Outlook Magazine - Fall 2018

Magazine for Alumni & Friends • Fall 2018

INSIDE

Pathways Forward: First comprehensive campaign Collaboration is key at the UW-Stout Child and Family Study Center Professor envisions virtual reality instruction expanded across campus

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S TA F F Mark Parsons Vice Chancellor, University Advancement and Marketing Doug Mell Executive Director of Communications and External Relations

Fall 2018 • University of Wisconsin-Stout

Amy Luethmers Director of Marketing Jerry Poling Assistant Director, University Communications Pam Powers Communications Specialist, University Communications Mesa Covill ‘07 ‘09 Senior Alumni Relations Officer

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Jennie Smith ‘11 Campaign and Donor Relations Coordinator

MESSAGE FROM THE CHANCELLOR

L E A R N I N G E N V I R O N M E N T S C O N T.

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Chancellor Bob reflects on the 2017-2018 academic year

ON CAMPUS

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Snapshots of the 2017-2018 academic year Bowman, Clock Tower renovation project accuracy aiming for historical

Collaboration is key at the Child and Family Study Center School of Art and Design hoping for new lab Corporate donations, partnerships improve labs, learning experiences University named center of excellence for cyber defense

P R O G R A M I N N OVAT I O N

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Donations that boost professors’ research are helping students begin careers

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Graphic design grad realizes NY dream after landing job with L’Oréal

CLASS NOTES

School of Hospitality Leadership marks 50 years of success with special events

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Pathways Forward’s progress

Meet the campaign leadership

STUDENT EXPERIENCE

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Successful hospitality alumni

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Alumnus’ company designs, builds high-tech equipment A successful and enduring relationship – Greenheck and UW-Stout Professor hopes to see his virtual reality instruction project expand across campus Prent donation boosts packaging labs Center for Study of Institutions and Innovation encourages civil debate

Class notes; Chancellor Emeritus Sorensen remembered

Brett Roseman University Photographer Cheryl Keyes ‘92 Production Manager, University Marketing Emily Wettergren Student Designer, University Marketing

Robert F. Cervenka School of Engineering helps create ‘hub of excellence’ Pankowskis make $4M estate commitment

We’d love to hear from you, and your fellow alumni would too! Drop us a line about your promotion, a reunion, or just to reminisce.

STOUT TRADITIONS

Your Alumni Association is interested in learning what traditions were part of your days on campus. Were there bonfires after the hockey games; did you have weekly dances; what event(s) did your fraternity or sorority hold each year? As you think back to those events, please share them with us.

EMAIL

alumni@uwstout.edu

AT H L E T I C S

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LEARNING ENVIRONMENTS

Cade Walters ‘14 Graphic Designer, University Marketing

S H A R E YO U R N E W S

P AT H W AY S F O R W A R D

UW-Stout embarks on its first comprehensive campaign

Stephanie LaBair Sr. Graphic Designer, University Marketing

PHONE

Senior Sam Elsner wins national titles in shot put, discus

(715) 232-1151

First-time head coaches take over women’s, men’s basketball programs

Share your news or ideas at www.uwstout.edu/alumni

ONLINE

tinyurl.com/stoutalumni twitter.com/stoutalumni facebook.com/stoutalumni

ON CAMPUS

During my campus presentation in 2014 as part of the chancellor interview process, I made the case for dramatically increasing the size of the assets held by the Stout University Foundation. It was clear to me, even before I became chancellor, that foundation support would be essential to maintaining the quality of education at UW-Stout.

I am ecstatic that now, four years later, we are at the dawn of the public phase of the first comprehensive campaign in UW-Stout’s history. While the Stout University Foundation steadily has increased its fundraising, this phase will provide the essential boost every comprehensive campaign needs.

Message from the Chancellor

BOB MEYER

You can read elsewhere in this publication about the details of the campaign, but I want to publicly thank the co-chairs, Debbie Cervenka and Joe Rossmeier, for their hard work in moving it to this point, as well as the other members of the steering committee: Bill Flesch, Craig Yolitz, Kim Polzin, Barb Steinhilber and Bill Hendricksen.

I also want to thank Vice Chancellor Mark Parsons and his entire staff for their efforts.

This campaign has been fashioned to allow everyone who cares about the future of UW-Stout to become involved. The pathways that have been selected for emphasis — student experience, learning environments and program innovation — will be critical areas for UW-Stout’s future.

While we have made significant progress toward achieving our goal, much work remains. I intend to devote my time and resources to this important and exciting effort, and I hope you decide to join me as well.

Employment rate for graduates up again One of the top selling points at UW-Stout is our traditionally impressive employment rate for new graduates. I’m pleased to report that the 2016-17 employment rate hit 98.2 percent, up from 97.4 percent a year before.

Because the average starting salary of our recent graduates has climbed to $43,000, we estimate that our graduates will contribute nearly $69 million to the economy in their first year.

I’m also happy to share that the employment rate has increased every year since I became chancellor in 2014.

This rate positively reflects on the hard work of our dedicated faculty and staff, as well as our employer partners who serve on our program advisory committees.

Thanks to all of you for helping make our graduates so successful and valuable in the workplace.

Remembering Chancellor Emeritus Sorensen Finally, there is a story in the Class Notes, but I wanted to express my sorrow and condolences at the February passing of Chancellor Emeritus Charles W. Sorensen, who died in Florida from complications of a stroke.

I had the privilege of working with this education visionary as a faculty member, program director, college dean and special assistant to the chancellor. I marvel at his dedication to innovation and his passion for UW-Stout.

He is missed by all who knew him.

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UW-STOUT OUTLOOK

SNAPSHOTS

OF THE 2017/2018 ACADEMIC YEAR

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ON CAMPUS

NOT JUST ANOTHER

Brick in the Hall Bowman, Clock Tower renovation project aiming for historical accuracy

How do you replace bricks in a historic, 121year-old building? That’s the question, and project, UW-Stout has been working on at Bowman Hall, the university’s iconic structure built by founder James Huff Stout.

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UW-STOUT OUTLOOK

The art of replacing

LEGEND

Remove and replace stone Replicate Original

24,000 BRICKS Substitute Stone Repair Replicate original profile and finish Redress Stone Insitu Replicate original profile and finish

Remove & Replace Replicate original

Substitute Stone Repair Replicate original profile & finish

Dutchmen Repair Replicate original profile and finish Replace Face Brick Replicate original Flip Face Brick Remove and flip

Substitute Stone Repair Replicate original profile & finish

Flip & Face Brick Remove and flip

Replace Face Brick

Dutchman Repair Replicate original profile & finish

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East Elevation: Bowman Hall No Scale

owman Hall, built in 1897 as Stout Manual Training School, needs approxinately 24,000 new bricks — a small fraction of what’s in the four-story building yet no small problem. A substance applied in 1994 to waterproof the exterior ended up trapping moisture behind some brick, causing damage, according to Mike Bowman, project manager in Facilities Management (and no relation to the building’s namesake, Clyde Bowman).

Preservation architect Laura Davis, of Madison, thoroughly researched the locally made red brick. She worked with Building Restoration Corp., which found a company to reproduce it exactly. Replacing the bricks one-by-one began in July, after masons received special training on campus. Other bricks won’t be removed but flipped around.

The $8.95 million state-funded project has other aspects.

Workers are grinding out mortar joints and tuck pointing the entire building; replacing damaged stone; putting a new roof on the Clock Tower (requiring the copper weathervane to come down temporarily in 2019); installing new, historically accurate windows throughout the building; installing new entrance and tower doors; upgrading areas inside the tower; and exposing original features in the annex on the south side.

The clock mechanism in the tower also will be fixed, a separate small project.

When the project wraps up in November 2019, the hope is that Bowman Hall and the Clock Tower will be good for at least another 100 years.

Bowman is one of three 2018-2019 renovation projects totaling more than $38 million. The other two are student fee-funded.

At North Hall, a 371-bed residence facility built in 1967, a $21.74 million project is adding 14,000 square feet for an accessible entrance along with a complete renovation — remodeled student rooms, more lounge and kitchen space and expanded bathrooms and showers. Closure of the building for the 2018-19 academic year has necessitated the reopening of Jeter-Tainter-Callahan Halls on north campus.

Workers from Building Restoration Corporation remove mortar between bricks on the south side of Bowman Hall

At Price Commons, also opened in 1967, a $7.57 million project includes remodeling about 19,000 square feet of firstfloor offices and meeting areas while also rebuilding the patio on Broadway Street. The second floor, which includes the main campus dining hall, was renovated in 2009.

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PATHWAYS FORWARD

A COMPREHENSIVE CAMPAIGN FOR UW-STOUT

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f James Huff Stout were to return today to the institution he founded in 1891, he wouldn’t recognize most of the campus or the specialized majors offered by what is now UW-Stout. Yet, he would undoubtedly conclude that the spirit of his forwardthinking vision lives on.

Through its 127-year journey, the university has maintained a commitment to a high-quality, affordable, career-focused education. The 98.2 percent postgraduation employment or continuing education rate is a testament to the value of the polytechnic approach, which blends hands-on learning with liberal arts theory to develop highly sought-after graduates.

However, state funding has been reduced to approximately 14 percent of UW-Stout’s operating

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UW-STOUT OUTLOOK

budget, while costs to update and maintain state-ofthe-art learning environments, hire and support exceptional faculty, and provide industry relevant experiences for students continue to rise.

To maintain the university’s national reputation of preparing career-ready graduates and sustain its leadership position as a forward-focused polytechnic university, the Pathways Forward campaign has been launched. It is the first comprehensive campaign in university history.

This $35 million campaign is designed to support three areas: student experience, learning environments and program innovation.

STUDENT EXPERIENCE

LEARNING ENVIRONMENTS

PROGRAM INNOVATION

The Student Experience Pathway will empower student success with an increase in scholarships and additional faculty support.

The Learning Environment Pathway will ensure the ability to continue to provide industry-standard learning environments that mirror evolving, modern workplaces.

The Program Innovation Pathway will create new opportunities to swiftly respond to rapidly evolving industry and societal needs.

Scholarships Despite value-driven tuition and housing rates, the total average cost, including living and additional expenses, of attending UW-Stout is approximately $88,500. A “lack of funding” is a reason many students are unable to complete their degree. Stout University Foundation has funds to assist only 30 percent of students qualified for scholarships.

Lab modernization UW-Stout has nearly three times the number of labs to traditional classrooms, which are increasingly difficult to keep current.

