“Once I got here, I felt right at home with the community… My advice to
current or future students is to be proud of your education here at UWGB,
and your experience will be what you make of it.”

—Jamie Lynn Froh, graduating senior from Elkhart Lake and recipient of the May 2009 Outstanding Student Award as selected by the UW-Green Bay Alumni Association. The summa cum laude future teacher has been a volunteer educator in the community and active participant in campus life.

EMBI emphasis: Going green is ‘flat-out smart business’
On Earth Day 2009 the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay took a big step to reaffirm the environmental credentials that earned the school the nickname “Eco U” at its founding 40 years ago.

The Green Innovations 2009 symposium showed dozens of area business leaders the value of integrating sustainable business practices at their companies to increase profitability.

“This is not a tree-hugger issue any more,” keynote speaker and noted sustainability expert Bob Willard (left) said. “This is a financial and investment issue. Investors are interested in ‘green’ companies… It’s flat-out smart business.”

The gathering marked the formal launch of the University’s new Environmental Management and Business Institute, also known as EMBI. Its goal is to strengthen the University’s leadership in the promotion of eco-friendly initiatives, and to make Green Bay and its New North region synonymous with sustainability and environmental leadership.

Among the interested participants in the April 22 event was newly appointed UW-Green Bay Chancellor Thomas Harden, in town for a campus visit in preparation for his official June 1 start date.

Brad Fischer: building manager,
Student Employee of the Year
Brad Fischer is a prime example of the ways UW-Green Bay students learn on the job while contributing to the efficient operation of the 6,000-student campus. Fischer wins praise for his professionalism and management skills in a position of significant responsibility as a building manager in the University Union. The senior majoring in Humanistic Studies was honored last month as UW-Green Bay’s Student Employee of the Year. The awards ceremony highlighted a week of student employee appreciation activities across campus including an ice cream social and fun giveaways.

Billie Kress, Dr. Molafa share spotlight at Commencement
There is no doubt that a sluggish economy has changed the face of the region’s job market. But after Saturday, May 16, 725 college graduates in Northeastern Wisconsin will enter the workforce with a distinct advantage—a degree from UW-Green Bay.

The University’s Spring 2009 Commencement is scheduled for 11:30 a.m. Saturday, May 16, inside the Kress Events Center.

This year’s graduating class includes students from 12 countries and three Native American nations. Among students, faculty, staff, alumni and community members to be highlighted during the ceremony:

— Irene “Billie” Daniell Kress is the recipient of UW-Green Bay’s highest community honor, the Chancellor’s Award, for her extraordinary contributions to community and campus. She supports projects — including the Phuture Phoenix program — that benefit children and families in and around her hometown of Green Bay.

— Delivering the Commencement address is a 1982 graduate, Dr. Mokenge Malafa of Tampa, who has risen to national prominence as a researcher in the fight against cancer.

— Jamie Lynn Froh of Elkhart Lake, an Education major, will receive the UW-Green Bay Alumni Association award for top graduating senior;

— Graduating class speaker Benjaman R. Schmidt of Green Bay is a quadruple major, a returning adult student who made the most of his college years following a five-year stint in the military.

— Receiving emeritus status upon their retirements will be Profs. Curtis Heuer, Ganga Nair and Terence O’Grady, and staff member Jane Rank.