University of Wisconsin-Green Bay degree was brand-new 30 years ago

Thirty years ago this spring, 78 seniors received a degree that had never before been awarded - a baccalaureate degree from the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay.

Everyone who received a diploma on June 1, 1970, had begun their university studies elsewhere. UW-Green Bay first offered classes as a four-year institution just two years previously, in fall 1968, in the former two-year UW Center building on Deckner Avenue in Green Bay. That June 1970 commencement was the culmination of the University's first year of residence in the three completed buildings on its new campus, which opened in fall 1969.

UW-Green Bay's first commencement was planned as an outdoor ceremony on the brand-new campus, but wind and rain forced it into the Deckner gymnasium.

Betty D. Brown in her history of the University's first 25 years, noted that one-third of the University's first 78 graduates were aged 30 or older and half were married. Fifty-three were Green Bay residents and the rest came from communities within a 75-mile radius.

Here's her report of the ceremony:

"As commencement speaker, New York Times columnist Max Lerner spoke on the theme 'Angles of Vision,' Gov. Warren Knowles saluted the University as an institution representing 'a new wave of educational thought' at a school 'destined to become a truly great university' as it offered an education 'tuned in to social concerns.' President Fred Harvey Harrington of the UW System delivered the charge of responsibility to the graduates; Dr. James Nellen brought greetings as president of the UW Board of Regents. And in establishing a tradition of honoring members of the Green Bay community for their contributions to the campus, [Founding Chancellor Edward W.] Weidner presented the first Chancellor's Award of Merit to Rudy Small, vice president of Paper Machine Converting Company, and John M. Rose, president of Kellogg Bank."

In honor of that momentous day 30 years ago, the Inside UW-Green Bay editor asked members of the first class of 1970 to share some of their recollections. Those recollections follow below.

University's first graduates share memories

Nancy (Ably) DePrey

"Excitement, confusion, anticipation and stress are a few of the many conflicting emotions experienced by those of us attending the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay and preparing to be one of the members of the first graduating class.

"This new, nontraditional, futuristic University had an unconventional way of classifying degrees using areas of concentration like Urban Analysis or Regional Analysis. One of my biggest decisions was to decide which school to apply to, make up my academic plan and have the plan reviewed and accepted by the head of my chosen school....To my great relief my chosen school, Regional Analysis, accepted my plan....

"When the graduation list was made up, I assumed since I had not finished all the courses in my professional collateral (Education) that I would not be graduating in Year One. I later found out I had enough credits to graduate and that my school was graduating first, which put me not only in Year One, but crossing the stage as the first graduate. It is an honor I am as proud of today as I was back in 1970.

"I loved the small upper-level classes. The professors had time to challenge your thought processes or positions you would take in written work or in verbal discussions. It was an excellent learning experience and it really kept you on your toes. History Prof. [James M.] McHale comes to mind as one of my more memorable instructors.

"Last but not least were the Liberal Education Seminars, or LES, as they were called. Senior LES dealt with the year 2000!!! I wish I had our group project report and presentation. I wonder how close we were to what is?"

Patricia Davis

"As a member of the first graduating class...I was fortunate enough to be among very special people at a very special time at a very special place. Not typical students, older and more exacting, we wrought our education out of experience and in new forms forced upon us by turbulent times and immersion in the birthing of a university.

"The faculty and administration, often younger and more idealistic than we were, displayed admirable patience, humor and wisdom as they engaged us in what sometimes seemed to be a daily struggle for knowledge. We learned, and we marched for civil rights and we sat-in and we demonstrated for an end to the war. We grasped the concept of ecology, created the first Earth Day, challenged local polluters.

"It was a tumultuous time on campus, in part reflecting national and world events; perhaps the simultaneous, stormy creation of UWGB was only coincidental. I have always felt, however, that my experience at my alma mater was a rebirth. Phoenix seems an apt name."

Eugene D. Geurts

"Some of my more memorable experiences at UWGB were involved with my Limnology class during the winter of 1969 with Prof. Paul Sager.

"That winter, with the aid of some newly acquired equipment, like a gas-powered ice auger, an ice chisel, and a variety of sampling devices, we, as the first Limnology class, explored the depths of four small area lakes. We drilled holes in the ice, collected samples, and analyzed them to determine water temperature, alkalinity, dissolved oxygen content, and bottom sediment composition.