Program support Dynamic shifts in the workplace are creating opportunities to produce industryspecific programs to meet these needs through industry partnerships who help keep programs current, as well as facilitate new majors and minors in emerging areas.

Faculty support UW-Stout’s distinctive programs depend on attracting and retaining highly soughtafter faculty and instructional staff.

Initiatives within this pathway include: • Scholarships • Named professorships and chairs • Chancellor’s Fund for Teaching Excellence and Student Success

Technology-enabled classrooms These cross-disciplinary learning environments incorporate modern learning technologies to help the university better collaborate with internal and external audiences.

Laboratory operational funding Funding is required to ensure the ability to enhance hands-on learning in specialized environments with lab technicians to support operations, maintenance safety and equipment training.

Initiatives within this pathway include: • Child and Family Study Center • Digital Process Laboratory • Multipurpose recreational field • Automation and robotics

Schools and centers The creation of a school or center will provide critical resources to facilitate cross-sector collaboration internally and externally, differentiate program offerings and further develop faculty expertise.

Collaborative initiatives The development of faculty, staff and student leaders through collaborative partnerships transforms the student educational experience, expands faculty expertise and creates industry and societal solutions.

Initiatives within this pathway include: • STEPS for Girls summer program • Social Science Research Center • Cybersecurity

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PATHWAYS FORWARD

PATHWAYS FORWARD

BY THE NUMBERS AS OF MARCH 31, 2018

C A M PAIGN TOTAL

$24,508,740 OF $35,000,000 GOAL

STUDENT EXPERIENCE

LEARNING ENVIRONMENTS

PROGRAM INNOVATION

$12,607,516

$4,462,213

$7,439,011

OF $15M GOAL

OF $12M GOAL

90%

OF $8M GOAL

O F G IFTS IN FY ’ 16-’17 WERE LESS TH AN $1,000

JOIN US IN CELEBRATING THE PATHWAYS FORWARD CAMPAIGN H O M E C O M I N G S AT U R D AY, O C T. 6 Activities include •

Blue Devil Run/Walk

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Tailgate party

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Breakfast at the Buck

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Football game

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And much more

See the back cover for additional information.

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UW-STOUT OUTLOOK

PATHWAYS FORWARD C A M PA I G N L E A D E R S H I P The Pathways Forward campaign has been led by a dedicated group of volunteers who share an inspirational vision for the future of UW-Stout. While these co-chairs and Steering Committee members represent many regions of the country and have a wide variety of talents, expertise and career accolades, they all have a remarkable, unwavering passion and dedication for UW-Stout. They have provided tremendous leadership in helping develop our campaign plans and likewise clearly have set the pace through their philanthropy in advance of the public phase of the campaign. It is with great appreciation and admiration that we introduce this outstanding leadership team.

CAMPAIGN CO-CHAIRS DEBBIE CERVENKA,

JOE ROSSMEIER ’65

friend to UW-Stout Duluth, Minn.

Consultant to nonprofit organizations

Santa Rosa Beach, Fla. Vienna, Va. VP client development, CampusWorks Inc.

CAMPAIGN STEERING COMMITTEE BILL FLESCH ’81

BILL HENDRICKSEN ’74

St. Charles, Ill. Executive VP, Gordon Flesch Company

Newport Beach, Calif.

Vice chairman, Lineage Logistics

KIM POLZIN ’78

BARB STEINHILBER ’62

Cambridge, Minn.

Owner, Polzin Communications LLC

St. Germain, Wis. Retired nutrition educator

CRAIG YOLITZ ’85 Prior Lake, Minn.

VP customer operations, FindLaw

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STUDENT EXPERIENCE

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UW-STOUT OUTLOOK

Paying it forward Donations that boost professors’ research, in the end, are helping students begin careers

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n May, Jamison Noye proudly walked across the Johnson Fieldhouse stage to become one of the first graduates of UW-Stout’s three-year-old mechanical engineering program.

The New Richmond, Wis., native, in typical university fashion, soon thereafter began a full-time job that he locked down before commencement day.

It may seem simple — get a diploma, land a job. But why has UWStout, with a 98.2 percent employment rate for recent graduates, done exceedingly well over the years?

One of the reasons UW-Stout’s graduates are career-ready can be traced back several steps to philanthropic decisions to support the work of professors. UW-Stout has about a half-dozen named professorships created with donations that award faculty members with special funding for research. Professors who receive the honors then incorporate new-found knowledge into their curricula, keeping classes current with industry standards and trends.

The Fulton and Edna Holtby Manufacturing Engineering Chair, for example, was created through a donation by the Holtbys to Stout University Foundation. This year, David Ding and Adam Kramschuster each will receive $75,000 over three years.

Ding will implement a new certification program, Industry 4.0, into the manufacturing engineering program and do other research. Kramschuster will involve students in the plastics engineering lab on research into new injection molding technology.

From 2015-2017, Professor Scott Springer was the Holtby chair and did research on 3D printers that updated his Advanced Manufacturing class. “This is why I came to UW-Stout. There aren’t a lot of schools that have classes like these,” said Anthony Panici, of Wilmette, Ill., an engineering technology major who took Springer’s class.

W H O WA S

Fulton Holtby?

For students like Noye, the Holtby chair and other named professorships hit home, even though they’ve likely never heard of the Holtbys.

Jamison Noye

Noye’s skills — he double-majored in mechanical and manufacturing engineering — helped him get hired at McNally Industries in Grantsburg as a design engineer. McNally serves the U.S. Department of Defense and is the world’s largest prime contractor with hydromechanical and electromechanical systems, including for precision machined components for defense and aerospace.

“The professors in the STEM program are awesome,” Noye said.

“They're extremely knowledgeable and really seem to care about students learning and being prepared for industry. The problemsolving skills that we learn in our classes allow us to be ready for any challenges we will face in our careers.”

In the university’s most recent employment report, 100 percent of 2016-2017 plastics and computer engineering graduates and 98 percent of manufacturing engineering graduates had full-time jobs or had other defined career paths.

Along with Ding and Kramschuster, three other faculty members received professorships — in apparel design, psychology and graphic design — beginning in 2018-19, with the total amount awarded more than $180,000.

Forward thinking — or paying it forward — by the Holtbys and other legacy donors has provided, and will for generations to come, support the work of UW-Stout’s faculty.

Fulton Holtby was a pioneering mechanical engineering professor for 41 years at the University of Minnesota. Along with funding the Holtby Manufacturing Engineering Chair at UW-Stout, he and his wife, Edna, created a scholarship in their name for engineering students. He received an honorary doctorate from the university, and the Holtby Museum opened recently in Menomonie.

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STUDENT EXPERIENCE

BIG CITY TALENT Graphic design grad realizes NY dream after landing job with L’Oréal

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he road to New York, Anna Haggerty’s dream city, went through UW-Stout.

In January, Haggerty began work as a graphic designer at L’Oréal, the world’s largest cosmetics company. Since about age six, Haggerty had dreamed of moving there to work and live. When she graduated in May 2017 with a bachelor’s degree in graphic design and interactive media, that’s exactly where she went.

“I left Minnesota with very little money — the one-way ticket thing,” said Haggerty, who grew up in Oronoco, a city of about 1,300 people in southeastern Minnesota.

After working a part-time job and then a short-term, fulltime freelance position while living with an aunt and uncle in New York, she interviewed with L’Oréal. “Five minutes after I left the interview, the recruiter called and said I had the position.”

“I left Minnesota with very little money — the one-way ticket thing.”

Working in midtown Manhattan near L’Oréal’s U.S. headquarters — the company’s home is in Paris, France — Haggerty is designing print materials for one of L’Oréal’s best-known brands, Redken, along with myriad other design duties, like helping design a presentation for the CEO. She has designed posters for Redken that began showing up this summer at salons around the world and at Ulta Beauty stores. Haggerty also will be involved in new product launches this year. Some of the company’s other brands are Maybelline, Giorgio Armani, Yves Saint Laurent, Lancôme, Ralph Lauren and Garnier.

Haggerty believes she had a well-rounded education, with a strong foundation in design principles, at UW-Stout’s School of Art and Design. She also gained valuable experience working part time as a designer in University Marketing all four years of college. “Everything Stout provided helped me prepare for this. I had no anxieties.”

She appreciates how Professor Nagesh Shinde pressed her to reach her potential as a designer.

Although Haggerty’s dream was to head to the East Coast, she didn’t look very far east when it came to choosing a college. “My high school teachers said, ‘You have to go to Stout.’ I only applied to Stout.”

Half-century of hospitality School of leadership will mark decades of success with special events, new initiatives Along with the HRTM program, UW-Stout’s hospitality programs consist of golf enterprise management; and real estate and property management. The university also offers an event and meeting management certificate.

New food, beverage lab plans During the anniversary year and the university’s Pathways Forward comprehensive campaign, officials will focus on hospitality education in other ways, according to Gerdes.

Matthew Giguere’s Quantity Food Production class prepares a meal at the Cedar Cafe.

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ssociate Dean Kristal Gerdes believes there’s an overarching reason why UW-Stout’s School of Hospitality Leadership is recognized as one of the best in the world. “It’s the faculty. We know the students, and we’re preparing them to succeed — to be leaders in the industry.”

One goal is to create a new food and beverage research lab in Heritage Hall. Plans call for renovating the Rendezvous restaurant, which opened in 1992, and installing a new theaterstyle tasting lab with 30 stations and a wine cellar. Other majors on campus, such as dietetics and food science, could benefit from the lab, Gerdes said. Eight or more courses could be taught there.

Also, fundraising efforts will support new scholarships and a professorship or chair for faculty research, some or all of which could be named for longtime professors such as D’Souza, Jafar Jafari, Phil McGuirk and Charles Metelka, who died in 2017.

The university and alumni will be celebrating UW-Stout’s legacy of hospitality education — and looking to the future — during the 2018-19 academic year.

A banquet marking the 50th anniversary of the hotel, restaurant and tourism management undergraduate program will be held Thursday, March 7.

The hotel and restaurant management Bachelor of Science program was approved in 1967 and began in 1968. It was renamed hospitality and tourism management in 1991 and took on its current name in 1999.

THURSDAY, MARCH 7, 2019 10:00-11:30 a.m.

Student-led tours of campus

Noon-1.30 p.m. Luncheon, looking ahead to the next 50 years

Another anniversary event will be held at 1 p.m. Friday, Sept.

