,” says Predock of Greenstreet.

Ultimately, however, Greenstreet’s validation comes from SARUP graduates.

“These days, when a new student comes up to me and says, ‘My dad/mom says hi,’ it invariably means that they are following in their parents’ footsteps and coming to SARUP based upon strong parental encouragement,” he says. “Recommendations don’t come any stronger, or more satisfying, than that.”

“ In terms of making a better city, a better world, the school has made its mark.”



THE RISE OF UWM’S

ENTREPRENEURIALCULTURE


Motivated by a down economy, more students are investigating going into business for themselves. UWM is ramping up its efforts

in this increasingly popular area to encourage enterprising students to

look for commercial applications for the knowledge they are accruing –

while also growing the number of small companies in the region.

From entrepreneurial internships to student idea incubation and help

for faculty startups, UWM is fueling a campus entrepreneurial spirit.

“What the university is doing by focusing on startups is historically

critical,” says Dan Steininger, co-founder and president of BizStarts

Milwaukee, which provides guidance for early-stage entrepreneurs.

“We’re in an economy that is trying to create jobs. I’ve never seen a university on steroids when it comes to entrepreneurship like I’ve seen at UWM.”

Julie and Whitney Teska took first prize in UWM’s New Venture Business Plan Competition six years ago. They invested their winnings in equipment needed to start Orchard Street Press, which is a growing screen-printing business in the Fifth Ward.

Photo by Peter Jakubowski


Carlton Reeves understands how successful small companies develop: They are often preceded by one or more failed attempts.

It’s all part of the process, says Reeves, a doctoral student in engineering. Just last year, he and a fellow engineering student were among the winners of the New Venture Business Plan Competition (NVBPC), hosted by the Lubar School of Business, for a mobile app they created and planned to market.

“In the end, we weren’t getting any traction with it,” he says. “I know now, but I didn’t know then, that we were not yet ready to meet with the venture capitalists.”

Business competitions, says Reeves, force you through the steps necessary to refine your plans. Now he and Yusuf Dahl (’11 MBA) are trying again with Tabit, a mobile-based way for consumers to order and pay for goods at bars and restaurants.

Reeves is part of a new wave of aspiring small-business owners who get started while they are still in college. “What makes the difference in becoming an entrepreneur is your mentality,” he says. “I am not afraid to fail.”

Rewards of competing

“In Wisconsin, we do well in education and in the number of patents per capita.Where we lack is in the number of startups we create,” says V. Kanti Prasad, Bostrom Professor of Entrepreneurship in the Lubar School. “The university can play a role in improving this.”

One important way the university helps budding entrepreneurs is by offering three major competitions. Funded by private donors

and grants, these are opportunities to obtain hard-to-come-by, early-stage financing.

Open to students in any discipline, the NVBPC is funded by Milwaukee businessman Bill La Macchia, CEO and founder of global travel industry leader La Macchia Enterprises, who also supports an entrepreneurial internship program at the school. Prasad, who directs a battery of entrepreneurial programs

supported by La Macchia’s grant, also wrote the proposal that secured the grant.

This year’s top-prize winners are two engineering students, Jesse DePinto and Matthew Juranitch, and recent architecture alum Jing Bao (‘12), whose 3D scanner is a low-cost companion to desktop 3D printers.

Since 2008, the NVBPC has produced at least seven small companies that are currently operating in the region.

MOLDING A STARTUP

ECOSYSTEM

Satish Nambisan (standing), a professor who holds a joint appointment in business and engineering, talks with alum Yusuf Dahl (left) and doctoral student Carlton Reeves. Reeves’s and Dahl’s product, Tabit, is a finalist in the national MillerCoors Urban Entrepreneurs Series.


Still going strong“The competition can make a real difference

for ventures just starting out,” says Prasad. It did for Whitney and Julie Teska, NVBPC

top winners in 2008. Freshly graduated with bachelor’s degrees in History and Mass Communication, respectively, they immediately invested their winnings in equipment needed to start Orchard Street Press, a sustainable screen-printing business.

“We went into the competition with the expectation that we were not going to come close to winning,” remembers Whitney Teska. “Neither of us had a business background.”

Besides the cash prizes, NVBPC offers the preparation applicants need well in advance of the contest itself. Faculty and other experts give workshops, the school’s entrepreneurs-in-residence and community businesspeople mentor teams one-on-one, and judges offer entrants critiques for improving their plans – whether or not they place.

Today the Teskas have two full-time employees; their shop has moved out of their house and into a 4,000-square-foot industrial space in the Fifth Ward. Sales last year were $300,000.

Stepping-stonesWith the launch of the Student Startup

Challenge (SSC) last semester, any student can become involved in entrepreneurship by simply pitching a product idea (see story on page 12). DePinto and Juranitch were also one of the inaugural SSC winners with their concept for an affordable 3D scanner.

Hosted by the College of Engineering & Applied Science, the Peck School of the Arts and the UWM Research Foundation, the SSC encourages interdisciplinary teams and is open to all UWM students and alums who have graduated in the last two years.

Prasad notes that UWM’s competitions serve as steps that lead teams to bigger contests offering more prize money. Every winner of Lubar’s NVBPC for the last three years, for example, has also placed in the BizStarts Collegiate Business Plan Competition.

Engineering alums Kevin Kreger and Gajanan Nagarsekar (‘12), who won the NVBPC in 2011, also placed second in the Wisconsin Governor’s Business Plan Contest in the information technology services category. Their company, Kallows Inc., makes mobile-based medical and fitness monitors. Currently, they are field-testing their product in India with backing from angel investors.

Unique learning experienceLast fall, the Lubar School also launched

the James D. Scheinfeld Entrepreneurial Awards, which offer seed funding for high-potential, launch-ready student ventures. This competition requires that at least one member of each team applying be enrolled as a business major.

The late Milwaukee entrepreneur Scheinfeld, whose father co-founded Manpower Inc., left the school an endowment that provides seed capital for student ventures. For the fall 2012 semester, four awards totaling $25,000 were made, including one to a team headed by recent finance grad Justin Nicols (‘05, ‘08).

His product, called Study with Me, is an easy-to-use mobile app that allows students to help each other study wherever they may be by offering features such as push notifications and the ability to post photos and videos.

Nicols has gotten a technical and funding partner in the Chicago-based iOS company Ora Interactive, which is looking for investment for the app from world-class venture capital groups.

“I don’t want to fail,” says Nicols, “but even if I do, I’ve got more experience on my résumé because of this than a lot of business graduates.”

Fresh from placing in the new James D. Scheinfeld Entrepreneurial Award, hosted by the Lubar School, Justin Nicols has found a partner for his mobile app in the Chicago-based iOS company Ora Interactive.

V. Kanti Prasad (left), Bostrom Professor of Entrepreneurship, attends the NVBPC award ceremony with donor Bill La Macchia Sr., CEO and founder of global travel industry leader La Macchia Enterprises, and his wife Sharon.

Photography Troye Fox


It was their involvement with 3D printers that gave Jesse DePinto and Matt Juranitch an idea for a product.

For art student Bryan Cera, an idea for a novel modeling tool unfolded by sharing with friends in both engineering and architecture.

Both groups found their starting point in a new campuswide competition that gives students with great ideas the chance to graduate with a degree and their own business.

What makes the Student Startup Challenge (SSC) distinct from most other business competitions is its ability to motivate by focusing on the earliest possible stage of entrepreneurial curiosity – a product idea.

“We want to go into the student union and hear students talking about ideas,” says Ilya Avdeev, assistant professor of engineering, who directs the competition. “Innovation begins in the coffee shop, in the research lab and in the library, where people actually innovate.”

UWM is an obvious location for stimulating entrepreneurship because of Milwaukee’s robust manufacturing history, says John Torinus, chairman of Serigraph Inc. and founding member of the UWM Research Foundation.

“In Milwaukee, entrepreneurship is in our DNA. We just need to rekindle it,” says Torinus. “But we sure can’t do it without new ideas. That’s where UWM comes in. A huge part of growing new companies is finding the intellectual capital and training the workforce.”

Art and engineeringThree winning teams in the inaugural

competition held in fall 2012 each received $10,000 to spend a year building prototypes and participating in workshops on business plans and marketing.

A combined effort of the College of Engineering & Applied Science (CEAS), the Peck School of the Arts and the UWM

Research Foundation (UWMRF), the SSC encourages interdisciplinary teams and is open to UWM students and alums who have graduated in the last two years, just like the New Venture competition (see page 10).

SSC originated from a product development course taught by Avdeev and Nathaniel Stern, professor of art and design, which brings interdisciplinary teams of students together with local industries around commissioned product ideas.

Says Stern: “Student Startup is an outgrowth of Ilya saying, ‘We’ve got this class where outside companies can come with their ideas.’ What about student ideas? How can we support those with the system we already have in place?”

UWMRF’s founding investment made sense. “Student entrepreneurship and faculty innovation go hand in hand,” says Brian Thompson, UWMRF president. In the last four years, the foundation has helped

THE CHALLENGE: TURNING STUDENTS INTO INVENTORS


five faculty members establish companies (see page 14 ).

“So it’s a natural extension of the work the foundation already does to help faculty commercialize their research ideas.”