"With this experience, I undertook, as my class project, to develop a contour map depicting many of these same parameters for Lily Lake, a 42-acre lake in eastern Brown County. I drilled hundreds of holes through the ice to develop a grid pattern and collect data samples.

"Other memorable field trips involved working with the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources on a "trout shocking" project on the Kewaunee River and a salmon stocking survey on Lake Michigan."

Maxine Libbie Smith

"I am pleased and grateful to be in the first graduating class of UWGB! Having spent three years at Beloit College, marrying and raising a family, this was truly a fine next step in my life. I taught at the Menasha campus [to earn money] to pay my tuition. The excellent academic level, fine instructors and simply the fun of being in school added substance to my life and gave me access to fulfilling work experiences. I went on to complete an M.S. in public administration at UW-Oshkosh. All this was due to UWGB being there.

"I found my Modernization Processes degree useful through the years. It jarred me into a new generation. It got me thinking ahead and made me less judgmental. It's been very helpful, especially when I was working for the Red Cross....I encourage people of all ages, particularly women in their middle years, to go back to school."

Rick L. Riehl

"There was a soccer team comprised of 'locals' at the two-year campus and several of those players 'walked on'....The 'good players' were brought in from literally all over the map. Two of my roommates, for example, came from Mercer County Junior College in New Jersey. Zach Papanikolau came direct from Greece, Desmond McCulloch from Ireland, and guys like Fred Gustin and Steve Carini were from Milwaukee. I had played at UW-Fox Valley and came to UWGB from UW-Milwaukee the first year that UWGB was a four-year school. I never played or practiced a minute, 'cuz I broke my ankle playing baseball in August, but I got to go on all the trips....

"I was the person taken off the plane and interrogated on our first-ever UWGB soccer road trip to Colorado. Our Bay Badger squad (that was before UWGB became either the Fighting Tomatoes or the Phoenix) was attempting to board at O'Hare and I was carrying an oxygen tank. When asked about it by a flight attendant, I quipped that I'd 'built it in my basement.'

"I met my wife, Donna [Donna Lee Davis], that first year at UWGB. She was a freshman and I was a senior. We have been married for 28 years."

Helen A. Siebers

"As a member of the first graduating class of 1970, I am pleased to share what that was like. I was a returning adult student trying to balance all the roles - marriage, motherhood, working, and academics. In 1970, at age 28, I finally had my bachelor's credential, and it was a glorious feeling.

"I had started in the humble buildings of the Fox Valley Center at age 24, but those [UW-Green Bay] buildings opened the doors of the world to me. For me, intellectual excitement reigned there - the mixture of adult and young students, young faculty at the beginning of their careers who were enthused about their fields, and the chance to pursue the education I wanted. I studied with [Prof. E. Nelson] Swinerton, [Prof. Jarrell ] Yarbrough, [Prof. Richard M.] Fontera, and [Prof. Norbert] Gaworek, and was inspired to later do graduate work in political science. Although my path and later grad study eventually took me into the realm of the emotions and I became a psychotherapist, those earlier studies have blended beautifully into my world view.

"And from 1990-1993, the world truly did open for me. After many years of practicing as a psychotherapist, I had a chance to live and practice in Hong Kong.

"So thank you, UWGB and all the wonderful faculty who started me on my intellectual and professional life journey. All of the above, plus a human dimension and scale, translate into good fortune for the student. Best wishes to all current students."

Ken Hogg

Ancient Secrets Revealed! ASPSQA Finally Unmasked
- by Ken Hogg

Discovery of a secret records cache, disguised as a runestone erected on the Bayshore by Lief Erickson, gives new substance to decades of rumors about a tiny and shadowy student group said to have run amok during the early years of the University. Lurid diaries secretly scrutinized in the vault of Kellogg [now Associated] Bank confirm that the ASPSQA, often dismissed as no more than a charming myth, wreaked havoc along the Bayshore during the 1968-1970 academic years.