28, the first College of Education, Hospitality, Health and Human Sciences Golf Scramble to support scholarships. The event will be at Tanglewood Greens golf course in Menomonie and managed by students in the golf enterprise management program.

2 :00-3:00 p.m. Keynote speaker, Great Hall, student center

Tanglewood Greens is part of a new initiative. Course owner Rajiv Lall recently signed a memorandum of understanding with UW-Stout. The agreement includes student opportunities for internships at the course and experience at Tanglewood’s new events center; on-course educational programs for students and professionals, such as classes and seminars; and hands-on learning opportunities, such as turf management, for students.

5 :30-7:00 p.m. Wine and food tasting seminar with Professor Peter D’Souza

3:00- 4:00 p.m. Roundtable panel discussions featuring alumni, students

7 :00-9:00 p.m. Dinner, featuring a “roast” of Professor Phil McGuirk

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STUDENT EXPERIENCE

Shining examples Managing restaurants, hotels, properties — these alumni are enjoying success in their hospitality careers

David Crabtree, a 1989 graduate, visits a Landshark Bar & Grill, one of the restaurant brands he is expanding as CEO of IMCMV Holdings.

David Crabtree Whether it’s the people or restaurants he’s been associated with — Debbie Reynolds, Jimmy Buffett, Planet Hollywood — David Crabtree has had a star-studded executive career in the hospitality field.

The 1989 graduate isn’t slowing down, either. Starting in 2016 he became CEO of IMCMV Holdings, an Orlando company that’s developing Margaritaville, Landshark and other tropical-style casual restaurants in tourist areas of the U.S. In two years, Crabtree has expanded the Buffett-licensed business from 14 to 22 restaurants. More are on the board, including three in a Margaritaville hotel in 2020 in Times Square.

IMCMV Holdings is a subsidiary of International Meal Company of Brazil. Crabtree was sought out by IMC because of his management success — president/CEO of Planet Hollywood restaurants from 2010-2014; COO of sales and marketing with Westgate Resorts from 1998-2010; and manager of Debbie Reynolds Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas from 1993-1998, the latter while working on his MBA at University of Nevada-Las Vegas and after he left Ruby Tuesday’s management program.

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UW-STOUT OUTLOOK

Crabtree helped Westgate Resorts, owned by timeshare king David Siegel, grow from five to 28 resorts and from $16 million to $250 million annual earnings before taxes. The company had more than $1 billion in revenue and 12,000 employees before the 2008 financial crisis hit, when Crabtree had to lay off 6,000 workers in one week.

With his people-centered business philosophy, Crabtree is back doing what he loves — managing employees and visiting his restaurants to meet them. “I try to run it like a team or family.

I love to see other people succeed and achieve whatever career goals they have. Someone gave me the opportunity and I seized it, and I’m very grateful for that.”

Crabtree started at UW-Stout in the applied mathematics and computer science program after being recruited to play baseball

by Coach Terry Petrie. He soon switched to hospitality. “I wasn’t sure what I would do with a math degree, and I always loved people. I have nothing but fond memories of Stout. It helped make me who I am today, and I built many close, lifelong friendships,” he said.

Cambria Hotel Chicago Loop

Lisa Adams

Treasure Island Center

Lisa Adams

Zach Vierling

Lisa Adams didn’t plan to work in hospitality when she went to college. It came to her — via UW-Stout. By the time she graduated in 1991 with a business administration degree, she had become familiar with the industry through friends who were hospitality majors and was intrigued. After a Career Fair on campus, she landed a job with Red Roof Inn.

For a former UW-Stout hockey team captain, managing an upscale property in St. Paul that includes the Minnesota Wild’s new practice facility is close to a dream job. “I couldn’t ask for a better facility to be at,” Zach Vierling said.

More than 25 years later, she’s still in the hotel industry and loving what she does. After joining Choice Hotels in 1999, she has moved up to regional vice president for franchise services for the Central/Midwest Region, based in Indianapolis. She oversees operational and financial matters with franchisees at 1,200 midscale hotels in seven states, managing 17 area directors. Some of the company’s 11 brands are Cambria, Comfort, Clarion, Quality, Woodspring, Mainstay, Sleep, Econo Lodge and Rodeway.

“Our biggest goal is to help these owners become more profitable. If they’re more successful, they’ll open more of our hotels,” said Adams, who travels often. “Two things I like most are the relationships with the owners, seeing how they’ve grown their portfolio of hotels, and relationships with area directors. I get to work with a lot of really interesting people.”

Adams also enjoys the strategic part of the job, helping owners prepare for the future. When she started in the industry, computers, online booking and hotel websites were new. Metal room keys have been replaced by card keys and, soon, phone apps. Robot concierges and Amazon’s Alexa in rooms aren’t far off. “This role is more strategic than ever. Working on what we are going to do three to five years down the road is really fun for me.”

The northern Wisconsin native hopes soon to visit her Quality Inn franchisee in Menomonie and stop by UW-Stout. “Stout really prepared me. There still are things I use to this day from my business classes,” Adams said.

Vierling’s career has taken off like a slapshot since he Zach Vierling graduated in December 2014 with degrees in real estate property management and in business administration. He started as an assistant property manager for Ryan Companies and was named a 30 Under 30 exceptional young professional in June 2017 by the Institute for Real Estate Property Management.

In July 2017 joined Hempel Companies as a property manager.

With Hempel, he manages the Treasure Island Center, a mixedused redevelopment of a former Macy’s department store in downtown St. Paul. The marquee tenant of the 540,000-squarefoot property is the Wild of the National Hockey League; the covered TRIA Rink on the top floor has 1,200 seats and is used by other hockey teams too. Other tenants include a Walgreens, Tim Horton’s, Treasure Island Resort and Casino offices and Stacked Deck Brewery. The Wild began using the rink last season, and renovation on the building is continuing.

“The development phase is always exciting. Every day is something different. There’s nothing mundane,” said Vierling, whose job includes all aspects of managing the property, including working with tenants.

The Coon Rapids, Minn., native began work on his CPM certification — certified property manager — while at UW-Stout and expects to have it soon with his required three years of professional experience. He said he wouldn’t be where he is today without UW-Stout and the education advice of his father, who also works in commercial real estate. “The majors are extremely beneficial to what I do. I was able to jump right into a manager’s role, which doesn’t happen too often.”

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LEARNING ENVIRONMENTS

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UW-STOUT OUTLOOK

For growth Robert F. Cervenka School of Engineering honors philanthropy, helps create ‘hub of excellence’

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obert Cervenka followed a people-centered culture, believing in the long-term investment in people and communities.

His investment in UW-Stout led to the October 2017 dedication of the Robert F. Cervenka School of Engineering, which honors the Phillips Plastics co-founder’s lifetime of philanthropy to the university. Gifts by him and his wife, Debbie, have totaled about $5.5 million since the 1990s, including a $2.5 million memorial gift.

Cervenka died in September 2015 at age 79. A plastics pioneer, he played a pivotal role in establishing and funding UW-Stout engineering programs and co-chaired the 1990’s renovation of Fryklund Hall, now home to the engineering school.

Cervenka helped write the curriculum for the first accredited engineering program on campus, manufacturing engineering, and served as its second program director. UW-Stout then added computer engineering, plastics engineering and mechanical engineering, all of which are in the Cervenka School of Engineering. The university also offers a master’s degree in manufacturing engineering.

Chuck Bomar, dean of the College of Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics and Management, said Cervenka’s gifts showed the university’s programs had a significant impact on industry and Phillips Plastics. “Being a polytechnic university with a school of engineering is very powerful,” Bomar said. “I see it continuing to brand the institute and to continue to brand western Wisconsin as the hub of engineering excellence.”

In the fall, UW-Stout will be expanding computer engineering to include an electrical engineering concentration. “Our ability to offer electronical engineering meets a significant need for electrical engineers. That demand is nearly as high as for mechanical engineers,” Bomar said.

Top: Robert F. Cervenka; Bottom: Signage for the Robert F. Cervenka School of Engineering at Fryklund Hall.

Electrical engineers design and develop new electrical systems including for computers, robots, cell phones, radar, navigation systems and wiring and lighting in buildings.

engineering programs to work together in classes and on projects.”

Professor Tom Lacksonen, UW-Stout engineering and technology chair, said the new mechanical engineering program and electrical concentration are part of a well-rounded array. The Cervenka gift will strengthen the programs by supporting teaching, research and lab development. “Our vision is to grow in the areas of automation, robotics and 3D printing,” Lacksonen said. “Each of these areas will allow students across different

Wei Zheng, plastics engineering program director, said UW-Stout is poised well for the future in engineering, particularly in the upper Midwest. “The (Cervenka) gift means more opportunities to expand the current engineering array, more support to create a platform for exchange and collaborations with industries and other academic institutes, and higher-value education to cultivate next generation engineers,” Zheng said.

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LEARNING ENVIRONMENTS

GIFT OF A

lifetime

Pankowskis make $4M estate commitment after building life of adventure together in real estate construction management and travel

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UW-STOUT OUTLOOK

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n a late summer morning in the mid-1950s, young Dallas Pankowski stepped off a train in north Menomonie to begin an adventure. The first person from his Milwaukee family to go to college, he was by himself and had never seen Stout State College.

Later that day after he checked into Lynwood Hall – east of Harvey Hall -- he was wondering just what he’d gotten himself into so far up north.

Five years later in 1961, the man leaving Menomonie wasn’t the same. He had bachelor’s and master’s degrees in industrial education, had taught classes while earning his master’s and was headed to the University of Missouri for his doctorate.

Something else was new. Two days after getting his master’s, he and Edith Rogers of Menomonie were married. They had met when she waited on him at a restaurant in town. She then worked in the business office at Stout, as she couldn’t afford to attend the university.

The city and school that once seemed strange to Dallas – he originally thought Stout State was in Menomonee Falls near Milwaukee – had changed him. “I had made Menomonie my home. You knew everybody, the storekeeper, your neighbor,” he said. A hands-on learner who had a career opportunity as a machinist before he came to Stout and whose dad worked at American Motors and was an amateur mechanic, Dallas loved the UW-Stout way of learning by doing.

“I really believe in the Stout philosophy,” Dallas said, adding that he strongly supports the blend of liberal arts with technology education.

“Dallas and Edith Pankowski are the embodiment of the type of benefactors who are incredibly important to UW-Stout, and I am extremely grateful for their generosity,” Chancellor Bob Meyer said.

“This gift is a confirmation of their continued connection to both UW-Stout and our community and their desire to invest in the future of our university.”