Being part of the futureThe top ventures in the SSC include

Parking Unwired, a wireless, deployable car-counting device that will enable use of mobile parking apps in any geographic location; 3D Creations, a 3D scanner that feeds objects’ dimensions directly into desktop 3D printers; and Clever Blocks, building blocks that contain sensors that link to Computer Aided Design (CAD) software, offering a collaborative modeling system.

Ideas beget ideas, says SSC winner Cera. Not only did his team learn about

physical fabrication techniques by building the modeling-blocks prototype, but the experience also provided fodder for other possibilities.

“Everyone on the Clever Blocks team sees this as a starting point,” says Cera. “Right now it’s ‘smart’ Legos, but that could become smart clay or smart paper, making more materials accessible to more people at a time.”

SSC winners Depinto and Juranitch (the son of an inventor) already own a small business selling and servicing 3D printers, which create objects out of resin by depositing ultrathin layers, one on top of another. Their 3D scanner is made from off-the-shelf parts, offering a low-cost companion to home 3D printers.

“In the future, it’s a no-brainer, there will be 3D copy machines essentially,” says DePinto. “And we want to be a part of developing that future.”

With recent backing from a National Collegiate Inventors and Innovators Alliance (NCIIA) Course and Program grant, plans for SSC include scaling up the competition in the next several years. SSC also hopes to expand ties with the Lubar School of Business. A new category for mobile apps will debut this year. Deadline for the next round of submissions is June 1.

The Clever Blocks team blends art, computer science and architecture. Team members include (from left) Joe Cera, Bryan Cera, Cat Pham, Kavi Laud, Dom Amato and Rob Zdanowski.

Engineering junior Matthew Juranitch demonstrates the 3D Creations team’s product, a 3D scanner designed to be used with a 3D printer to replicate ordinary items.

Senior Matt Helenka (right) explains the Parking Unwired team’s prototype to Chancellor Michael R. Lovell.

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Startup companies create most of the net new jobs in the U.S. today, yet Wisconsin lags behind in these new companies. In addition to fostering student entrepreneurship, UWM is filling the gap by leveraging the academic research of its faculty.

Since 2009, UWM research has given rise to six startup companies, all of them founded by the faculty scientist and operating with the

help of patent protection and licensing from the UWM Research Foundation (UWMRF). Four of the six obtained seed funding for the early-stage research through the UWMRF’s Catalyst Grants, which are supported by the Rockwell Automation Charitable Foundation, the Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation, and the Richard and Ethel Herzfeld Foundation.

FACULTY SPIN OFF THEIR

OWN COMPANIES

Valerica Raicu (left) and Thomas Mozer are founders of Aurora Spectral Technologies LLC, a startup company that hopes to bring Raicu’s protein imaging technology to market.

Alan Magayne-Roshak ’72


JUNHONG CHEN Professor, Mechanical Engineering NanoAffix Science LLC

Chen has developed a unique, inexpensive method of producing nanomaterials for use in a variety of advanced technology devices. Chen engineers and deposits custom nanoparticles onto carbon nanotubes to produce high-performance hybrid materials. He is using the materials to create super-sensitive miniature gas and biological sensors for applications from environmental monitoring to food processing. The material also improves high-capacity, lithium-ion batteries, boosting their voltage, life and safety.

VALERICA RAICUAssociate Professor, Physics Aurora Spectral Technologies (AST) LLC

Founded by Raicu and Milwaukee entrepreneur Thomas Mozer, AST offers the first tools for determining the internal structure of protein complexes in living cells. The company’s novel equipment is an add-on to a laser-scanning microscope that allows high-speed, high-resolution pictures. The product tracks various kinds of proteins that are identified with fluorescent tags. Raicu’s invention gives laser microscopes the capability of showing multiple tag colors. Because some 60 percent of drugs target proteins, better molecular imaging techniques are vital to new drug discovery.

RHONDA MONTGOMERYHelen Bader Endowed Chair in Applied Gerontology Tailored Caregiver Assessment and Referral (TCARE)

Montgomery developed the TCARE assessment system to help family caregivers receive the support they need to help their aging or disabled family members. Piloting the system through various state agencies across the United States has helped demonstrate its effectiveness in reducing caregiver stress and ultimately lowering costs in the healthcare system. The TCARE system has been licensed to six different agencies. Now Montgomery has launched her own startup company, TCARE Navigator LLC, to help TCARE reach new markets.

ZHEN HEAssistant Professor, Civil Engineering HydroTech Innovations, LLC

Working with Racine entrepreneur Mark Murphy, He launched this company to explore commercial uses for his innovative water treatment technologies. The company’s first product is a microbial fuel cell (MFC) with three capabilities. Like an existing MFC, it uses bacteria to purify wastewater and harnesses their metabolic energy to continuously generate electricity. But while these remove organic waste, they do not address nutrients, like the nitrogen and phosphorus often present in urban storm-water runoff. He’s invention adds nutrient removal to the MFC’s capabilities by incorporating algae into the design.

CHING-HONG YANG Associate Professor, Biological Sciences T3 Bioscience LLC

With backing from an investor, Yang and collaborator Xin Chen, a chemistry professor at Changzhou University in China, are commercializing a potent antibacterial agent they developed that has a crucial advantage over current antibiotics. Rather than killing the bacteria, the product disables their genetic ability to ramp up virulence and cause infection, eliminating the threat of antibiotic resistance in the process. Independent testing results by two companies have shown the compound to be effective against two different pathogens that attack people and also two that affect crops.

BRIAN ARMSTRONGProfessor, Electrical Engineering Metria Innovation Inc.

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is a powerful diagnostic tool, but only if the patient remains completely still during the scan. Motion-detection equipment co-developed by Armstrong has the potential to make MRIs more useful and less expensive, and could eventually be used for research in brain development. With an optical marker and a single camera, his system allows 3D measurement, which essentially corrects the motion that would otherwise ruin the medical image.

JUNHONG CHEN

RHONDA MONTGOMERY

ZHEN HE

CHING-HONG YANG

BRIAN ARMSTRONG


CONTROLLING

RISKY BUSINESS It’s baptism by fire in UWM’s elite Investment Management Certificate Program


Kevin Spellman (foreground) with some of his current students (clockwise from left): Jyoti Chetri, Mike McQuide, Ben Van Handel, Rohan Dighe and Brendon Anderson.

Troye Fox


When senior finance major Mike McQuide was accepted into the Investment Management Certificate Program, he had plenty of drive and a 3.7 grade-point average.

The program turned out to be “more than I ever dreamed it would be,” says McQuide. “It wasn’t long before I realized how little I actually knew.”

Students in the specialty program are training for careers as investment analysts, financial analysts and investment advisers. Investment management is among the highest-paid specialties in finance. Competition is the name of the game and the risks are real.

Thanks to three benefactors in the field, the program’s students are learning by investing actual money – a large sum of it. They manage three funds that total more than

$300,000, which McQuide confesses is at first intimidating.

“Many investment students don’t get to work with this amount of money,” says McQuide. “In fact, students in many programs like ours are running simulated models with hypothetical money. So we all take it very seriously.”

A JUMP-STARTPaul Franke, a retired partner at William

Blair, gave $100,000 to the students to begin their portfolios. Alumnus David O. Nicholas (’87 MS Finance) of Nicholas Funds and Bill Nasgovitz of Heartland Funds followed suit, each donating $100,000. Nicholas had earlier given a $2.5 million gift to build the Applied Finance Lab at the Sheldon B. Lubar School of Business and create an endowment. He received the UWM Alumni Association’s 2007 Distinguished Alumnus award.

It’s a lot of cash to put into the hands of novices, but overall the students in the three-year-old program have performed in line with their benchmarks, says program director Kevin Spellman.

Nicholas says he is pleased with the direction in which the program is heading and with the caliber of students it attracts. Their management success, he adds, is not the most important metric for him.

“I wanted to continue my support by contributing to the amount the students had to manage. It was intended for the students to have a live learning experience, so the benefactors, myself included, knew what we were going into.”

Students will likely be dealing with greater pots of money soon after graduation, says Franke. His donation stemmed from his

affection for his hometown and the UWM neighborhood where he grew up. “I hope that by supporting the program, the Lubar School not only can train students for investment careers, but also help support more employment in Milwaukee in the field.”

FIRST-CLASS COACHINGThat is one of the goals of Spellman, who

once was the director of research for a $50 billion pension fund.

He sees himself as the bridge between academia and the professional world. A UW-Madison grad who was one of the people who directed that school’s Applied Security Analysis Program while he was earning his PhD, Spellman came to UWM for the chance to build a new program.

“I also view this as a great opportunity to help the business community in this area and beyond. So many investment professionals, faculty and staff contribute to make the IMCP the community’s program,” he says.

Franke, Nasgovitz and Nicholas are three of the program’s many supporters. Nine companies have donated professional-grade software. For example, FactSet is an investment analysis tool that may cost $25,000 per user. Every IMCP student has it. “Students use the same resources as professionals managing billions of dollars,” says Spellman.

The IMCP requires a year-and-a-half commitment that includes rigorous coursework, an internship, and trips to New York and other cities to meet investment managers from some of the biggest names in the field, like UBS, Citigroup, Morgan Stanley, Bloomberg and Goldman Sachs.

Along the way, Spellman is honing the students’ interview skills, grooming them to thrive in the highly competitive environment.

The program engenders loyalty because of the special treatment the students receive and the resources available to them, he says. One example is alumnus Joel Hoeffler, who graduated only a year ago but has already given the program a $500 gift.