This cadre of anarchistic malcontents infiltrated the University from the Deckner Campus of the old Green Bay Center and weaseled their way into positions of power and influence until the University was freed of their nefarious influence by their graduation in the Class of 1970. Their activities included such outrageous schemes as an underground campaign to whip up student support for naming UWGB sports teams the "Bay Lemmings" rather than our beloved "Phoenix," formation of a secret fraternity named Sigma Moo, distinguished only by its consumption of huge amounts of beer at Shakey's Pizza, and composition of a UWGB school "song" which astonishingly, records prove, was actually performed once in public. Though the musical score is lost, the full lyrics were as follows...

U...is for the happiness you bring me
W...means twice as much to me,
G...I'm glad you're here, so together we can...
B

Though no clear evidence is documented by the musty records, disturbing questions have been raised about the possible complicity of UWGB Chancellor Edward Weidner in fomenting the organization of the ASPSQA. Each of the three founders of this secret society was a known member of his Chancellor's Student Advisory Committee and a public supporter of his oft-quoted plan to "delay installing sidewalks until we see where students walk".

In addition, some oldtimers may recall three students importantly huffing and puffing around in the service of Dean of Learning Resources Werner Prange, Dean of Students Don Makuen and Dean of Academic Programs Dick Fontera; they were the perpetrators of all the chaos caused by the ASPSQA. One has to wonder how they could have so conveniently wriggled their way into the corridors of power without the support of some secret sponsor.

Finally, after all these years, it is time to publicly reveal the long hidden identities of these three architects of the chaos that marked the early days of UWGB; they are Scott Knapp, Tom Landgraf, and Ken Hogg. The three were last reported at a hidden training camp in Bolivia, preparing a mercenary army for the takeover of the Argentine Province of Tierra Del Fuego. It is rumored that they plan to extract tolls from shipping transiting the Strait of Magellan.

And the ASPSQA? The dreaded acronym denotes the "American Society of Professional Students and Quasi-Administrators".

In a whiney plea for anonymity, the source of this information claimed he was far too old and decrepit to survive a midnight swim in the Bay wearing concrete overshoes.

New Biodiversity Center brings resources together

The new Cofrin Arboretum Center for Biodiversity brings under one administrative umbrella University resources that formerly existed as separate entities, including:

• the Cofrin Arboretum,
• natural areas in Door County and on the Lake Michigan and Green Bay shores which are administered by the Arboretum,
• the Carl Richter Museum of Natural History,
• the Herbarium,
• the Greenhouse,
• the Data Management Center for the Wisconsin Breeding Bird Atlas, and
• records and archives of the Wisconsin Society for Ornithology.

The Center supports student and faculty research and the results of their studies become part of its storehouse of information.

With the abundance of information represented by those resources, it's logical that one of the Center's first initiatives is a World Wide Web site.

"If the Center can become a clearinghouse of information....we will fulfill my vision," says Center Director Robert W. Howe, professor of Natural and Applied Sciences. The Center's mission is to promote education, research and community services that contribute to the conservation of flora and fauna of the northern Great Lakes states. Howe says the emphasis on a particular region makes this center unique in the context of other biodiversity centers, most of which have national or global scopes.

"Our Center will focus on real-life issues that affect the quality of life in Northeast Wisconsin," he says. Howe sees the Center as a "grassroots" information center that will promote two-way communication with the public.

Its website (http://www.uwgb.edu/biodiversity) already invites participation. Visitors can get questions answered via the "Ask a Scientist!" feature and can contribute observations to phenology records of northeastern Wisconsin.

Theater program gets attention in national trade paper

The theater program was one of nine academic theater departments from across the country singled out by Backstage, the major national theater trade paper, in its annual "college" issue. The feature highlighted academic theater programs that provide students opportunities for professional experience and connections.

"UW-Green Bay boasts one of the finest touring houses in the country," said writer Jill Charles, editor of several theater industry directories. She said UW-Green Bay students see professional productions, attend workshops and master classes presented by touring artists which faculty are "diligent" about arranging, and get professional experience by working at the Weidner Center through jobs or internships. Also, the campus theater program stages an every-other-year musical on the Weidner Center main stage, and the 100-seat Studio Two in the Weidner Center is solely for theater and music student performances. Much of the article was devoted to examples of students whose experiences at the Weidner Center led to jobs.

"We all think this is a very big deal," said Theater chairperson Laura Riddle. "Being in Backstage is an endorsement of quality."