The Pankowskis have given back to UW-Stout for many years via an endowed scholarship that benefits two students each year. In addition, they are lead donors for a planned amphitheater at Schmeeckle Reserve in Stevens Point.

successful from day one,” Dallas said.

Their number of rental units grew for many years. They also expanded into building single-family spec homes and purchasing commercial real estate properties in the Green Bay-Appleton area.

The company, smaller in recent years, is a team effort. With his know-how from UW-Stout, Dallas managed crews that built the apartment units and homes. Edye designed the interiors and handled the books, a tight, vertically integrated operation.

“I liked the challenge and actually enjoyed the building. People will ask, ‘What did you do today?’ There’s a wall,” said Dallas, who took pride in using his teaching skills to train his crews and develop efficient production methods.

New, successful adventure Their philanthropy is possible thanks to the highly successful but low-key company, Pankowski Associates, they started about 40 years ago near Stevens Point, Wisc.

Dallas left the electronics teaching field after more than four years at SUNY-Oswego and after Edye had earned bachelor’s, master’s and doctorate degrees, the latter in interior architecture from Penn State.

Dallas’ adventure at 18 when he took the all-night train to Stout State was only a life’s beginning. He and Edye’s wanderlust has taken them to about three-fourths of the world’s nearly 200 countries, often on the road less traveled and sometimes in tenuous situations. They have collected art, created art and remained physically active with cross-state bike tours, hiking and downhill skiing out West.

They moved to Plover, near Stevens Point, about halfway between their hometowns to be closer to their ailing fathers.

Pankowski Associates began with six rental units for college students at UW-Stevens Point. Although they took a risk – they cashed in Edye’s life insurance policy to help fund the startup – “it was

No matter where they’ve gone, however, their hearts have remained tethered to UW-Stout and Menomonie, a connection that will live on in perpetuity through their generous estate gift and scholarship. They are helping ensure that other students have opportunities, like they did, to make their marks in the world.

Nearly 60 years later, the Pankowskis are honoring the impact the school had on their lives with a $4 million estate gift, one of the largest donations in UW-Stout history. “What did Stout do for me? A lot.

And it’s Edye’s hometown. It’s the right thing to do,” Dallas said.

They hope that through their gift, UW-Stout can continue to prosper as an outlier in higher education. “We hope Stout never loses that hands-on emphasis. We want Stout to remain special and unique,” Edye said.

Dallas skydiving and Edye climbing a mast on a sailboat to Europe.

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LEARNING ENVIRONMENTS

o t e c a pl a

n r a laned row g At the UW-Stout Child and Family Study Center, collaboration is key.

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rom early childhood education classes to school psychology courses, from Arts Integration Menomonie to working with graphic communications students, the center is a unique child care program offering college students opportunities to link educational theories from the classroom with hands-on practice.

It is one of only two university laboratory schools in Wisconsin; the other is at UW-Madison.

The center provides child care for children of staff, students and families in the community while fostering teacher preparation and allowing classroom observation. Undergraduates participate weekly in the toddler and preschool lab classrooms as part of their early childhood education coursework. Many undergraduates are employed as work-study students.

Other students work part time as teaching assistants, teacher materials assistants and food service prep workers.

Graduate assistants within the food and nutrition program assist with menu planning and preparation of healthy snacks while students from the school psychology 20

UW-STOUT OUTLOOK

program have assisted with assessment of children’s developmental progress.

The center, accredited by the National Association for the Education of Young Children, has five classrooms in the preschool building near campus and the Infant-Toddler Lab in Heritage Hall, providing services for children from six weeks to six years of age. The program originated when the preschool building opened in fall 1971 and Heritage Hall in 1973.

Merging the two sites under one roof and updating spaces is one of the goals of the center, which is licensed for 68 students. Having one facility would provide opportunities for even more collaboration, said Allison Feller, center director.

“We are utilized across the board on this campus, and we are reaching more programs every year,” Feller said. “We stay abreast of what’s happening in the field of early childhood development and welcome other program involvement in our center to forward best practices in their field.”

For example, Marcia Wolf, a senior instructional specialist, collaborates

Robert F. Cervenka Top: Marcia Wolf, a senior instructional specialist, greets a musician over Skype; bottom: Students play along with music weekly in the infant room with former educator Peggy Nelson using Skype to bring music into the classroom. “Music can help in a fun way to develop essential attachments and learn basic routines,” Wolf said. Children benefit in a variety of ways, and teachers in the infant room put theory into practice by using sign language while singing songs such as “Itsy-bitsy Spider” with children.

‘Future of technology and design’ School of Art and Design hoping for new lab to streamline printing, boost collaboration

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planned new design studio in the Applied Arts Building would act as a central hub for creative innovation in the fine art and design fields.

THE CASE FOR

The Child and Family Study Center The Child and Family Study Center is a university laboratory school committed to creating a link between educational theory and hands-on practice. Students from 12 undergraduate and graduate courses across campus have the opportunity to observe, participate, develop and execute lessons under the guidance of an experienced and highly qualified teaching staff.

While its programming and curriculum continues to be state-of-the-art, the facilities have significant operational limitations and are not conducive to supporting the research and development needed to keep UW-Stout students at the forefront of innovative and evidence-based early childhood education.

The Child and Family Study Center will serve as a catalyst for excellence and innovation in early learning and the preparation of future educators.

Plans are being formulated for a new cutting-edge facility that will maximize the learning environments, for both UW-Stout students and the CFSC children, in addition to providing greater service to university and community families.

The digital process lab would be a maker space — a design fabrication laboratory that would allow students to quickly bring digital projects to life using 3D printers, large format ink-jet printing, vinyl cutting and laser etching.

“We want something that is looking toward the future of technology and design,” said Dave Beck, director of the School of Art and Design. “We need to provide hands-on technology. It’s important we create a lab and environment centered around that.”

The lab would require about $250,000 in laboratory construction costs and furniture and about $110,000 in equipment. “It will give students that real-world experience and prepare them for the workforce with the technology you would find in this day and age and in the future,” Beck said. “We want to design for the future and envision the future.”

In the roughly 5,000-square-foot lab, printers from throughout Applied Arts would be brought together in a safe, ventilated area. The lab also would house a materials library and audio/ visual resource center.

Beck believes a centralized print area will help disciplines within the art and design mix create collaboratively.

Rendering of digital process lab

Kimberly Loken, assistant professor of design, said as a polytechnic university UW-Stout needs to be hands-on and cutting-edge at every step in the curriculum and in project processes. “A central hub for maker activities would bring together approximately 1,000 students from all of the art and design majors and concentrations. It promotes interdisciplinary discovery and collaboration, all just a few steps from our traditional studio spaces,” she said.

Rapid prototyping not only supports the design process but allows user-driven modification and manufacture, Loken added.

Jennifer Astwood, associate professor of design, said the new studio would create professional opportunities for students.

“Collaboration is essential to the polytechnic mission,” she said. “Students will be using the ‘making’ tools that they will utilize after they leave UW-Stout.”

MORE THAN

1,000 Art & Design Students UW-Stout’s art and design programs began in 1965 with 85 students and have grown to 1,017 students, the largest public higher education art and design program in Wisconsin, Minnesota and North and South Dakota. School of Art and Design students make up about 14 percent of on-campus undergraduate students.

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LEARNING ENVIRONMENTS

Top of the line Corporate donations, partnerships improve lab, learning experiences for students

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he value of hands-on learning, one of the hallmarks of a UW-Stout education, can depend significantly on what exactly students are getting their hands on.

Thanks to in-kind equipment donations and industry partnerships in 2017-18 totaling more than $1.5 million, students have new industry-standard equipment in three labs — plastics engineering, computer networking and engineering technology. Donations in each area are valued at about $500,000.

“Students really need state-of-the-art technology. With cutting-edge labs and our extraordinary faculty, graduates can plug right into the workforce,” Chancellor Bob Meyer said.

In plastics engineering, Professor Adam Kramschuster worked with three leading injection molding equipment companies, Arburg, Engel and Milacron, to secure three new machines on loan in the Jarvis Hall lab. New machines will rotate in every few years.

“We have one of the premier labs in the U.S., and it’s because the industry values this program and wants to get information about their equipment in here for our students,” Kramschuster said.

In the computer networking and information technology program, two Dell EMC employees who are UW-Stout alumni installed about a dozen pieces of high-tech equipment — new computer storage units, servers, fiber channel switches and ethernet switches in the CNIT lab in Fryklund Hall.

“It’s such a great opportunity for students. We’re educating the future workforce,” said Michelle Dingwall, a senior development officer with Stout University Foundation, which helped coordinate the Dell gift.

“This is the most cutting-edge, emerging technology,” said Associate Professor Holly Yuan, CNIT program director. “Dell is really interested in seeing the program develop and grow.”

In the engineering technology department labs, which serve students in manufacturing engineering, mechanical engineering and engineering technology, a company that wished to remain anonymous donated two custom-designed robotics machines. The donation was coordinated through the Phillips Medisize facility in Menomonie, which used the machines to make medical device parts.

Students in the Fryklund Hall lab will delve into how the machines are designed so they can make similar automated production equipment in their senior design classes and in their careers. “We want our students to be the ones who design this equipment,” said Professor Tom Lacksonen, chair of the engineering and technology department.

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UW-STOUT OUTLOOK

Top: Students work with donated machines in the plastics lab; middle: new computer networking hardware donated by Dell EMC is installed in the CNIT lab; bottom: mechanical engineering students Kefa Okoth (left) and Ben Miner look at their prototype designs of a product they plan to produce with donated manufacturing equipment.

Seniors Pierce Lannue (left) and Stephen Felton work in the CNIT Lab

UNIVERSITY NAMED CENTER OF EXCELLENCE FOR CYBER DEFENSE

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he National Security Agency and the Department of Homeland Security in fall 2017 designated UW-Stout as a Center of Academic Excellence in Cyber Defense. UW-Stout is the first and only four-year school in Wisconsin to receive the CAE-CD designation and one of about 120 nationally.

“We know that cybersecurity will only grow in importance and are committed to preparing graduates to play critical roles in the future of cybersecurity,” said Maria Alm, dean of the College of Arts, Communication, Humanities and Social Sciences.

Holly Yuan, director of the undergraduate program in computer networking and information technology, led the 13-month process

to earn the designation.

“We realized the dire need, the shortage of cybersecurity professionals and the great opportunity for us,” Yuan said.