In January, the program was accepted into the CFA (Chartered Financial Analyst) Institute University Recognition Program. The status is granted to institutions whose degree program incorporates at least 70% of the CFA Program Candidate Body of Knowledge (CBOK), which provides students with a solid grounding in the CBOK and positions them well to sit for the CFA exams.

“It’s exciting to be involved in such a young program doing so well,” says McQuide, who has already secured a job as a credit analyst with BMO Harris Bank after his May graduation. “Going forward, I predict this will be a cornerstone program for the Lubar School.”

“Many investment students don’t get to work with this amount of money,” says McQuide. “In fact, students in many programs like ours are running simulated models with hypothetical money. So we all take it very seriously.”


ExplorerArchitect and Urban

1

Ryan Tretow (’12 BS Architectural Studies) always knew he wanted to be an architect.

Career interests and family history merged for him in 2008 as a freshman in the School of Architecture & Urban Planning. He began photographing deserted warehouses and vacant, rubble-strewn industrial spaces for a class project. Things clicked.

“Lots of people in my family have blue-collar jobs and ties to Milwaukee’s industrial past,” Tretow says.

So his research continued after class. An introductory art course boosted his photography skills. Connecting to the Midwest’s urban explorers via Flickr photos, Google maps and blogs helped him ID sites in Brewer’s Hill, central downtown and Fifth Ward Milwaukee.

“The urban exploration community is pretty tight-knit about giving away locations. These buildings have been marked by graffiti, they’re difficult to get into. A lot of people who know them live by the ‘leave only footprints, take only pictures’ philosophy.

“That challenge is part of the fun,” he says.

“I don’t think younger students are aware of the city’s real history, or even know that these buildings, this equipment still exists right beside them. These places are literally around the corner from where we live and work in Milwaukee – they’re not part of an urban wasteland. I like the idea of being able to uncover that for people.”

Tretow’s photography changed dramatically after his October 2012 move to Seattle, where he’s new architectural staff at Olson Kundig Architects.

He’s trying his hand at landscape photography: hiking trails, mountains, lakes. “You also might see furniture, graphics, mixed media all tangled up,” Tretow says of his post-Milwaukee work.

He’ll be back in Milwaukee in summer 2013 for a show at Rogue’s Gallery downtown. Follow Ryan on Twitter @Ryantretow. See more of his work: behance.net/Studio529.

2


3

4

1. Shelved Evermore: ”While making trips to a beloved location, the yellow of a hard-hat blazed in a hazy corner of the room – resting silently yet precariously on an otherwise vacant shelf. It was an instinctive capture.”

2. Gusto Machine: “Rusty reddish pipes, valves and handwheels spoke loudly from across an otherwise empty service bay. Scalding hot water, maybe steam – I’d like to think beer – used to flow through them. Perhaps where they still lie, rusting away, would surprise one the most.”

3. Jolly Green Giant: “Through its grit, strength and potential it embodies Milwaukee.”

4. Safety First: “Perched upon a stepstool in a cleared corner, ready and waiting to answer the call at a moment’s notice.”


CAREER QUESTIONS

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DIY project: your career

I

nstall a sink. Build a roof garden. Personalize stationery. Find a great career. Whether your career search is

more like total kitchen redesign or making a cool mug, like any DIY project, it takes creativity, energy, time, support and, well, you.

And much like laying hardword floor or building a bookshelf, finding a job requires you to identify the types of tools you will need, where to find them and how to use them. Here is a list of some of our favorite job search tools, categorized to fit the different types of “projects” you might be working on in your search (no glue gun required).

Exploration Project: Need help researching jobs or fields that

seem interesting to you? Don’t know where to start? Try using ONET’s My Next Move (mynextmove.org/). Search careers by keyword, browse by industry, or complete a free Interest Profiler assessment to answer questions about the type of work you might enjoy and learn about suggested careers that match your interests and training.

Connection Blueprint: Searching for people to network with?

Capitalize on UWM connections in your job search. This is now easier than ever with LinkedIn’s new, improved Alumni Tool (linkedin.com/alumni). Gathered from more than 200 million member profiles, LinkedIn created this user-friendly, searchable database to see where your fellow Panthers live, the organizations they work for and the types of jobs they pursue. With this tool, you can quickly identify and reach out to UWM alumni in fields, jobs and companies of interest.

Remodel Job:Thinking of a career change but need help

exploring where and how the skills you have will translate to a new field or industry? Check out mySkillsmyFuture (myskillsmyfuture.org/). This tool helps you find new occupations to consider by identifying careers that require skills and knowledge similar to those of your current or previous job. Bonus: You can learn

more about the suggested matches to locate training programs and job openings, too.

Inspection: Looking to glean valuable “insider advice”

from people who work in companies, fields or jobs you are interested in? Quintessential Careers offers a detailed informational interview tutorial (quintcareers.com/informational_interviewing.html) that walks a job seeker through the process of how to make “the ask,” how to prepare and what to do during the meeting. You’ll also get tips on making the most of the information gained and the new connection.

Reorganization Project: An effective and comprehensive job

search requires detailed organization and tracking of action steps and progress made. Having trouble managing your job search to-do list? Let technology help. JibberJobber (jibberjobberusa.com) is a free online tool that helps you easily track the information you collect during a job search, such as the companies that you apply to, your submitted materials for that position and the status of each application. It also organizes and records your progress in targeting companies of interest and networking with contacts by tracking the strength of your relationship with each person, and each contact’s affiliation with your target companies.

Operation Inspiration: An effective job search sometimes requires

stepping back and taking perspective, or thinking of things in a new way. A couple of books that we recommend to get your right brain engaged are Barbara Sher’s “I Could Do Anything If I Only Knew What it Was,” Gregg Levoy’s “Callings” and Katharine Brooks’s “You Majored in What? Mapping Your Path from Chaos to Career.” With probing questions, metaphors and activity ideas, they may help you get unstuck (now, what did we say about that glue gun?), or just help you keep going.

Have a career question?

Cindy Petrites (left) and Elizabeth Mueller can help. Petrites is Interim Director of UWM’s Career Development Center; Mueller is Interim Assistant Director of Alumni Career Services.

Contact Elizabeth Mueller at [email protected].


D.C., Madison alumni expand UWMAA reachB Y B E T H S T A F F O R D

In Washington, D.C., and Madison, Wis., Panther alums are roaring ahead to establish local chapters of the UWM Alumni Association.

WASHINGTON, D.C.A spring 2011 reception first brought together

D.C.-area Panther alumni, and Marcela “Marcy” Stras (’73 BA German) volunteered to help keep the momentum going.

Follow-up events included an alumni chapter luncheon around the theme “What UWM Means to Me” with speaker Milton

Coleman (’68 BFA Music), now senior editor of The Washington Post. Coleman received a Distinguished Alumnus Award in 1998, and was named the UWM Foundation’s first Alumni Fellow in 2012.

UWM College of Letters & Science Dean Rodney Swain attended the group’s next luncheon. Subsequent sessions were held with Chancellor Michael R. Lovell, Vice Chancellor of University Relations and Communications Tom Luljak and Dean Bob Greenstreet, School of Architecture & Urban Planning.

Chancellor Lovell will help the group formalize its status as the first official UWM D.C. Alumni Chapter at a June 26 event. Anyone interested in joining the Washington, D.C., Alumni Chapter and/or attending the June 26 reception should contact Marcy at [email protected].

MADISON, WIS.Madison-area Panthers are working to

establish an alumni chapter that will connect alumni residing in (and around) Madtown. In support of their efforts, the UWMAA hosted a festive tailgate at State Street Brats prior to the Dec. 22 Panthers vs. Badgers Men’s Basketball game.

Madison-area alumni and friends relished the opportunity to be among a spirited group of Panthers. The UWM pep band and

cheerleaders swung by the pregame party, adding to the enthusiasm.

More events will be announced soon. Those interested in joining the group can contact Jill Schaefer (’01 BA Communication) at [email protected].

START YOUR OWN ALUMNI CHAPTER

“Working towards a local chapter can build your network of fellow Panthers in your current city and develop your leadership and volunteer skills,” says UWMAA Assistant Director Amy Lensing Tate. “It’s also fun to act as an ambassador for your alma mater and learn about all the exciting changes at UWM.”

Lensing Tate says the steps toward being officially recognized include establishment of a local leadership team and action by the UWMAA Board of Trustees. For more information, contact her at [email protected] or 414-229-3844.

Madison alumni wore custom T-shirts to the Pathers vs. Badgers basketball game.

Founding members of the D.C.-area alumni chapter include (from left) Marcy Stras (’73 BA German), Jeff Eagan (’79 MS Urban Affairs), Bill Bainbridge (’91 BA German) and Branko Terzic (’72 BS Engineering, ‘09 Honoray PhD).

Exclusively and electronically available to UWM alumni is the new, soon-to-be released UWM Alumni Directory. Available free to everyone with a UWM degree, the directory is a private, online-only community where you can update your personal and professional profile, register for alumni events and reconnect with classmates across the years.

“It’s a great way to rekindle campus connections, see what others you knew are doing professionally, make a personal

connection with old friends you haven’t seen in a while. The directory will be a great resource for professional and social networking,” says Adrienne Bass, associate vice chancellor. “You can update your information in our online template easily and edit it anytime.”