More news on campus

Academic Deans Office has new leadership

Michael Murphy, associate dean and professor in Humanistic Studies and English, is interim dean of liberal arts and sciences for next academic year. A founding member of the UW-Green Bay faculty, Murphy fills the position vacated by retiring Dean Carol A. Pollis. The interim dean of professional studies and outreach is V. Jane Muhl, associate professor and former chair of nursing, who joined UW-Green Bay in 1995. Muhl takes the post held by Dean Nancy Kaufman, who has accepted a position at UW-Oshkosh. Denise Scheberle, associate professor and chair of Public and Environmental Affairs and a member of the faculty since 1992, is the interim associate dean, occupying Murphy's former position. Michael Marinetti, '79 and '85, becomes assistant dean for professional studies and research. Marinetti had been Institute for Research coordinator since 1990.

Green Bay and Milwaukee offer new dual degree

Students can earn two degrees - a bachelor of science in Environmental Science from UW-Green Bay and a bachelor of science in Civil/Environmental Engineering from UW-Milwaukee - through a new agreement between the two institutions. Students will attend UW-Green Bay for three years, majoring in Environmental Science with a Physical Systems: Technology and Management emphasis and then transfer to UW-Milwaukee's Civil Engineering program in the Environmental Engineering emphasis. Students who come with all of the prerequisite high school courses and follow a specified university course load can complete the program in five years, says program coordinator Patricia Terry, an assistant professor of Natural and Applied Sciences.

Ortiz heads international education

Cristina Ortiz, associate professor of Humanistic Studies and Spanish, is the new director of international education, succeeding Joyce Salisbury, who is returning to the faculty full time. Ortiz, who joined the faculty in 1993, has organized travel courses to the Yucatan and to Spain, and has been involved in international programming. She is acting chair of Modern Languages and adviser to the Spanish program and the Spanish-language student organization.

Softball team ends commute

The women's softball team ended three years of commuting to Pulaski High School for its home games with this season's opener, played in newly constructed facilities on the campus. The old on-campus diamond didn't meet regulations for intercollegiate athletic competition after the NCAA changed its rules three years ago, requiring covered dugouts, a completely fenced area, and other amenities. Donations of concrete block, sod, and lumber from local businesses helped to make the new facility a reality.

The year started with awards, too

The academic year just ending with traditional awards and honors started with awards, too. Six members of the faculty and staff were honored with Founders Association Awards for Excellence at a University convocation. The awards and recipients were: Institutional Development - Curt Heuer, associate professor of Communication and the Arts and Art; Community Outreach - David Littig, associate professor of Public and Environmental Affairs and Political Science; Administrative Support - Catherine Magnusen, program assistant in Social Work; Scholarship - E. Nicole Meyer, associate professor of Humanistic Studies and French; Academic Support - Michael Stearney, director of Educational Support and Multicultural Services; and Teaching - Joan E. Thron, associate professor of Education.

Emmons is newest 'named' professor

Carol Emmons, professor of Communication and the Arts and Art, has been awarded the named Frankenthal Professorship.

The award was established in 1980 in honor of the late Siegfried W. Frankenthal, former owner of Packerland Packing Company, to recognize a full professor whose work exemplifies the spirit and mission of UW-Green Bay. Emmons is the fifth to receive the professorship. Previous recipients were Professors James Clifton, Frederick Kersten, Estella Lauter, and Joyce Salisbury.

In addition to teaching and advising students, Emmons exhibits her personal art work nationally and internationally; writes, publishes, and presents scholarly work; and is active in service to the University. She has been a Fellow at the Center for 20th Century Studies at UW-Milwaukee and in 1994 received the UW-Green Bay Founders Award for Excellence in Scholarship.

Faculty members win recognition

Laatsch has a spot in the Yukon
Six hundred acres in Canada's Yukon Territory are named for William Laatsch, professor of Urban and Regional Studies. It's an unexpected result of his doctoral research, completed nearly 30 years ago. While preparing for his dissertation on Yukon mining settlement, Laatsch identified the area as a rich environment for study for its variety of ecological components.