Along with CNIT, UW-Stout has related Bachelor of Science programs: information and communication technologies; computer science; and applied mathematics and computer science, which has a concentration in cybersecurity.

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PROGRAM INNOVATION

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UW-STOUT OUTLOOK

Business smarts Alumnus’ company designs, builds high-tech equipment to help make semiconductors

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raig Bichrt happened to stay an extra semester at UW-Stout while earning his bachelor’s degree in industrial technology with an emphasis in mechanical design, picking up minors in physics and mathematics before graduating in December 1982.

The minor in physics turned out to be life-changing, allowing Bichrt to get into making equipment used to deposit materials on wafers, the raw material for semiconductor devices.

Semiconductors are key components in many items we use daily, including cell phones, DVD players, LED lighting, infrared noncontact thermometers, solar cells or anything with solid-state electronics. The U.S. government develops and produces specialized semiconductors for its projects such as infrared technology used in night-vision goggles, components for space satellites, wireless technologies and more.

Craig Bichrt owns the company E-Science in Hudson. He creates unique products for those in research and development at universities, electronics companies and defense companies.

After he finished a master’s degree in management technology at UW-Stout in 1989, Bichrt started working at Twin Cities-based EPI, a startup high-tech company. He was an executive vice president when he left after four years to start his own company, E-Science, in 1993 in Hudson, Wis., that does much of the same work. His product lines consist primarily of effusion cells, the equipment that very precisely deposits materials onto the wafers. Other products include substrate heaters and gas injectors along with other components.

“We do a lot of specials, designs that haven’t been created before,” Bichrt said, noting he does the product design and manufacturing. The parts are machined at outside shops from ultra-pure and expensive refractory metals that he purchases.

The components are then cleaned, assembled and tested in the E-Science clean room. “When I worked for a bigger company, what I did was more administrative work. It was not the reason I went to school. I wanted to be in the thick of things. I wanted to be involved in the design part of it.”

Bichrt’s customers across the world include universities and electronics companies as well as the U.S. Army, Air Force, Navy and national laboratories and defense contractors. Yet he has opted to keep E-Science small with two or three employees. As owner and president, he loves working directly with customers.

Bichrt says his best sales tool is when he works with university students, and when they are professionals they come back to E-Science for equipment.

“We provide equipment that is clean and ready to install onto the customer’s growth chamber. Our customers expect our equipment

Valved Titan effusion cell

to grow material uniformly across their wafer, and the material should be virtually defect-free,” he said.

Growing up in Phillips, Bichrt originally planned to attend a technical college to study architecture. His uncle, Al May, of Menomonie, then assistant superintendent at the Menomonie school district, persuaded his nephew to visit UW-Stout.

May talked to Bichrt about the advantages of having a university degree. “I thought UW-Stout was a good fit for him,” said May, an UW-Stout alumnus. “I encourage a lot of people all the time to go to UW-Stout. I am very proud of him and what he has accomplished.”

“I just enjoyed the school and the people,” said Bichrt, who with his spouse, Linda, has three grown children and three grandchildren. “It was a good part of my life. It was memorable, meaningful and impactful.”

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PROGRAM INNOVATION

SOMETHING

in the Air A successful and enduring relationship – Greenheck and UW-Stout

UW-Stout alumni Jeff Lamer, left, and Mark Belke work at Greenheck corporation, which has the Robert C. Greenheck Innovation Center. The center offers space for state-ofthe-art testing for air movement and control products of nearly all sizes. The company employs 80 UW-Stout alumni.

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UW-STOUT OUTLOOK

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ot many people realize that within a two-hour drive of UW-Stout is the corporate headquarters of the nation’s leading manufacturer of nonresidential air movement, control and conditioning products. The Greenheck corporation in Schofield, near Wausau, Wis., is the market leader in its industry due to continuous innovation and its dedicated people, including many alumni.

Jeff Lamer, a 1984 alumnus with a degree in industrial technology focusing on manufacturing engineering, is director of manufacturing excellence. The focus on innovation and company growth attracted him to Greenheck. “I just believe that with growth comes opportunity for employees. I could see that at Greenheck,” said Lamer, who has been with the company for 30 years.

Founded in 1947, Greenheck has a long history of innovation, thanks to co-founder Bob Greenheck, whose game-changing design of fan products shaped the industry.

Continuing this spirit of innovation, in 2015 the company built a 69,000square-foot Robert C. Greenheck Innovation Center as a space for collaboration among manufacturing, engineering, marketing, testing and machine development teams.

Beth Brinkmann is a human resources manager and 1992 alumna, with a degree in business administration and concentration in human resource management. “When I am interviewing students, I often tell them that if you like constant change, then Greenheck may be right for you.”

In her 13-year career with the company, Brinkman has recruited at UW-Stout and is proud to see many students join the company with a co-op or internship, then continue full time after graduation. “I hired our first person for a new leadership development program from Stout because I know the high quality of the education,” she said.

The center includes state-ofthe-art testing capabilities The Robert C. Greenheck Innovation Center was built in 2015 for air movement and control as a space for collaboration among manufacturing, engineering, products of nearly all sizes. marketing, testing and machine development teams.

Not often visible, Greenheck products are installed worldwide within and atop large hospitals, high-rises, factories, Alumni include chairman of the board and former CEO schools, business centers, sport complexes, airports, data Dwight Davis and his spouse, Linda, 1966 and 1967 storage centers and tunnels. graduates, respectively. The couple annually supports several scholarships for UW-Stout students and in 2009 Mark Belke, general manager of the industrial fan business established an endowment for transformational leadership, unit and a 1996 UW-Stout graduate, recognizes the value enabling the university to carry out initiatives to maintain of the Innovation Center. “This facility was developed so we education excellence and relevancy. could better collaborate for product development,” he said, noting the goal is to create efficient, energy-saving products Greenheck doesn’t just rely on testimonials to showcase for customers and to maintain Greenheck’s competitive its commitments to innovation and investing in employees; position in the marketplace. “Compared to prior facilities, it has the accolades to prove it. Four years running, 2015 the center promotes cross-pollination of ideas among to 2018, Greenheck has won the Bubbler Award from the engineers from various business units.”

Milwaukee-based young professionals group Newaukee, In his 21 years at Greenheck, Belke has completed business given to Wisconsin’s best places to work for young trips to 49 states and 14 countries and has taken advantage professionals. Greenheck is the only state business of the continuing educational opportunities offered to to win the award all four years since its inception. employees. “There is so much growth opportunity for The company was selected in 2016 as Wisconsin people at Greenheck, and the company is very committed Manufacturer of the Year in the Mega category, which to continuing education and leadership training,” he said. comprises the state’s largest corporation. The company also received the award in 2004 and 2012.

It’s not just innovation that led Greenheck to become a respected worldwide company. It’s also its people.

Today in its 70th year of operation, Greenheck employs “Greenheck’s success and continued growth really come more than 3,700 people worldwide. Aside from its down to having a great team,” said Jim McIntyre, president corporate headquarters and facilities in Schofield, it has and CEO. “We are so fortunate to have UW-Stout right between manufacturing locations in Minnesota, Kentucky, North two of our major locations, Schofield and Minneapolis. We Carolina, California, Tennessee, India, Mexico and soon now have 80 UW-Stout alumni in our workforce, and through a new campus in Oklahoma. the years many have grown into key leadership positions.”

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PROGRAM INNOVATION

THE NEXT

BIG THING?

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UW-STOUT OUTLOOK

Professor hopes to see his vir tual reality instr uction project expand across campus

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evin W. Tharp is convinced that someday soon the use of virtual reality technology will become an everyday reality in classrooms at UW-Stout — and in graduates’ careers.

That’s why he’s already using it. “People are starting to realize the power of it. There are pockets of this all over campus, and we may get some synergy,” said Tharp, associate professor and director of the digital marketing technology program.

Tharp hopes that the Pathways Forward comprehensive campaign might result in funding to help him and others take virtual reality from his one-person studio in the Communication Technologies Building to helping the university become a leader in using and teaching VR. His VR headsets, for example, are only a couple of years old but already outdated.

He’s using VR as a teaching aid, having created more than 20 engrossing videos that students watch on a regular video screen to help them visualize concepts.

For gaining student attention and helping them understand, VR versus a whiteboard or PowerPoint presentation seems to be no contest. Tharp demonstrated one video in which objects existed in 3D space and came to life as they flew past and around him. He also showed how to use VR in real time, writing “UW-Stout” in the air with his controller as the writing appeared on the screen behind him.

He can demonstrate with movement, light and color things that he could only describe on a whiteboard. “It’s a different way of engaging the brain,” he said. “It’s

Kevin W. Tharp

such a flexible medium. If it’s in your brain you can make it happen.”

Tharp calls it his Perceptive Reality Project. It has energized him because it’s a more dynamic way to teach, and students seem to engage better with VR presentations, he said.

He envisions, however, a better VR world at UW-Stout — having enough headsets so that professor and students can be in VR together. VR systems can cost about $3,000 apiece, but the price should begin to come down. “I can’t wait until it’s mainstream. Students want more of it,” Tharp said.

Beyond the value of teaching with VR, Tharp said digital marketing technology majors — and students in other majors — soon will need VR skills to get jobs.

Students in game design have been creating video games in VR for several

years. “There will be a demand for this to know how to create (digital) marketing materials,” he said.

A recent UW-Stout alumnus already is using VR in his career. Tou Xiong, a 2012 School of Art and Design graduate, is a multimedia specialist at Fox Valley Technical College in Appleton. He and a co-worker created a virtual diesel truck engine. Diesel mechanics students wear Microsoft Hololens VR headsets to see inside the virtual engine while it’s “running,” giving them new insight into how the engine works. “To see everything in motion and work together is just so much easier to understand," one student said.

That’s what Tharp and his students have learned as well — virtual reality is more than fun and games but an important part of the future of teaching and learning.

VIRTUAL REALITY DEFINED According to the V ir tual Reality Society, the ter m vir tual reality describes a three-dimensional, computer-generated environment that can be explored and interacted with by a per son. That per son becomes par t of this vir tual wor ld or is immer sed within this environment and can manipulate objects or perfor m a series of actions. Applications include medicine, ar t, architecture, enter tainment and “wherever it is too dangerous, expensive or impractical to do something in reality.”

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PROGRAM INNOVATION

Joe and Tina Pregont donate $1 million Prent Corp. donates $1 million for endowment, new packaging lab equipment

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rent Corporation’s owners, Joseph and Tina Pregont, of Janesville have donated $1 million in gifts of new equipment valued at approximately $500,000 and an equivalent cash contribution to establish the Prent Packaging Equipment and Technology Fund.