Participation in the UWM Alumni Online Directory is optional. Registration and launch information will be available in fall 2013.

ONLINE ALUMNI

DIRECTORY COMING

SOON

UWM’s Grabner chosen for 2014 Whitney Biennial

B Y A N G E L A M C M A N A M A N

Fall 2012, Michelle Grabner was one of the art world’s best-kept secrets – even with an agent, two UWM degrees, and painting and drawing professorships at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and Yale University.

“I default, always, to ‘Hi. I’m an artist and writer who lives and works in Chicago,’” Grabner says of her self-propelled, eclectic, domestic practice as a contemporary artist and educator.

There are reams of articles by her and about her. A studio and project space, The Suburban, brings artists and buyers together in her Oak Park, Ill., backyard. With husband/colleague Brad Killam she owns and directs the sprawling Poor Farm artists’ space/community in Little Wolf, Wis.

But on Nov. 20, 2012, the day The New York Times published her secret, she got a title that dramatically expands her résumé and reach: curator of the 2014 Whitney Biennial. She joins Stuart Comer of London’s Tate Modern and Anthony Elms of the Philadelphia Institute of Contemporary Art.

Buyers, artists come calling“Pretty much all hell broke loose after that

announcement.”Email messages and JPEGs from artists

nationwide crashed her account. Packages began arriving on her doorstep.

Galleries from Milwaukee to Chicago to Zurich went into “pure liquidation mode,” selling every Grabner piece they had. Her work is most easily described as painting, but veers closer to conceptual art. One canvas in her studio is a perfect circle – black with a gentle grey pattern from afar. Get closer, and you’ll insist you’re looking at a woven rug mounted on the wall.

And it’s better if you can describe the work yourself. As the artist, Grabner most likely won’t do it for you.

“I’m uncomfortable talking about my work. Whether it’s modesty or being Midwestern, it’s real. I can talk about other people’s work.

“Art can attract some big egos and I’m just not interested or capable of doing that. That doesn’t always play well in New York, but I don’t need to play in New York.”

Many curators are called,

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So glazed rectangles spread in a horizontal row, experiments in ceramics that resemble kitchen linens but reveal myriad intricacies of brush-stroke and color at close range.

“I’m more fluid with paint,” Grabner admits. “But there’s a physicality to throwing clay. I need to keep my hands busy. But mostly I push ceramics as a support to my painting.”

From Appleton to UWM to the Big Apple

Support – from community, professors, a day job – is a word that girds her talk about art and artists’ lives. She came to UWM in 1980 from her hometown high school, Appleton East, in pursuit of an art education and Plan B as an art teacher.

Arts faculty made it a practice to send students into the city: Milwaukee Art Museum and Lynde Sculpture Garden. “There’s something so real about Milwaukee, where the university doesn’t define the entire city so one gets a whole range of interesting cultures,” Grabner now says.

Her best UWM memories include a class canoe expedition to the Boundary Waters with Professor Tom Uttech; a midtown Italian feast after Professor Adolph Rosenblatt’s show in NYC; a gallery stop in Cleveland on the way back to UWM.

She earned a master’s degree in Art History in 1987, digging deep into feminist theory and criticism at the Center for 20th Century Studies. Her career plans had evolved to embrace a future in higher education.

“There are so many artists in the world and so few of them make a living selling their

artwork,” she says. “And I think that’s a fine thing. There’s a huge advantage to making sure the bills are paid, that you have health care. Find another way to take care of yourself and not put pressure on the studio.”

In the late ‘80s, this meant a K-12 teaching appointment in Milwaukee. She then moved on to UW-Madison. This rapid mobility as a working artist and academic surprised no one at her alma mater.

“Everyone who worked with Michelle when she was at the Peck School is very glad to have played a small role in guiding and mentoring a stellar artist who has been so successful in creating a community of artists wherever she goes, and managing her own work and career successfully,” says Peck School Art & Design Professor Leslie Vansen.

“Michelle is an incredibly generous personality, eagerly curious, very knowledgeable, both flexible and demanding in her own studio practice.”

Spend just a couple of hours in Grabner’s home studio and, whether you’re a contemporary-art know-nothing or an avid buyer, you will agree.

Arrive for an interview and she offers you fresh-baked peanut-butter balls. Ask about her bibliography and she’ll talk, briefly, about her struggles with writing as a “super-dyslexic” person. She’s won awards for teaching, writing, painting, but who knows where they’re hanging. Her studio walls are uncluttered: just a few samples of her work, posters of Aaron Rodgers and Barack Obama, select notes and drawings from her daughter – the much-youngest of Grabner’s three children.

On curating: critic, fan, traditionalistGrabner turns firm and emphatic when

talk turns to the Whitney Biennial, and the controversial qualifications she brings to the table as one of three curators tasked with assembling and curating America’s best contemporary artists by May 2014.

“The Whitney selected me because I’m an artist and I think differently. But I also see this as an extraordinary opportunity to bring curating to the fore, as well as art practice.

“I’ve called curating a lazy profession, but I’m talking about a very new kind of curating where curators are not doing the hard work of getting into studios anymore. They’re selecting JPEGS. They’re not having conversations with artists the way curators in the past have.”

Studio visits and conversation with artists based northwest and south may be first on her itinerary as she travels to exhibitions of her own work in St. Louis, Cleveland and Savannah this summer and fall.

“Yes, viewers of the Whitney are really going to get a sense of what represents contemporary American art. But what I really like is that the idea of curating will also be content in the show. One can see three different takes and realize curators and curating is vast, and one could do the biennial many times over and do different takes.”

Peter Jakubowski ’07

Michelle Grabner (above) in her home studio. The photos at left and right are from “Michelle Grabner: The Inova Survey,” which came to UWM’s Inova/Kenilworth gallery in July 2012 as the inaugural event in the university’s Year of the Arts.

Alan Magayne-Roshak ’72


HAIDET HALL OF FAME

NICK GRETZ Gretz was the 2007 Horizon League Track

and Field Athlete of the Year, capping his stellar career with the Panthers. He was a three-time league champion in the indoor shot put and a two-team league winner in both the outdoor shot put and outdoor discus.

He also won the 2005 indoor weight throw championship, giving him four league titles. That season’s run of titles earned him League Men’s Indoor and Outdoor Field Performer of the Meet at the league championships.

Gretz helped the Milwaukee men’s track and field program start its amazing run of league titles, leading the Panthers to all eight possible team crowns in his four seasons. In 2004, he helped the team to the largest margins of victory for Milwaukee at the league meets (+109 indoor, +120 outdoor).

He still holds school records in the outdoor shot put and discus, and remains in the top five for the hammer throw, weight throw and indoor shot put. He also held the Horizon League record for the outdoor shot put until last season.

ANTOU JALLOW Jallow is one of the best men’s soccer

players ever to wear the Black and Gold. He led the Panthers to the NCAA Tournament in all four of his seasons, winning Horizon League Player of the Year honors twice (2002, 2004) while earning First-Team All-League honors three times. He was also an NSCAA All-American and an ESPN Academic All-American.

He set school records with 53 points and 24 goals in 2002, and then finished his career as UWM’s and the Horizon League’s all-time leading goal scorer with 60 goals. He tallied a league-best 18 goals as a senior and ended his career with 133 career points, good for second all-time in school history.

Jallow was drafted by San Jose in the MLS SuperDraft and played professionally with Gefle IF of the Swedish Premiership.

PANTHER Athletics BY KEVIN J . O’CONNOR, ASSOCIATE ATHLETIC DIRECTOR–COMMUNIC ATIONS

NICK GRETZ

FIVE NAMED TO

UWM has inducted five former student-athletes into the Bud K. Haidet Athletics Hall of Fame. Nick Gretz, Antou Jallow, Josha (Krueger) Kruvand, Jerry Stern and Maria Viall were all officially welcomed to the Hall of Fame during ceremonies at the Milwaukee Athletic Club Feb. 9.


MARIA VIALL

ANTOU JALLOW

JOSHA (KRUEGER) KRUVAND

From 1994-97, Kruvand became the only women’s soccer player in school history to play every minute of every game over four seasons. She was a key defender in Milwaukee’s rise to the top of the Horizon League/Midwestern Collegiate Conference, a spot it hasn’t given up since Kruvand’s graduation.

Kruvand was a three-time First Team All-MCC honoree (1995-97) who also claimed All-Region recognition in those same three seasons. Plus, as a freshman in 1994, Kruvand was an MCC All-Newcomer and All-MCC Second-Team honoree.

With the Illinois native anchoring UWM’s defense, the 1997 squad of Kruvand’s senior season set precedents for stinginess. Among those marks are fewest goals allowed in a season (12) and goals against average (0.60).

Kruvand’s number, 22, was retired by the program in 2001.

JERRY STERN Stern played a major role in the

longstanding tradition of UWM track and field that started under coach John Tierney. Stern, a standout in the pole vault, was part

of three track and field teams that won Wisconsin State University Conference championships, including the 1952 team he co-captained.

Stern received his undergraduate degree from UWM in 1952 and his master’s in 1957. He served as president of the UWM Alumni Lettermen’s Club and vice president of the National Varsity Club.

A U.S. Navy veteran, Stern was a teacher and coach at Milwaukee Pulaski and Brookfield East high schools before serving as principal at Brookfield East from 1978-85.

