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INSIDE ARCHIVE


Marketing and
University Communication
UW-Green Bay, CL 815
2420 Nicolet Drive
Green Bay, WI 54311-7001
(920) 465-2214

E-mail: matzken@uwgb.edu

Rev. May 13, 2008

 

Setting the bar high:
Wisconsin judges prepped for bench at UW-Green Bay

Three of Wisconsin’s circuit court judges are UW-Green Bay alumni. Interviews with each revealed important similarities. Among them, problem solving and helping others are both passions and strengths.

Judge William Hanrahan ’82, urban studies, earned his J.D. at Hamline University in St. Paul, and presides over Dane County Branch 7.
Hanrahan earned a full, six-year term by winning election in April. First appointed by Gov. Jim Doyle in January of 2007, he was previously an assistant attorney general for the Wisconsin Department of Justice, and an assistant DA in Milwaukee County. In his own words:
Affecting lives: “I learned early in my career that the joy is in interacting with people whose lives are in distress — both victims and perpetrators. When I was appointed assistant attorney general and headed the Medicaid Fraud Unit, I made it a priority to prosecute health care providers who abused and neglected their wards. The cases were often complicated white-collar crimes involving elaborate paper trails, and I found myself getting further away from my roots. As a judge, I have been put back in the position of affecting the lives of individuals in a very real way.”
Success and hope: "I've enjoyed every day, and I'm challenged both intellectually and emotionally. It's draining work, particularly the juvenile court system, where we handle delinquency, abuse and neglect. I learned long ago that I've achieved success if I never see these people return. I can't pinpoint a case, but certainly, I get kids back on track, back to school, take them out of dangerous and often-times terrifying environments… Juvenile courts are special places where hope still resides… I never give up the belief that people can reinvent themselves."
Learning: "UWGB was really quite key to my intellectual formation. I was driving a delivery truck in my hometown, Milwaukee, when I decided, 'this is not how I plan on contributing to society.’ …UWGB was different, original and had unique concentrations and not majors. In urban planning I studied planning, populations, sociology, political science, environmental science and was exposed to a wide variety and an eclectic mix of voices that were significant to honing my critical-thinking skills.”
Fun: “The sports center, campus golf course and setting on the bay created a resort-like atmosphere. Working as a bartender at the Rathskeller (now the Phoenix Club) didn't seem much like work, especially with the steady stream of amazing blues bands… Luther Allison, Buddy Guy  and Big Twist & The Mellow Fellows.”

Judge Patrick Madden '71   |   Judge Nancy Krueger '75


Click here to download a PDF file of the entire May 2008 issue of Inside magazine.