The endowment gift through the Stout University Foundation will provide annual funding to maintain, repair and replace equipment and technology for the UW-Stout packaging laboratories.

The laboratories will be named the Prent Packaging Laboratories.

Prent, headquartered in Janesville, Wis., is a global leader in custom thermoform packaging for the medical, electronics and consumer industries. The dedication sign for the renaming of the lab will be unveiled in September.

“I have many fond memories and owe a lot to UW-Stout.”

- Joseph Pregont “UW-Stout has been a provider of phenomenal talent to our organization over the years,” said Joseph “Joe” T. Pregont, president and chief executive officer of Prent. “We want to help ensure Stout continues producing the outstanding talent that, in turn, helps us continue to push into the future. We have had over 100 UW-Stout graduates employed at our companies over the past 25-plus years and currently have over 20 alumni in full-time positions at Prent. It is important to support the institution where we find some of our best talent.”

“Prent has been a great partner in helping UW-Stout produce packaging professionals who have access to the latest equipment,” said Chancellor Bob Meyer. “This is an extremely generous gift, and I want to personally thank Joe Pregont and everyone at Prent for helping us prepare our packaging students for successful careers in the industry.”

New equipment being installed includes testing equipment for tensile strength, coefficient of friction, water vapor permeability, gas permeability and headspace gas analysis as well as upgrades to other existing equipment, said Robert Meisner, packaging department program director.

“We want this to be the envy of the industry and to have the most current state-of-the-art lab in the U.S.,” Meisner said, noting this helps enhance the university’s ability to recruit and retain students and faculty.

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UW-STOUT OUTLOOK

The packaging lab at UW-Stout has state-of-the-art equipment, thanks to Prent owners Joseph and Tina Pregont

Pregont was appointed Prent president and CEO after his father, Jack, retired in 1985.

As a 1981 UW-Stout packaging alumnus, Pregont values the long-standing partnership with UW-Stout. Prent, since 1990, has been vital to the continued growth of the UW-Stout packaging program through scholarships, internships and conference opportunities for students.

“I have many fond memories and owe a lot to UW-Stout,” Pregont said.

Prent and its sister company, GOEX Corporation, continue to be family-led organizations with Joe Pregont and the next generation, Rachel Andres, Joseph II and Michael Pregont, guiding them into the future.

Pregont said he is very honored to have his children leading Prent and GOEX and continuing to expand in the global market.

Since its founding in 1967, Prent has garnered dozens of packaging awards, including 16 WorldStar medical packaging awards, while operating in clean room environments at its facilities in Arizona, China, Costa Rica, Denmark, Malaysia, Mexico, Puerto Rico and Wisconsin. The companies employ approximately 2,000 associates worldwide.

Prent counts among its customers nearly every major medical device-maker in the world, as well as electronics industry giants, which Prent supplies thermoforms used to enhance the process of microchip manufacturing and for consumer end products.

GOEX makes plastic sheeting for thermoforming and printing, with a customer base throughout North America.

PROGRAM INNOVATION

“Hearing the other side, whether you agree or disagree, is important for our growth.”

Tim Shiell, director of the Center for Study of Institutions and Innovation and professor in UW-Stout’s English and philosophy department

Free to speak your mind Center for Study of Institutions and Innovation encourages rational debate

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n its first year, 18 Wisconsin universities and colleges partnered with UW-Stout’s Center for the Study of Institutions and Innovation to show the possibilities for civil and rational debate.

The academic center started with a $425,000 grant from the Charles Koch Foundation, renewable up to three years for a total award of $1.7 million. The foundation supports research and educational programs focused on advancing an understanding of how free societies improve well-being.

“We need to get back to talking about important things to engage each other and listen to each other on free speech, freedom of religion and freedom of the press,” said Tim Shiell, center director and a professor in UW-Stout’s English and philosophy department. “These impact so many different things including science, business activity and politics. It is not just scholarly.

It impacts everything of importance.”

supported 12 research projects across the state on civil liberties and freedom.

In his annual report Shiell noted widespread interest, especially with students, at UW-Stout and other campuses in the new UW System free speech policy with its penalties for disrupting free speech and mandatory training for new students. The center will work on making a free speech video and resource guide available at no cost to promote discussions and free speech training at UW campuses.

This next year, Shiell also wants to work with more student groups to host civil liberties programs of interest to them. “We want to give them role models — that you can have two people with different views talk together and engage in a meaningful way,” Shiell said. “It is actually possible.”

Two major events this past year at UW-Stout included a Free Speech Week in October and a two-day Civil Liberties Symposium in April.

“It is about a suppression of Americans’ ability to have civil and rational discourse or the decline to even enter into such conversations,” Shiell said. “Hearing the other side, whether you agree or disagree, is important for our growth. We’re not out to change people’s minds. It’s to do what universities are supposed to do — educate.”

At other campuses that are part of the center’s network, more than 30 panels, workshops, reading groups, essay contests, speaking events and other events were held. The center also

Audience members ask questions and voice their opinions during a keynote presentation in Micheels Hall April 4 as part of the first Civil Liberties Symposium hosted by the UW-Stout Center for the Study of Institutions and Innovation.

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CLASS NOTES

1

2

CLASS NOTES 1940s Omer Benn `48 pinned his pilot’s wings on the Coast Guard uniform of his granddaughter at a ceremony in Pensacola, Fla.

4

Jim “PJ” Noll ‘78 was sworn in as a district governor for Lions Clubs International District 27B2 of NE WI in Chicago last summer. The district has more than 2,250 members in 70 Lions clubs. 22

3 Bachan Ramdhan `85 retired from the Ministry of Education after 37 years of service as chief examiner for the National Examination Council.

1950s

1980s

T. E. Felton `57 retired from Nicolet Area Technical College in 1995. He was an automotive instructor.

Richard “Rik” Blyth `80 accepted the position of general manager at the historic La Fonda Hotel in Santa Fe, N.M.

1960s

Carol Friesen `80 was named Indiana Honored Dietitian of the Year by the Indiana Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics in April 2017.

Kathryn Mercer Houpt `86 is president of the Board of Education for the Mequon-Thiensville (Wis.) School District.

John Gehrke `80 retired from teaching 34 years. The last 29 were in building trades at Whiteside Area Career Center in Sterling, Ill. He also set the school record for the most unused sick days, 431.

Brad Kunst `86 started as an analyst in the Business Intelligence and Analytics Department at Mercy Medical Center North Iowa in Mason City, Iowa.

Ronald E. Bergmann `60 published his autobiography A Fork in the Road. 5 Raphael LeBrun `61 retired from Southern Door schools in Brussels, Wis. Ronald E. Bergmann `60 received the Heard Museum Guild’s 2017 Lifetime Volunteer Service award. The award recognizes members who have extensively served the Guild and the Heard Museum in Phoenix, Ariz., for 15 years or more.

1970s Daniel Stewart `70 was appointed

by Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb to the Indiana Rehabilitation Commission in January 2018. Dan is president/CEO of Achieva Resources and plans to retire in June 2018 after 48 years in the rehabilitation industry.

Peter Castrilli `71 is senior vice president of programs serving the Department of Defense and the U.S. Agencies, Cape Canaveral; Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif.

Sharon Johnson `71 retired from Corporate Four Insurance Agency on April 26, 2017.

Warren Nilsson `73 retired after spending most of his 45 years in industrial distribution.

David Stout `75 retired in August 2017 from Air Products and Chemicals, Inc., Allentown, Pa. Christine Welsh `76 retired as supervisor of food services at D. C. Everest Area School District after 27 years.

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UW-STOUT OUTLOOK

Laura McDonnell Mead `80 retired from 3M after 37 years. She was the senior training specialist/global supply chain super user lead.

Pamela A. Mero Wolf `80 retired July 1, 2016, after 36 years with 3M. Donna Fain Brown `81 has been named senior manager, security, the Americas region for Western Digital Corp. in San Jose, Calif.

Joan Willshire `81 received the 2018 Commitment to Service Award at the 32nd annual Minnesota Martin Luther King Jr. Day celebration in St. Paul.

1

Bill Hooper `82 retired from Boeing Co. after 17 years and is associative vice chancellor for facilities services at Washington State University, Vancouver, B.C. Anne Axelsen `83 opened Grantie Anne’s Studio in Sparta.

Shawn Peter `83 was awarded the President’s Award of Excellence in Safety in 2017 by his employer CN Railway.

Elizabeth Bettenhausen `85 is program manager at River City Estates in Hewitt.

5

Darrel Christenson `86 was elected treasurer of the National Council on Independent Living. 6

Leslie Joslin `86 is a child care licensor for the Department of Human Services in Minnesota and resides with her husband, John, in Woodbury, Minn. 20 Jeanne Wilkinson `86 received the 43rd New Millennium Award for Nonfiction for her story Hidden in a Suitcase in 2017.

Rich Jacobson `88 was named executive vice president of KrausAnderson Construction Co. 3 Scott Stuckey `88 was appointed general manager of the new Omni Louisville Hotel and Residences in Louisville, Ky. 13 Jeffrey Brown `89 was named Citgo STEM Teacher of the Year.

Michael Fischer `89 was appointed chief human resources officer for White Lodging.

6 1990s Steven Pletta `90 is owner and operator of Hoggie Doggies Ice Cream Shoppe in Woodruff.

Lisa Lybert Adams `91 is a regional vice president of Choice Hotels International. She has 17 direct hires that cover eight states and approximately 1,200 hotels.

Tina Feigal `91 has authored a book, Present Moments Parenting: The Guide to a Peaceful Life with your Intense Child and received the Mom’s Choice Award, Gold Category, in May 2017.

Tina is director of family engagement at Anu Family Services in St. Paul.

Sherry Noska `91 was appointed as general manager of Cobblestone Hotel & Suites and Wissota Chophouse in downtown Stevens Point.

David Reeves `91 was appointed director, culinary operations, at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis, Tenn. He has also been elected by his peers as national president of the Association for Healthcare Foodservice. 2

Darien Schaefer `89 was appointed chief executive officer of Visit Big Bear.

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Duey Fimreite `85 was appointed as director of research and development at CoreFX Ingredients in Chicago, Ill.