MARIA VIALL Viall finished her basketball career as

Milwaukee’s Division I leader in both scoring and rebounding, collecting 1,867 points (16.2 per game) and 971 rebounds (8.4 per game). Viall was a two-time Horizon League Player of the Year honoree (2002 and 2004), and collected First-Team All-League honors three times.

Viall was the Panthers’ leading scorer in three of her four seasons and led the team in rebounding in all four of her years. She still holds single-season school records for blocks, total rebounds and rebound average, and also

finished her career as the Panthers’ leader in field goals, free throws and blocks.

During her career, Viall also set records for field goals made in a season, career field goals made, field goal percentage in both a season and career, and double-doubles.

From left: UWM Athletic Board member and Hall of Famer Jim Cleary, former Athletics Director Bud Haidet, Antou Jallow, Jerry Stern, Maria Viall, Josha (Krueger) Kruvand and Nick Gretz


A drienne Bass found a career she loves in alumni relations and a place where she has a unique opportunity to make a difference. Bass, named UWM’s associate vice chancellor for alumni relations in September, is enthusiastic about involving more alumni in university activities, and promoting UWM to prospective students and community partners wherever they live.

Bass grew up in Michigan and comes to UWM after 13 years as the leader of alumni relations at Oakland University in Rochester, Mich. Most recently, she served Oakland as director of strategic programs in academic affairs. She was attracted to UWM as a “visionary institution providing high-quality educational opportunities and contributing substantially to the vitality of the region.”

The opportunity to return to an urban setting also appealed to her. Bass lived in Chicago and London earlier in her career, and missed the vibrancy and culture of a big city.

UWM has a strong base of 140,000 alumni living all over the United States and in 90 foreign countries. The UWM Alumni Association has programs serving a wide variety of graduates, but Bass would like to expand and fine-tune the focus by finding out what alumni want and need from the university through surveys and focus groups.

“We must adapt as our alumni population grows and their needs change,” she says. For example, in Milwaukee, economic challenges have recently made professional networking a top priority for many alumni. Association events in Chicago, Minneapolis, Boston, Washington, D.C., Arizona, Florida, Seattle and Los Angeles during the past year

have sparked excitement in those cities for creating new alumni chapters.

The importance of involvement“Alumni can also play a significant role in

expanding UWM’s outreach efforts in their local communities,” Bass notes. “Alumni will increasingly connect UWM to individuals, corporations and foundations interested

in learning more about the outstanding teaching and research being done at UWM.

“In communities all over the globe, our alumni are positioned to share information about UWM with prospective students and potential partners who can make new opportunities and resources available for the institution.”

At the same time, closer to home, she hopes to enhance the engagement of the more than 1,200 alumni who work at UWM. (see page 30). “It’s a testament to the institution that so many have made UWM home,” she says.

UWM’s continuing growth and transition to a more residential campus also provides opportunities for the association to expand its programs, says Bass. “We need to shape events and activities that are broadly

inclusive and appeal to the unique needs of diverse students and alumni groups.”

While the UWM faculty and the departments of Admissions and Recruitment, Athletics, and University Housing are natural partners for the association, everyone at the university can play a role in outreach. “It is critical that we all assist in bringing the best and brightest students to campus,” she says.

“The best way to help is by getting involved. Whether it’s by reaching out to alumni who would like to be more connected, bringing a friend to an event or recommending UWM to a prospective student, alumni play a significant role in the growth of the institution and the value of a UWM degree.”

Panthers and PackersBass attributes her professional success

to her family in Michigan, who run a 65-year-old family business. Her parents had an incredibly strong work ethic and community reach, and, as the youngest of five children, Bass had many valuable lessons instilled in her by older brothers and sisters.

Bass, her husband Troy and their 5-year-old daughter Gillian are quickly putting down roots in the Milwaukee area.

Bass named new leader at UWM Alumni Association

B Y K A T H Y Q U I R K

“ The one thing I learned quickly is that I must not only become a Panthers fan, but a Packers fan as well.”

Experience, Enthusiasm, Energy


Homage to education

Last fall, world-renowned artist Eli Bornstein (’45 BS) visited the UWM campus to oversee installation and dedication of an artwork he donated to the university.

The piece, “Hexaplane Structurist Relief No. 4-11” (2010-12), was created as an expression of gratitude to his teachers at Milwaukee State Teachers College (a UWM predecessor institution), particularly Howard Thomas and Robert von Neumann in the Department of Art & Design, and F.E.J. Wilde in the Department of History.

The donation also honors his mother and father, Sarah (Rosen) and Max Bornstein, immigrant parents whose absence of any formal education led to their intense appreciation of learning and the arts, and to their great encouragement and support of his education.

Bornstein is best known for his structurist works, which combine elements of painting and sculpture in abstract forms that often evoke the natural world. A longtime faculty member at the University of Saskatchewan, he has had solo and group shows throughout Canada, the U.S. and Europe; his pieces can be found in private and public collections, including the collections of the Milwaukee Art Museum.

A reception was held in Bornstein’s honor, attended by alumni and university leadership. The work is displayed at the UWM Foundation offices at Cambridge Commons, 1440 E. North Ave.

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“Wherever you go around UWM, people are genuine, helpful, and share a sense of pride in the region. It didn’t take me long to know I made the right choice. The one thing I learned quickly is that I must not only become a Panthers fan, but a Packers fan as well.”

While her family is her focus outside of work, Bass loves to travel and has visited more than 40 countries. She enjoys taking the family’s two bull mastiffs out for walks in the local parks and looks forward to using the area’s scenic bike trails.

Bass brings a wealth of experience to her position. After receiving her BA in Arts & Letters/Communications from Michigan State University, she worked for political organizations, corporations and nonprofits. The old adage, she says, is that if you find work you love, you will never work a day in your life. That’s been true in her case – after finding her niche in academia.

“I find my work at UWM enjoyable, challenging and rewarding. Being around a diverse and talented pool of people enables me to be creative and energized.”

Eli Bornstein poses with the artwork he donated to the university.


GARDENING for

The Greater Good

W alk into Gretchen Mead’s kitchen, and it’s clear that someone’s been cooking. There’s half a head of cabbage on the counter, dishes in the sink, and the compost bin brims with vegetable trimmings. Mason jars of pickled beets and tomato sauce line the pantry shelves. Much of that produce grew just outside the door, in Mead’s Shorewood yard.

“It’s a kitchen where we cook real food,” Mead explains. She hopes to inspire others to make similar choices: to grow their own food and to prepare healthy meals with the harvest. Her zeal is obvious, and it’s appealing. She hosts potlucks. Often. At Halloween, she hands out candy to kids and the season’s last green tomatoes to parents.

Her frequent chats with neighbors about her front yard gardens have led Mead to think of gardens as “the new front porch,” a place where people gather to share ideas and surplus veggies. She believes gardening can help ailing neighborhoods rebound and thrive.

Last summer, Mead (’04 MSW) won Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett’s Tournavation, a competition that invited Milwaukeeans to propose solutions to some of the city’s most pressing problems, specifically the foreclosure crisis, food deserts and skyrocketing rates of obesity and diabetes.

From social work to social changeCalled the Post-Industrial Urban

Homestead Act, Mead’s proposal was

designed to give people access to vacant, foreclosed properties if they agreed to garden on the land and become a “food hub.”

“Every neighborhood needs a food hub, a place where somebody can go to get fresh produce, to learn about growing food, about canning food, and to meet somebody who has food at the heart of their home,” Mead explains.

Homesteaders would receive help with soil development, rainwater harvesting and basic tools, as well as a small annual stipend to meet basic needs. Under Mead’s plan, homesteaders who successfully tended their land and engaged their neighbors would eventually receive the property for free.

Finalists in Milwaukee’s Tournavation were invited to present their ideas at City Hall in

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August. Mead spoke eloquently about the need to address what she called “multigenerational nutritional starvation.”

Mead is a former mental health social worker. Patients never learned how to make healthy meals, she says, and she believes poor diets complicated their treatment.

“A social worker’s role is to critique our system and see how it’s not serving people equally,” she says. This thinking explains how her Master of Social Work degree from UWM shaped her path from social worker to social innovator.

The new victory gardenHer work with those patients was one factor

that led her to assemble the group of people who helped found the nonprofit Victory Garden Initiative (VGI) in 2008. The group held a “blitz,” installing about 40 vegetable gardens in yards across Milwaukee. Mead received a UWM Alumni Association GOLD (Graduate of the Last Decade) award last year in recognition of her work with VGI and the local food movement.

The blitz has become an annual event for VGI. Each spring, teams of volunteers install 4-foot by 8-foot raised beds filled with vegetable-friendly soil for $150 each. With donor help, they also build gardens for people who can’t afford the fee. The event has grown so much that Mead predicts they’ll install 500 gardens this spring.

Her enthusiasm for urban gardening and homesteading inspired the Tournavation judges at City Hall last summer, says Matt Howard, director of environmental sustainability for the City of Milwaukee.

“She brought the energy level up, and got people excited about the idea,” Howard says, adding that her concept was particularly appealing. “There’s a romantic ideal about homesteading. You do some work, you make an improvement in a neighborhood or a community, and in exchange you’re rewarded.”

The Tournavation was held to shape Milwaukee’s entry in the $9 million Mayors Challenge, a nationwide search for innovative ideas for cities, organized by New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s philanthropic foundation.