About a year and a half ago, Laatsch learned that the boreal forest-alpine tundra ecotone interpretation site in the new Pelly Valley Ecological Reserve would bear his name. Mines in the region have closed and remaining residents want to develop the area for ecological study and tourism. On a visit last summer, Laatsch found the site developed with a plaque, kiosk, signage, trails, and graduate students at work.

...and in Brown County
Laatsch also received the Local History award for 2000 from the Brown County Historical Society for his work on the board of Heritage Hill State Park.

Dell is 'Honored Educator'
Jerry Dell, professor of Communication and the Arts, was the Honored Educator at the Midwest Society for Photographic Education conference held last fall at Valparaiso University. Dell made a presentation on his teaching philosophy and showed his personal work.

AMS recognizes Moran
Joseph Moran, professor of Natural and Applied Sciences, has been named a Fellow in the American Meteorological Society. He was one of just five academics honored by the Society this year.

UW-Green Bay BSN Degree goes national

Registered nurses throughout the United States can now earn the UW-Green Bay Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree almost entirely via the Internet. BSN-LINC, the new on-line program, is offered through NursingCenter.com, an electronic venture by publishing and education interests including the American Journal of Nursing and Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.

The academic program duplicates the in-state degree completion program offered collaboratively by the universities at Green Bay, Eau Claire, Madison, Milwaukee and Oshkosh. Core nursing courses and nursing electives originate at those campuses; the UW Colleges offer the general education and support courses. UW Learning Innovations provides the technology assistance.

The program leads to a degree from UW-Green Bay, which will contribute planning, administration, advising, and other support. Prof. Jane Muhl says 100-200 enrollees are expected to start the program this fall. Muhl, who is interim dean of Professional Studies and Outreach, was chair of the UW-Green Bay BSN program while the new Internet initiative was developed.

Grant launches first organizational studies center project

A $307,995 grant from the Public Entity Risk Institute (PERI) has launched the first major project of the new Center for Organizational Studies, headed by Prof. Daniel J. Alesch, Public and Environmental Affairs.

The grant funds a three-year study aimed at helping small not-for-profit and business organizations survive natural disasters such as earthquakes, tornadoes, hurricanes, storm surges, river floods, and severe storms. Alesch says investigators hope eventually to develop inexpensive ways to help organizations protect against disaster losses, and, when an event does occur, offer effective strategies for recovery.

The new Center provides a framework for learning how to build and maintain effective organizations, change poorly functioning organizations, and generate continuous improvement within organizations. Alesch says students will benefit from the research and practical experience opportunities it provides.

Faculty members will help improve math and science learning

A $159,941 Eisenhower Professional Development grant to UW-Green Bay will improve mathematics and science learning for middle- and high school students.

The project stems from a Mathematics and Science Task Force of CESA 7 teachers and UW-Green Bay faculty members, chaired by Natural and Applied Sciences Prof. Emeritus Robert Wenger, that met in 1999. Wenger was the principal author of the grant proposal. John Katers is director of the federally funded project. Katers earned bachelor's and master's degrees at UW-Green Bay.

Campus leaders of the teams of faculty, CESA 7 teachers, community members, and Education students working on the Eisenhower project include Angela Bauer-Dantoin, assistant professor of Human Biology and Biology; Gregory Davis, associate professor of Natural and Applied Sciences and Mathematics; Brian Merkel, assistant professor of Human Biology and Biology; Thomas Van Koevering, professor of Education and Chemistry; and Keith West, industrial recycling specialist for UW-Extension Solid and Hazardous Waste Education Center.

Alumni news

They've got just the ticket for Sydney Olympics

Three UW-Green Bay alumni are hard at work in Sydney, Australia, in preparation for the Olympic Games later this summer. Todd Severson, '94, Jennifer Oshita-O'Dierno, '95, and Eric O'Dierno, '95 all work for the Sydney Organising Committee for the Olympic Games (SOCOG). Their jobs hark back to the experience that Severson and Oshita-O'Dierno gained working in ticketing for UW-Green Bay Performing Arts and the Weidner Center while they were students.

Severson was the first to arrive in Australia in July 1998. He's the manager of venue operations for ticketing for SOCOG, which means that he has been planning and organizing the ticket office network for the games. He supervises a staff of 30. A Communication and the Arts/Art major, Severson went directly into the ticketing business after graduating. After working a couple of other projects, he joined the Atlanta Committee for the Olympic Games in 1995, organizing the venue ticketing for the 1996 games. He spent 1997 in South America, where he was a project manager for the Argentine Football Association.