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11 first picture book for children, “The Mukluk Ball,” scheduled to be published in November by the Minnesota Historical Society Press. 4

8 7 Rebecca Wold Shukan `91 was appointed director of the Jewelry Career Readiness Initiative launched in 2014 by the Diamond Council of America. 15

John Zimmerman `93 was appointed athletic director at Janesville Parker High School.

Matt Saumer `94 is general manager of a TownePlace Suites by Marriott. This completes his goal of managing all of Marriott’s select service properties.

Karen Lee Cartwright `95 retired from teaching in Wisconsin to move to North Dakota and teach at the Dakota Boys and Girls Ranch. 17

Blake Insteness `92 was appointed director of business development at AWT Labels & Packaging in Minneapolis.

Karen Lee Hayes `95 is helping at-risk, traumatized youth at Dakota Memorial School, Dakota Boys and Girls Ranch in Minot, N.D.

Terry Rohde `92 was appointed director of operations at Olympic Steel.

Jim Hearley `95 has been an elevator technician for the International Union of Elevator Constructors Local #2 since 1999.

Tracey Rohde `92 is director-IT governance at Sargento Foods Inc. in Plymouth. 11 Tom Voegele `92 retired Dec. 20, 2017, after selling Bayside Home Medical in Sturgeon Bay. Gary Wiedmeyer `92 is a sales engineer with Jorgensen Conveyors in Mequon.

Alicia Buschke Schwab ’93 has her

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Erik Sletten `95 was commissioned to create an art piece to commemorate the Aug. 2, 2017, opening of the St. Croix Crossing bridge at Stillwater, Minn.

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Lisa Hoffman Wojcik `97 was appointed executive director of Leisure Education for Exceptional People. 7 Juan Macias `98 was appointed engineering manager for the Armament Systems Division for OrbitalATK. Vanessa Valles Hansen `99 graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in human development and family studies and a minor in Spanish.

Dawn Knauf `99 is a customer case coordinator for the Wisconsin Division of Vocational Rehabilitation.

Todd Stensberg `99 was named creative director for Marshfield Clinic Health Systems. 9

2000s Mitchell Briesemeister `04 is a career and technical education director at the School District of Beloit.

Grechen Chavis `04 graduated with a master’s degree in social work from Eastern Michigan University.

Paige Klein `04 launched a small business, practice:hospitality513, in October 2016.

Adam Bredesen `08 was appointed director, financial planning and analysis at Express Scripts. 16

Dietrich Thompson `96 self-published a children’s book Joshua’s Amazing Gift.

Dyana Doherty `08 was named Business Person of the Year by the Savage Chamber of Commerce in Savage, Minn. 19

Lynn Clark `97 is the new owner of the SE Wisconsin-Area Travel Leaders Locations. 23

Dr. Ryan Swenson `08 joined the Litchfield Family Dental practice in Litchfield, Minn.

Aron Johnson `97 was promoted to worldwide business operations director-connected micro controllers division at Texas Instruments Inc. in Dallas, Texas.

Logan Irons `09 was awarded the Certified Club Manager designation by the Club Managers Association of America. 12

2010s Jessica Burns `10, completed the National Council for Interior Design Qualification exams to become a certified interior designer.

Greer Gust `10 is pursuing a master’s degree in Clinical Mental Health Counseling at UW-Stout.

Latacia Greeley `11 is the membership and tourism director of the Menomonie Area Chamber of Commerce. 21 Melissa Wilson `11 began Melnaturel in 2017. Melnaturel is a natural skincare line that is sold online and at stores in Eau Claire, Hudson and Milwaukee. 8 Tyler Johnson `12 is a technical solutions consultant III specialist at HPE. Scott Kleckner `13 is senior vice president of restaurant operations at Disruptive Restaurant Group-sbe.

Zane Glumske `15 began a new role as a product development verification lead for Advanced Energy Generator in January 2018.

Brian Rose `15 is employed as a safety manager at Aldridge Electric, a family-owned national utility construction contractor headquartered in Libertyville, Ill. Lucas Feldkamp `16 was promoted to admissions system analyst at Normandale Community College in Bloomington, Minn.

De’Andre Jones `16 is a program associate at Summer Search in Seattle. 18 Mark Lorenz `16 was hired as manager of learning and development at Loram Maintenance of Way Inc. Derek Woellner `16 was elected mayor of his hometown of Merrill.

Ray Przekurat `97 has been appointed as interim district administrator for Iola-Scandinavia School District.

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CLASS NOTES

Arrivals: Brent and Grechen Chavis `04, a son, Nov. 24, 2016 25 Tiffani Calmes Roltgen `04 and Mike Roltgen welcomed Calvey Matthew Roltgen to their family on Feb. 19.

Calvey joins siblings Adelline, Stella and MacArthur. 24 Joy Williams `07 and Brett Jackson `07 welcomed their second child, a son, in August. 26

Liz Crabbe `04 and Josh Haycraft `04 celebrated their fifth wedding anniversary Oct. 20, 2017, in Japan.

They met at UW-Stout in 2003. 31

Marriages: Thomas V. Hable `77 and Jennifer K. Beyer Huber `78 were married in Federal Way, Wash.

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Nicole Crowell `08 and Jack Hajewski were married July 14, 2017

Ruby Long `50, Aug. 10, 2016, Green Bay

Marlene Worzella `68, December 2017, Richfield, Minn.

Sara Lynn and Bradley Jensen `03, welcomed Opal Julianne Jensen to their family on Nov. 10, 2017. She has two older brothers, Daniel, 3, and Bruce, 2. 28

Jenna Huseboe `12 and Jose Brancho were married Sept. 16, 2017, Milwaukee 32

Gustave Swanson `52, May 24, 2017, Ironwood Mich.

Janice Harris Marczak `73, Oct. 14, 2012, Maumee, Ohio.

James Leader `53, Jan. 11, 2017, Port Huron, Mich.

Duane Hambleton `70, March 8, 2018, Neenah

Engagements:

Amanda Kessler Steffes `13 and Jim Steffes, Sept. 30, 2017, Milwaukee.

Arthur Goglin `56, Jan. 31, 2018, Wilsonville, Ore.

Robert Newton `74, July 18, 2018, Beloit

Laura Bauman `15 is to be married to Zack Knight `15. They plan to wed in 2019. 29

Sarah Thomas Strang `14 and Jonathan Strang were married Aug. 12, 2017, Eden Prairie, Minn.

Patricia Christianson Buchholz `58, April 14, 2016, Ladysmith

Joyce Glossop Vaughan `74, Oct. 24, 2017, Colfax

Paul Paulson `58, Oct. 13, 2017, Arnold

Brenda Keller `75, Nov. 17, 2013, Schnecksville, Pa.

Stephanie Tomczyk `15 and Tanner Stensen `15 were engaged on their six-year anniversary, Sept. 6, 2017, on the UW-Stout football field.

Abigail Filcher `15 and Blake Meyer `16 were married Sept. 16, 2017, in Burnsville, Minn.

Karol Glasspoole Sharp, Sept. 17, 2017, Midlothian, Va.

Nancy Zieman `75, Nov. 14, 2017, Beaver Dam 33

Matthew Small and Xanath Guzman Small `15 were married Aug. 19, 2017. Matt played on the UW-Stout football team and Xanath was on the track and field team. 27

Louis Hubbard `60, Oct. 26, 2017, Oahu, Hawaii

Daniel Grosskopf `77, June 15, 2014, Farmington, Minn.

Bernadette “Bunny” Stehr Schoen `61, Oct. 21, 2017, Whitewater

Steven Young `80, Oct. 28, 2017, Marshfield

Joyce J. Giovanoni `63, Jan. 9, 2017, Wausau

Clive Kentish `83, Aug. 21, 2016, West Palm Beach, Fla.

Passings:

Brian Hepperly `63, June 2, 2017, Beloit

Britt Reller `85, July 14, 2017, Honolulu, Hawaii

Hayden Bowers `33, July 7, 1992, Manteca, Calif.

Karen Horky Hirte `64, March 20, 2018, Lancaster

David Dawson `86, Oct. 18, 2017, Menomonee Falls

Waldron Bitney `41, Dec. 19, 2013, Roseville, Minn.

Chester Jensen `64, Sept. 11, 2017, Neenah

Freedom E. Nakpodia `86, July 27, 2016, Nigeria

Paul Erickson `46, Oct. 29, 2013, Turlock, Calif.

Ruth Pabst Sundback `65, Feb. 27, 2017, Staten Island, N.Y.

Carl Granath `88, Dec. 14, 2016, Rockford, Ill.

Louise “Edria” Sontag Halbach `47, June 22, 2014, Baraboo

Jill Cavanaugh `66, Feb. 10, 2017, Sturgeon Bay

Amanda Geissler `07, Dec. 30, 2017, Costa Rica 34

Jean Cyr Eriksen `49, Oct. 20, 2014, West Bend

Sandra “Sandy” Hassemer `68, June 4, 2008, Sun City West, Ariz.

Anniversaries: Denise Becker Retzlaff `02 and Andrew Retzlaff `02 will celebrate their 15th anniversary in October. They met at UW-Stout in 1998. 30

Danielle Bauer `13 and Nate Goss `13 were married in May 2017

Thomas Jahn, June 20, 2017, Tomahawk

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Friends of UW-Stout Passings: Faculty/Staff Passings:

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Robert E. Moats, 84, of Elk Mound, died May 7, 2018. He worked at UWStout as a maintenance engineer and retired in 1996.

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27 Victor C. Rhodes Jr., 79, of Menomonie, died April 8, 2018. He worked at UW-Stout for about 33 years. He retired in 1998 as a senior laboratory preparations technician in the chemistry department.

Virginia K. Peter, 80, of Wausau, died March 21, 2018. She taught at UWStout in the education department for about 20 years and retired in 1993.

Zenon T. Smolarek, 77, of Spring Valley, died March 8, 2018. He taught at UW-Stout for 34 years in the industrial management department. He retired in 2000.

Duane A. Johnson, 83, of Milbank, S.D., died March 2, 2018. He taught at UW-Stout for 36 years in the department of communications, education and training. He retired in 2002.

Philip Sawin Jr., 84, of Menomonie, died Feb. 7, 2018. He worked in the UW-Stout Library Learning Center as a collection development librarian and was at the university 21 years. He retired in July 1996.

operator in the heating plant starting in December 2015.

Clarence Eichmann, 85, of Menomonie, died Aug. 22. He worked at UW-Stout as a groundskeeper for 22 years after moving to Menomonie in 1968.

Marcia Oas, 72, of Menomonie, died Aug. 16, 2017. She worked in the Continuing Education office from 1987 until her retirement in 2007.