A team at City Hall expanded on Mead’s urban homesteader idea for the Mayors Challenge. Retitled “HOMEGR/OWN,” the proposal envisioned making some of the city’s 4,000 foreclosed properties and vacant lots available for gardening and commercial ventures such as small food-processing and canning centers.

From a pool of 300 entries, HOMEGR/OWN was named among the top 20 finalists in the Mayors Challenge last month. It didn’t place among the final five, but it did win a close second place – just 2,000 votes behind Houston – in the Mayors Challenge Fan Favorite Selection.

The Huffington Post called Milwaukee’s strong showing “an especially impressive feat on a per capita basis.”

Barrett has said he wants to pursue the HOMEGR/OWN ideas in some form, Howard says. And Howard is talking with Mead about how she might be involved.

Mead and VGI are already working to ignite interest in the concept of urban homesteading, in part through a series of potlucks.

Erik Lindberg (’98 PhD English) isn’t surprised by the success of Mead’s idea. Part of the original group that founded the Victory Garden Initiative, and former president of its board of directors, Lindberg has seen Mead’s ideas in action.

“She’s the kind of person who has five good ideas a day,” he says. “For most people, the ideas come and go, and nothing happens. But Gretchen actually follows through on those great ideas.”

1960s

Thomas Nawrocki (’64 BS, ’66 MS, ’67 MFA) has taught in Texas and Mississippi, and is now a retired professor of printmaking and fiber arts –weaving at Mississippi University for Women. He was selected the 2006 Visual Artist of the Year by the Mississippi Institute of Arts and Letters. Nawrocki is the former treasurer of Kappa Pi International Honorary Art Fraternity and the former director of the Mississippi Collegiate Art Competition. His works have appeared in over 500 state, regional, national and international art competitions and shows.

Dennis Byrne (’66 MS) is the author of “Madness: The War of 1812” (Tate Publishing), a historical novel that tells the story of ordinary Americans caught up in America’s most bungled, least understood, yet one of its most important, wars. Byrne is a longtime Chicago journalist and a contributing op-ed columnist for the Chicago Tribune. madness1812.com.

Warren Gerds (’67 BS), former critic-at-large for the Green Bay Press-Gazette, has released his third book. “The Legend of Taylor Rapids” returns to the era of logging, railroads and rugged life in wild Northern Wisconsin in 1914-15, with vivid, comical and touching characters.

CLASSNOTES

Thomas Nawrocki (’64 BS, ’66 MS, ’67 MFA)

Warren Gerds’s new book (’67 BS)


UWM EMPLOYEE ALUMNI CHAPTER GETS CONNECTED

More than 1,200 UWM alumni work at their alma mater.

This year, engaged by a call from Sandy Botham, assistant director for alumni engagement, and Associate Vice Chancellor Adrienne Bass, they shared ideas, dessert, “101 Ways to Engage with UWM” and Panther pride as the first official UWM Employee Alumni Chapter.

“As UW-Milwaukee continues to build its local and national reputa-tion, there are some great opportunities to become more involved with this effort,” says Innovative Weather Director of Operations Mike Westendorf (’96 BS Mathematical Sciences). “With the formation of the new employee alumni chapter, those of us who have graduated from UWM and now work here have an awesome opportunity to add to our efforts to make this a university of distinction in our local community and in the greater world around us.”

The upcoming months will be a strategizing, chapter-building time for members of the new chapter. They plan to create a fun, meaningful and collaborative environment for staff.

“As ambassadors for the university, our alumni employees can help connect us to others within and around the campus community who have UWM pride and UWM experiences in common,” says Bass.

Going forward, she says alumni employees might tap into Panther pride experiences that range from sharing the UWM story and academic opportunities with prospective students to attending a lobby day in Madison on behalf of UWM. And much, much more.

“A philanthropic event might also be something to consider,” suggests Kyle Swetzig, an associate adviser in the Department of Admissions & Recruitment. “As a group we can absolutely focus on in-stilling pride on campus, including fundraising for student scholarships.”

Relationship building and spirit boosting got off to a quick start in 2013 with a luncheon meeting, dessert reception and men’s basketball game that brought together alumni employees from all units on campus.

For more on the UWM Employee Alumni Chapter or to receive your own copy of “101 Ways to Engage with UWM,” contact Sandy Botham: [email protected] or (414) 229-3018.

From left: Mary (Rinzel) Baylor (’04), Peter Jakubowski (’07), Tina Wagner (’11) and Angela McManaman (’00, ’08) share a chocolate chip bar with Pounce at the UWM Employee Alumni Dessert Reception in February. All four work in the Department of University Relations and Communications.

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1960sDenis Kitchen (’68 BS) is co-curator of “The Art of Harvey Kurtzman,” an exhibit running through May 11 at The Museum of American Illustrators in New York City. Kurtzman was the founding editor and creator of Mad magazine.

Tom Wasco (’69 MA, MBA) has published his first fiction book, “Backseat Through Bookstand Publishing.”

1970s Kitty Morse (’67 BA, ’72 MA) recently released “Mint Tea and Minarets: A Banquet of Moroccan Memories.” The book was a finalist in the 2012 San Diego Book Awards. An award-winning cookbook author, she has written 10 books about her culinary experiences and recipes.

Mary Gore (’74 BA) has worked in the Milwaukee Public Schools as an elementary teacher for 20 years. She reports that she feels much rewarded by seeing her students grow up and use their educations.

James Stearns (’77 BA) of Stearns CPA Solutions Ltd. of Brookfield has joined Sitzberger, Widmann & Company S.C., a regional public accounting firm.

Norman Cira (’79 BA) has been promoted to vice president and client service manager of MWH Global, a wet-infrastructure-focused strategic consulting, environment engineering and construction services firm. Cira has 23 years of experience as an environmental scientist. He is certified as a hazardous materials manager and technician by the Institute of Environment Career Advancement.

1980sEddee Daniel (’85 BS) recently completed his newest book, “Seeing Peru: Layered Realities,” a collection of photographs conveying both the expected and unexpected geography and culture of Peru.

David Michael (’86 MBA) was the first graduate of the MBA program at UWM. His focus on quantitative analysis of public policy in the judicial branch led him to a career in court administration. After ending his public-service career, he launched a private company to provide software and consulting services for the legal community. Seven years into his own business, he has more than 300 private and government clients in 40 states.

CLASSNOTES


Jeffrey L. Tapper (’89 MS)

BREAKS RECORDS PANTHER PROWL ’12

More than 1,600 registrants turned the eighth annual Panther Prowl 5K – always the second Sunday of October – into a record-setting event for the UWM Alumni Association. Even more impressive is the more than $76,000 raised by Prowl 2012 runners, walkers and donors. Adrienne L. Bass offered remarks before the race, thanking the crowd for record-setting participation despite the damp and cloudy conditions. The Oct. 14 Prowl was her first official event as new associate vice chancellor for alumni relations.

Of course, plenty of familiar race-day faces turned out for the event. These included UWM Chancellor Michael R. Lovell, who distributed 94 commemorative “I Beat the Chancellor” shirts after logging a 21:37 5K just one week after he completed the Milwaukee Lakefront Marathon. UWM alumna and former track & field standout Holly Nearman (’09 BA Journalism & Mass Communication, Sociology) finished first among women

with a time of 17:52. Thomas Wells, another UWM track & field alum and a current graduate student, logged an overall first-place finish time of 15:51. Once again the Department of English fielded the largest team, the Run Ons.

Please report for the ninth annual Panther Prowl on 10/13/13. Race begins at 10 a.m.

Tom O’Brien (’87 BBA) recently took the position of senior vice president of health care at Texas-based Acorn Systems, a provider of profitability and cost-management software and services.

Jeffrey Pitman (’87 BS) was elected 2013 president of the Wisconsin Association for Justice, the largest voluntary bar organization in the state. Members are attorneys who represent consumers seeking compensation for injuries arising from accidents, malpractice or unsafe products.

Anne Leplae (’89 MA, ’11 MS) has received Les Palmes Académiques from the French government for her dedication and efforts toward the expansion of French culture beyond its borders. Since 1998, Leplae has been the executive director of the Alliance Française de Milwaukee, a nonprofit organization whose mission is to promote French language and cultural exchange.

Jeffrey L. Tapper (’89 MS) has been named to the newly created position of chief administrative officer at the Chicago Institute for Psychoanalysis (CIP). Previously, he was practice group administrator for The George Washington University Medical Faculty Associates, overseeing the departments of Radiology, Anesthesiology, Pathology and Neonatology, developing and administering financial operations and an $83.2 million clinical and $1.3 million research budget. He is a member of several professional organizations, including the Medical Group Management Association, American College of Healthcare Executives, Healthcare Financial Management Association and the National Council of University Research Administrators.

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T.K.

W R I T E S P O E T R Y, LOVES T O T E AC H


Derrick Harriell (’03 BA English, ’12 PhD) has the résumé of a poet, the memories of a Milwaukeean and a new job that brings him back – a generation or two – to the very place where his craft first took root: Deep-Southern towns like Tuscaloosa and Fairhope.

“I’ve always asked a lot of questions about the South and the migration,” says the new professor of English and Afro American Studies at the University of Mississippi. “A lot of the poems in my first book take place in the North, but are written in the voices of my uncles and aunts and grandparents: people who still have a Southern sensibility as they adjust to a faster Northern pace.”

That first collection, the critically acclaimed “Cotton” (2010, Willow-Algonquin Press), could have been his dissertation work for the poetry PhD program in UWM’s Department of English. But Harriell’s adviser had grander ambitions.

“Maurice Kilwein-Guevara, being the wonderful chairperson that he was, was like, ‘Nope, get back to work,’” says Harriell. “And I’m a better writer and scholar because of it.”

Must be. During the final year of his PhD studies he taught, wrote, landed that tenure-track position at Ole Miss and got his second book under contract.

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NEW BOOK, NEW BEGINNINGSTitled “Ropes” and written in epistolary form, Harriell’s second

book of poetry – a historical piece that he says required nearly as much research time as writing time – is due out this fall. It strays quite far from his family tree. This time the voices are not his aunts and uncles, but the likes of Joe Lewis, Muhammad Ali, Joe Frazier, Mike Tyson.

“It’s not an action book, not like ‘Now down goes Frasier!,’ but is more about these athletes as human beings, black men, and black men who were portrayed as the baddest man on the planet,” says Harriell, who tosses out long, lyrical, fluid sentences as easily as politicians spew one-liners. “It’s more about them as fathers and husbands and friends than about the sport.”

A new father himself, Harriell is settling into his new job in Mississippi, where some of his literary standbys – James Baldwin, Ai, Toni Morrison, August Wilson and Octavia Butler – are required reading for his poetry and African American Studies courses.

He’s known since grade two, the year he penned his first love poem, that poetry would always be a part of his life. But first there were other careers to be considered, like high-school English teacher and sports journalist. Sports and school became two poles of his childhood in Milwaukee, where he grew up on the North Side but attended school in suburban South Milwaukee.

FROM CLASS PRESIDENT TO ‘COTTON’

“Cotton,” written in four parts, verges into autobiographical terrain in several poems that reference a childhood lived between dualities that are not what you might think.

“Growing up on the North Side was a polar sort of experience,” says the South Milwaukee High School Class of ’98 president. “Some of those poems capture the highs of neighborhood basketball games, barbeques, friends and family – and the lows of violence in the city, losing childhood friends.”

He left Milwaukee to attend Chicago State University, where he attended a poetry workshop alongside an acclaimed poet he most admires, Gary Copeland Lilley.

“It was awesome to have an opportunity to work with him for a semester,” says Harriell, adding that the two have become friends. Copeland Lilley is also a fan. Of “Cotton,” he writes: “The personal family history of blues and redemptions are woven in the fabric, too. Both noble and wicked traditions are revealed in a rich credible vernacular, a musical voice, like a storyteller sitting in your kitchen or on the barstool beside you testifying to the significant particulars, situations of poetic truths, the edgy full dimensions deep within the culture.”

Which brings up another point. Fans and fellow poets alike consider Harriell a blues poet. It’s a title he’ll wear with pride, but it’s not one he sought. It was almost an accident, he says, of syntax and persona, dialect and vernacular.

“It wasn’t until people started hearing or proclaiming this was blues poetry and blues-informed that I started drawing my own connection between influences and what I was doing,” Harriell says, smiling. “You can hear it in different line breaks and meters, stuff I thought was cool as I was writing it. The further that I got into my studies, the more I understood this is what I’m doing now and I let my research head in that direction.”

There are Ghosts Inside Here: Jack Johnson writes Joe Louis

United States Penitentiary, Leavenworth August 1920

Joe, There are ghosts inside here, floating men abandon their youth each hour. Youngblood called me black Moses before hanging himself with a rusted dream. We take turns dying.

Lucille’s become a haiku, three lines neatly tucked in an envelope and delivered to the doorstep of my imagination. I’ve fallen in love with my hands, realizing their potential for putting things together. On some days, while my fingers twist and sweat streams my face, I am in that ring again, satisfied. Across is an executioner, red fist, trying to decapitate my smile. First appeared in The Wisconsin Review

Billy Boy Frazier Floats A Message Down the Beaufort River

Beaufort, SC, 1956

Dear Jack,Poppa donate a arm to a moonlit field,say sometimes when you pumped with moonshineyour heart a hay-filled wagon you just drag around.When I was born, the witch lady say I got to think like a left armso poppa can dig up his smile.Now, he don’t feel like he lost no armand when Ugly Man Mitch come spitting in poppa face,a shovel to the head was a left hook he never saw.

FACEBOOK BONUSApril is National Poetry Month. Be the first to post a UWM-inspired haiku at facebook.com/uwmalumni and win an autographed copy of “Cotton.”


Nominate now, celebrate in NovemberALUMNI AWARDS BANQUET NOV. 8

Save the date and nominate your fellow UWM alumni for the Nov. 8 Alumni Awards Banquet. The event will be held at the Milwaukee Public Museum in Downtown Milwaukee and welcomes one of the most distinguished UWM alumni working in the arts today: Academy Award and American Film Institute award winner Jim Rygiel (’77 BFA Painting & Drawing), who is recognized globally for his innovative and captivating visual effects work on “The Lord of the Rings” trilogy and other films.

Rygiel will be the featured speaker at the alumni awards dinner, where some of UWM’s best will be recognized.

Award nominations are now being accepted in six prestigious categories, listed below and online. All alumni are invited to submit nominations through June 3, 2013. For more details, to reserve tickets, or to submit nominations, visit alumni.uwm.edu.

Lifetime Achievement AwardThis award is presented on rare occasions when the UWM Alumni Association recognizes an individual with exemplary achievements over the span of a lifetime. The Lifetime Achievement Award recognizes those who have had extraordinary success in the following arenas: professional achievement; community involvement; advancement of UWM’s mission; giving back of time, effort, and/or capital; and encouraging and inspiring future leaders.

In the history of the Alumni Association, only 11 individuals have been conferred this highest recognition.

Distinguished Alumni Service AwardThis award recognizes alumni for exceptional volunteer leadership in service to UWM and the Alumni Association. Recipients will demonstrate a quality and depth of service to UWM that is truly outstanding. To be awarded to one alumna/us annually.

Distinguished Alumni Achievement AwardThis award recognizes superior achievements of UWM alumni in their chosen fields. Recipients will demonstrate a sterling record of distinguished career accomplishments, complemented by a history of outstanding contributions to their profession. To be awarded to one alumna/us annually.

Honorary Alumni AwardHonorary Alumni status is presented to a person who is not a graduate of UWM but who has earned this recognition through deep loyalty, service and support of the university and the Alumni Association.

Graduate of the Last Decade Award This award honors alumni from each school or college who have achieved accomplishments of significant importance at an early stage of their careers (1-10 years after earning their undergraduate degrees). The award is intended to recognize either professional accomplishment or service to the university by those who have graduated within the last decade.

Community Service AwardThe Community Service Award honors alumni who have generously contributed their time and talents for the enrichment of others and the betterment of their communities. This award bestows recognition on those individuals who have given of themselves in support of various civic, charitable, philanthropic and social welfare organizations.

Corporate Partner AwardThe Corporate Partner Award recognizes corporations or nonprofit organizations that have a significant impact on the campus and/or on the lives of alumni and students by assisting in the advancement, growth and/or development of UWM.

Nominate or self-nominate today. Visit alumni.uwm.edu

Alumnus Jim Rygiel (far right) and other members of the “Lord of the Rings” visual effects team at the 76th Academy Awards ceremony. Rygiel is the featured speaker at the 2013 Alumni Awards banquet Nov. 8.

Share your stories. We love bragging about you.Won an award? Started a business? Had an adventure? Welcomed a baby? We’d like to hear about it. Email your class notes to [email protected] or write to UWM Alumni Association, P.O. Box 413, Milwaukee WI 53201.Please be sure to include your full name (including maiden name, if applicable), address, year(s) of graduation, degree(s) and major(s). Photos are welcome!

CLASSNOTES

1990sAndrew Narrai (’90 BA) was promoted to president of Trefoil Group, a strategic marketing communications firm based in Milwaukee. Narrai played a critical role in developing and launching the company’s new identity, and will continue to manage operations and agency growth. His responsibilities have expanded to include the development of new capabilities, offers and business practices to better serve the evolving needs of Trefoil Group’s growing client base.

Lynnae M. Mahaney (’90 MBA) has been named executive director of the Center for Pharmacy Practice Acceditation (CPPA) in Washington, D.C. In her new role, she leads the center’s strategic direction and operations, and the management and delivery of pharmacy practice accreditation programs in the healthcare marketplace. Mahaney joins CPPA from her position as vice president of hospital and health system services for Visante Inc. in Minneapolis, where she managed consultant services for hospitals and health systems in both the United States and the United Kingdom. She received the Citation of Merit from the University of Wisconsin School of Pharmacy in November 2012 and was named the 2004 Pharmacist of the Year by the Pharmacy Society of Wisconsin.

Arthur Fredricks (’91 BA, ’98 BA) has co-authored two books, “Terms and Definitions of American Football” and “Pocket Guide to American Football.” The books are available from Fredricks Publishing LLC, Appleton, Wis.

Ellen Engseth (’92 BA, ’97 MA) has been selected to participate in the 2013 Archives Leadership Institute (ALI) at Luther College in Decorah, Ill. Funded by the National Historical Publications and Records Commission, ALI will provide advanced training for 25 emerging and innovative leaders, giving them the knowledge and tools to transform the archival profession in practice, theory and attitude. Engseth is archivist and senior academic librarian at the UWM Libraries. As adjunct instructor with UWM’s School of Information Studies Archival Studies Program, she developed and taught a comparative study abroad course based in Edinburgh, Scotland.