Jack Ganzemiller, 87, of Alma, died July 9, 2017. He was program director of the business administration major until his retirement in 1989.

Harold Halfin, 93, of Menomonie, died March 17, 2017. A 1954 alumnus, he was chair of the metals department; director of the vocational, technical and adult education Master of Science program and the Education Specialist program; and co-chair of the Center for Vocational, Technical and Adult Education until his retirement in 1986.

Retirements:

Ervin Schlick, 92, of Rochester, Minn., died Dec. 30, 2017. He worked as director of instrumental activities. He retired in May 1989, after just more than five years at UW-Stout.

Lori Anda: Recreation Athletic Complex Operations

Terry Ingram, 80, of Menomonie, died Nov. 22, 2017. He taught in media technology and photography from 1970 until his retirement in 2001.

He was a professor emeritus in the College of Technology, Engineering and Management.

Ilse Hartung: Communication, Global Languages and Performing Arts

Genevieve R. Lambert, 103, formerly of Menomonie, died Nov. 14, 2017.

She worked as a cook at the student union, retiring in 1977.

Gus Myran: Discovery Center

Jean Borgaro, 76, of Menomonie, died Nov. 3, 2017. She worked in Student Support Services from 1996 until her retirement in 2005.

Joan Pougiales: Office of International Education

Gary Larson, 70, of Menomonie, died Oct. 25, 2017. He worked in the Physical Plant from 1989 until his retirement in 2007.

Michael D. Mann, 44, of Durand, died Sept. 13, 2017. He was a power plant

Alan Block: School of Education Instruction

Mary Jackelen: Counseling Center Dennis Luedtke: Building Maintenance Elizabeth McRoberts: Chemistry and Physics / ROTC Military Science David Plum: Operations and Management

Paul Stauffacher: Communication Studies, Global Languages, and Performing Arts Andrea Streff: Custodial Services Richard Swanson: English and Philosophy Loretta Thielman: Mathematics, Statistics and Computer Science

A LASTING LEGACY Chancellor Emeritus Charles W. Sorensen 1941-2018 Less than four years after leaving his UW-Stout office, Chancellor Emeritus Charles W. Sorensen, 77, died Feb. 23 in Florida following complications from a stroke. He served UW-Stout as chancellor for 26 years, from 1988 to 2014, the longest-serving campus chief executive in history.

“I am fortunate to have worked with Chancellor Emeritus Sorensen as a UW-Stout faculty member, program director, college dean and special assistant to the chancellor for state and federal relations,” Chancellor Bob Meyer said. “Not a day goes by that I don’t apply something that I learned from Chancellor Emeritus Sorensen as I try to carry on the legacy that he established during his 26 years at UW-Stout.”

Chancellor Meyer and others pointed to the transformation of UW-Stout that occurred under Sorensen’s leadership, including establishment of the eStout laptop program and technology improvements; winning the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award in 2001; and being designated Wisconsin’s Polytechnic University in 2007. The number of undergraduate majors doubled under his leadership, and UW-Stout opened the Stout Technology and Business Park, Discovery Center and Center for Applied Ethics.

He also supported an extensive capital improvement process that

resulted in a new science building, football stadium, Millennium Hall, a renovated Harvey Hall and a renovated student center.

All the governance groups on campus responded to Sorensen’s death by either passing resolutions in his honor or holding memorial services. In addition, the Wisconsin State Senate passed a resolution honoring his life and contributions to UW-Stout.

Sorensen is survived by his wife, Toni Poll-Sorensen, of Maitland, Fla., and his three daughters and their husbands: Elizabeth and Joseph Heyboer of Jenison, Mich.; Heather and Tom Jones of Lake Mary, Fla.; and Jenny and Dan Strockis of Walker, Mich.; seven grandchildren; his sisters Donna Hall and Dorothy Staub of Moline, Ill.; and several nieces and nephews. He was preceded in death by his father, Peter, and his mother, Anna Sorensen; his brother, Norman Sorensen; and sisters Mary Lance and Laurie Perrine.

The family held a memorial service in May in Florida. The family asked that, in lieu of flowers, donations be made to the Charles W. Sorensen Endowed Scholarship at Stout University Foundation.

More on the life of Chancellor Emeritus Sorensen is available at: http://goo.gl/EeDNMj FA L L 2 0 1 8

35

ATHLETICS

ALL AMERICAN EFFORTS

FRESH START ON THE HARDWOOD First-time head coaches take over women’s, men’s basketball programs When the basketball season tips off in November, the Blue Devils will have a new look on both benches for the first time this century with two new head coaches.

Senior Sam Elsner wins national titles in shot put, discus Sam Elsner highlighted the 2017-18 UW-Stout athletic scene by earning two national crowns.

Elsner competed at UW-Stout as a freshman before transferring to the University of Minnesota. He returned to Menomonie for his senior season and made quite a splash.

He won the NCAA Division III indoor shot put title and was second in the weight throw. During the outdoor season, he won the discus throw at the NCAA meet with a school record of 191 feet, 7 inches, on his first throw of the day.

Elsner’s season included three WIAC individual titles and five All-America awards. Five other Blue Devils won WIAC indoor or outdoor titles.

In football, the Blue Devils finished with a 5-4 record and were ranked 22nd nationally after upending then fourth-ranked St. Thomas, 25-22, at Williams Stadium, Sept. 9. They had 13 players on the All-WIAC team.

In cross country, the men matched the best finish in school history, second at the WIAC meet. Five runners earned All-WIAC honors. The team also took fifth at the NCAA Division III Midwest Regional and qualified for the national meet for the second time in three years.

In hockey, Mathias Ahman earned All-America honors after leading WIAC defenseman in scoring; he ranked third nationally.

On the basketball court, the Blue Devils had the WIAC scoring leaders in Isaac Elliott and Kyncaide Diedrich.

In gymnastics, Brooke Terry was the first Blue Devil to advance to the NCAA Division I Regional since the 2010 season. An all-arounder, Terry captured NCGA All-America honors, as did Sierra Beaver and Shaquilla Payne. Payne won the WIAC vault title.

In baseball and softball, the weather was the winner with numerous cancellations and postponements because of late cold and snow. The softball team got off to its best start in school history, 10-1. Sophomore Mary Iliopoulos set a school and conference record with a .500 batting average. Iliopoulos and Kyncaide Diedrich were all-district selections.

In women’s golf, the Blue Devils finished second in the WIAC. Rachel Hernandez was first-team all-conference for the third time. Howie Samb was WIAC coach of the year for the seventh time.

36

UW-STOUT OUTLOOK

Jerry Poling

In April, Hannah Quilling-Iverson was named the head women’s coach and Jim Lake the head men’s coach, replacing Mark Thomas (31 years) and Eddie Andrist (18 years), respectively, both of whom resigned.

From top: Hannah Not only will they be replacing two Quilling-Iverson, longtime coaches, but QuillingJim Lake.

Iverson and Lake will be head coaches for the first time.

Quilling-Iverson was a standout prep player at Eau Claire North and from 2008 to 2012 at Division I UW-Green Bay, where she was director of player development beginning in 2016. She also has been an assistant coach at Ashford University.

"We will have a high level of expectations on the basketball court, but developing young women that are ready to take on the world will be our main goal," said Quilling-Iverson, who played in four NCAA Division I national tournaments at UW-Green Bay. Lake has been the top assistant coach the past five years for Ferris State University in Michigan, helping the team win the 2018 NCAA Division II national title with a 38-1 record and four straight conference titles.

He also was a high school coach for many years.

“I am fired up and ready to get to work,” said Lake, a native of Spokane, Wash., who grew up in Michigan.

“I have a lot of respect for the level of basketball in the WIAC. This position gives me the opportunity to coach in the best league of Division III at a terrific institution.”

New volleyball coach The Blue Devils will have a third rookie head coach in Mandy Trautmann, who took over the volleyball program March 1, after Laura Evans resigned.

Trautmann was an assistant coach for the Blue Devils last season and at age 24 will be one of the youngest head coaches in university history.

OCTOBER 6, 2018 Gather your friends and family and show your UW-Stout pride. Join us for homecoming and reminisce with fellow alumni and community members as you enjoy a fun-filled day. The tailgate party will feature live music performed

by UW-Stout alumni in the Tim and Josh band.

We can't wait to see you there!

7:30 a.m. – Blue Devil Run/Walk Registration, race at 9 a.m.

8 - 11 a.m. – Alumni and Community Breakfast at the Silver Dollar, a.k.a. “the Buck” 11 a.m. - 12 p.m. – Homecoming parade 12 - 2 p.m. – Tailgate party Join fellow alumni for food, beverages and live music by the Tim and Josh Band 2 p.m. – Football game UW-Stout vs. UW-La Crosse

D I S C O V E R M O R E AT W W W. U W S T O U T . E D U / H O M E C O M I N G

AN IDEA COMES OF AGE

UW-STOUT

UW-Stout’s 125-year history is told through this hardcover book, which includes more than 140 photos. Only $29.99.

Get your copy today at Seattle Book Company: www.seattlebookcompany.com/an-idea-comes-of-age/, Stoutfitters at Memorial Student Center, or on Amazon.com.

In the Chippewa Valley at Bookends on Main in Menomonie or Volume One’s The Local Store in Eau Claire.

NON-PROFIT ORGANIZATION U.S. POSTAGE

PAID

MADISON, WI PERMIT NO. 2223

LOUIS SMITH TAINTER HOUSE 320 SOUTH BROADWAY PO BOX 790 MENOMONIE, WI 54751

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IF THIS INFORMATION IS INCORRECT, PLEASE EMAIL ALUMNI@UWSTOUT.EDU PARENTS: IF THIS ISSUE IS ADDRESSED TO YOUR SON OR DAUGHTER WHO NO LONGER LIVES AT HOME, PLEASE CALL THE ALUMNI OFFICE WITH CORRECT ADDRESS: 866-716-6685

CALL FOR NOTABLE, DYNAMIC AND INSPIRING SPEAKERS Through the newly revived Stout Speaker Series, UW-Stout will strive to bring influential speakers to campus who will promote the thoughtful reflection needed by society in the 21st century.

Let us know your ideas for a dynamic speaker or if you have any connections to someone you believe would bring a valuable message to our campus and community.

Learn more at www.uwstout.edu/speakerseries

r

16 Stout Speake

Helen Keller, 19

Ansel Adam 1967 S s, tou Speak t er