Lt. Col. Dennis Klatt (’93 BS) is retiring after 23 years of military service, most recently as clinical coordinator for the Regional Training Site, Medical, at Fort McCoy, Wis. Klatt received a Legion of Merit award for exceptionally meritorious conduct in the performance of outstanding services and achievements, and was recognized as a distinguished member of the Army Medical Department’s Regiment, receiving a regimental flag. Upon his retirement, he will receive a presidential letter from Commander-in-Chief Barack Obama recognizing his years of service to the nation.

Sarit Singhal (’95 BSE) is president and CEO of Superior Support Resources (SSR), which has been named to the prestigious Inc. 5000 list for the sixth year in a row. SSR is a regional, full-service technology firm providing consulting, project management, project implementation and

application development services. Singhal has also been named to the Biz Times Media LLC list of Bravo! Entrepreneur Award winners. The award honors community leaders and their companies for taking a creative and progressive approach to business in Southeast Wisconsin.

Glenn Roby (’98 MArch) has been promoted to principal at Kahler Slater, a Milwaukee-based, award-winning architecture and experience design firm. He continues to serve as team leader, a position he has held since 2011, managing team operations, client relationships and new business development in the firm’s Business Environments practice area. A thought leader in the design industry, Roby contributed an article about design as a business imperative to the Forbes.com leadership forum and presented Kahler Slater’s workplace research at the national Great Place to Work Conference in 2011.

Mohamed Barakat (’99 BBA) has been named a partner at Baker & McKenzie LLP. Working from the Corporate & Securities Practice based in Chicago, he advises multinational companies on domestic and cross-border mergers, acquisitions, divestitures and joint ventures, with emphasis on the Saudi Arabian market. Barakat also advises global investment banks on the rules and regulations governing several capital markets in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and other jurisdictions in the Middle East.

Lt. Col. Dennis Klatt (’93 BS)

Lynnae M. Mahaney (’90 MBA)


1990sKirk Deheck (’99 BSE) has become a voting shareholder at Boyle Fredrickson, Wisconsin’s largest intellectual property law firm. He joined Boyle Fredrickson in 2006. His practice focuses on the preparation and prosecution of patent and trademark applications, as well as intellectual property opinions and enforcement. Deheck is a current board member and immediate past chair of the Wisconsin State Bar Intellectual Property Section.

Dave Dougherty (’99 MA) released his second album, “Destinations,” on Black Friday 2012. It is the first album to feature Dougherty’s vocals on top of his guitar playing, but, he says, it continues down the same harmonic vein of his first album, “Sometimes, All Time,” blending elements of classical, jazz and rock with the singer-songwriter style. Dougherty’s albums can be streamed on SoundCloud.com and online radio sites.

2000sErin Boodey (’02 BS, ’04 MS) recently authored a children’s book, “Work Your Body, Grow Your Brain.” The 26-page book teaches children how to “work your body,” including arms and shoulders, legs, hands, ears, sense of touch, mouth, lips and eyes. Her background as an occupational therapist was critical to creating the content.

Julie Kinzelman (’02 MS) was the lead author on two chapters of a new book, “Water Quality, Animal Waste and Human Health,” published as part of the World Health Organization’s Water, Sanitation and Human Health series. A research scientist and Health Department Laboratory director for the City of Racine, Wis., she also serves as an affiliate scientist for the UWM School of Freshwater Sciences and holds further academic appointments at UW-Parkside. Kinzelman received a GOLD Award from the UWMAA in 2012.

CLASSNOTES

Dave Dougherty’s new album (’99 MA)

Julie Kinzelman (’02 MS)

Alumni Networking BreakfastThursday, May 9, 8-10 a.m., UWM Hefter Center. Panel discussion, “Careers in the Financial Sector.” Meet fellow alumni and learn from panelists about a myriad of career opportunities in the financial services sector.

Just in Time Job FairThursday, May 9, 11 a.m.-2 p.m., UWM Union Ballroom. Are you job seeking? All alumni and students are welcome at the Just in Time Job Fair. cdc.uwm.edu

D.C. Alumni Chapter kickoff Wednesday, June 26, Cozen O’Connor, 1627 Eye Street, NW, Suite 1100, Washington, D.C. Do you live or work in the D.C. metro area? Head to the D.C. Alumni Chapter kickoff event!

UWM Day at State FairSunday, Aug. 4. Look for interactive displays and fun activities from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. on the Central Mall (very, very close to the cream puffs).

PAAWS (Professional Alumni After Work Social)Wednesday, Aug. 14, 5:30 p.m. Milwaukee is one of the world’s most significant hubs for water

research and sustainability. Enjoy an evening networking with fellow alumni while learning more about UWM’s role in the region’s global impact in this growing area.

UWM Day at Miller Park Saturday, Aug. 17, 4 p.m. tailgate at Helfaer Field; 6:10 p.m. game. Cheer on the Milwaukee Brewers as they take on the Cincinnati Reds and enjoy a festive Panther pregame celebration with fellow alumni.

New York City Alumni EventDate: T.B.A. PricewaterhouseCoopers, 300 Madison Ave. Meet Chancellor Michael R. Lovell and network with fellow Big Apple alumni.

Panther Prowl 5K Run/Walk Sunday, Oct. 13, 10 a.m. Run, walk or stroll through the UWM campus and upper Lake Park to help raise funds for student scholarships. Captain a team, sign up as an individual, or volunteer to join the planning committee. pantherprowl.net.

Alumni Awards BanquetFriday, Nov. 8, Milwaukee Public Museum. Celebrate outstanding alumni at an elegant awards dinner featuring Academy Award-winning special effects artist Jim Rygiel ’77.

More info about all events at alumni.uwm.edu, [email protected] or 414-229-4290.


UWM educates more than 29,000 students annually

with proven results. Your estate gift will help prepare

and inspire the next generation. Remembering the

University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee in your estate

plans is an investment in our future.

To discuss your legacy, contact Gretchen Miller:414-229-3067 or [email protected]

CLASSNOTES

Jeffery Panhans (’02 BA) is flight operations manager for Las Vegas-based Allegiant Air, overseeing just under 100 pilots in three bases. He began his career as a pilot for Colgan Air, based in Manassas, Va.

Jill Annitto (’03 MLIS) is chief of the Records Unit in the Executive Office of the Secretary-General at the United Nations headquarters in New York City. She previously worked as a manuscript librarian at Pioneer Village in Minden, Neb., which houses the largest private collection of Americana in the world, as a photo archivist at the Brooklyn Historical Society and eventually as assistant director at the Abraham Lincoln Brigade Archives in New York.

Nick Mueller (’04 BS), project manager at the Boldt Company, has been elected to a second term as president of the Wisconsin Green Building Alliance (WGBA) by its board of directors. The WGBA is a nonprofit, charitable organization that facilitates and promotes ecologically sustainable practices throughout the state’s built environment.

Betsy Burns (’05 BA) currently works for the University of Wisconsin Foundation as the director of development for the UW-Madison College of Engineering. She reports that her service learning and internship experiences at UWM led her to discover, early on, an interest in development/fundraising, which she has been working in ever since.

Aurora Sambolín Santiago (’06 MA) is in her fourth and last year of working toward a PhD in Translation at the University of Manchester (U.K.), and hope to enter academia as a professor of Spanish/translation. Santiago began her career as a project manager for Iverson Language Associates, a Milwaukee-based translation company.

Stephanie Allewalt Hacker (’07 MUP) has joined GRAEF as senior planner. Allewalt Hacker is a certified planner and LEED accredited professional. GRAEF is a full-service design firm based in Milwaukee.

Mindy Bornhoft (’09 BS) has been hired as an industrial engineer on the Technical Operations Team at Perrigo, a leading pharmaceutical supplier based in Michigan.

Jason Haas (’09 BA) was elected to a yearlong term on the Milwaukee County Board of Supervisors in an April 2011 special election, and elected to a full four-year term in April 2012. He now serves as chairman of the Technology, Efficiency, Adaptability and Modernization Committee; vice chairman of the Finance, Personnel & Audit Committee; vice chairman of the Parks, Energy and Environment Committee; and member of the Transportation, Public Works and Transit Committee.

Joanne Jones (’10 BA) is a marketing specialist handling marketing efforts for two publications and three annual conferences. She markets via email, direct mail, social media and more.

Stephanie Allewalt Hacker (’07 MUP)

Mindy Bornhoft (’09 BS)

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Work with a lot of UWM alumni?

Join the club –

From Rockwell Automation, to R.W. Baird, to Northwestern Mutual, employer-sponsored UWM alumni groups are forming at many businesses. Program goals and benefits include:

•mentoring&recruitingtoptalent •supportingandengagingnewalumni

and current students •networking,campusupdatesand

luncheon opportunities

Join our growing community of Panthers@Work groups to promote Panther pride, network and pave the way for the next generation of Panther professionals.

alumni.uwm.edu

Contact Tad Gospodarek at (414) 229-3000 or [email protected] and ask how you can jump-start a Panthers@Work group.

Panthers@Work

Documents

UWM Alumni - Spring 2013