Oshita-O'Dierno, a coordinator of venue operations for ticketing for SOCOG, was ticketing manager for Pick-Staiger Concert Hall at Northwestern University when she got a call from former Weidner Center colleague Severson suggesting she come to work for SOCOG. A Business Administration major/English minor - and recipient of the Alumni Association Outstanding Student Award in spring 1995 - Oshita-O'Dierno already had Olympic ticketing experience gained from taking a leave from her regular job to work the three weeks of the Atlanta games. She and husband Eric arrived in Sydney in February 1999.

Eric O'Dierno is events coordinator for the Olympic Club, which operates a varied program of pre-Olympic activities. Quoting the Australians, he says, "I'm the bloke that gets the ponies to the show." As such, he gets involved with athletic clinics, Olympian autograph signing events, working with media relations, and a host of other activities. O'Dierno was a fund raising coordinator/field representative with the American Cancer Society in Chicago before moving to Australia. A theater major, he recalls roles in Rumors, Jesus Christ Superstar, and Cabaret on the UW-Green Bay stage as among favorites.

Barrow is 1999 'outstanding alumna'

Urla (Teixeira) Barrow, '83, head of an organization that provides health care and related services to some of the most vulnerable families in Washington, D.C., was named 1999 Outstanding Alumna by the UW-Green Bay Alumni Association. She is chief executive officer of Community Medical Care in northwest Washington.

Barrow was honored at an event on campus in early December. A native of Guyana, South America, Barrow attended UW-Green Bay on an "installment plan." She initially was able to get only a two-year visa, so she earned an Associate of Arts degree, went home for a time, and when she received another visa, came back to UW-Green Bay and completed her Social Change and Development major with a minor in Political Science. Barrow later earned a master's degree in human service management from the School for International Training, Vermont, and also has trained in public health and psychiatric nursing.

'Barrow's entire career has been in community service. She began working in a Boston City Hospital program for mothers of babies with malnutrition, and lived for 17 years in Roxbury, Mass., where she had several managerial and advocacy positions with agencies such as the Boston Housing Authority.

Year 2000 alum is oldest to graduate

When Roger Hirst, '00, received his degree in May at the age of 77, he had the distinction of being the oldest person ever to graduate from UW-Green Bay and one of the oldest in the UW System. Hirst, of Kewaunee, earned his degree in interdisciplinary studies with an emphasis in political science.

Hirst graduated from high school at 18 in the World War II era and went into the military. He also served in Korea. When he returned home, his top priority was providing for his family. It wasn't until he retired in 1986 from a long career with Wisconsin Public Service that he became intrigued with an advertisement for UW-Green Bay's Extended Degree Program and began taking courses.

"I'm very happy," says Hirst. "The classes were interesting and the professors are wonderful....I loved the interaction with the other students...." Hirst plans to spend more time writing and volunteering with service groups.

Phoenix Hall of Fame adds three alums and a long-time friend

Three Phoenix athletes - two who excelled in basketball and one in soccer - are the newest inductees into the Phoenix Hall of Fame.

They are Chuck Stark, Business Administration '82, Candace (Candy) Kaye, Business Administration '83, and Tom Brown, Communication and the Arts and Communication Processes '85, and M.S. in Administrative Science '92.

Stark, Jacksonville, Fla., took soccer team scoring honors his freshman, junior, and senior years, and led the team to a 46-15-7 record over four seasons. In his junior year - the first for the Phoenix in Division I - Stark and teammates finished with a 14-4-0 record, defeating all eight Division I opponents. He remains third all-time in career goals, third all-time in career assists, and third all-time in career points. Stark is a territory manager for Lifetouch National School Studios, a photography service for schools.

Kaye, Green Bay, was among the first three scholarship players in UW-Green Bay women's basketball history. As a freshman, Kaye helped to turn the team around and lead it to the first in the series of 22 consecutive winning seasons, a tradition that continues. The team won two Wisconsin Women's Intercollegiate Athletic Conference titles during her tenure. Kaye left the program as its all-time leading scorer and remains the 15th top scorer. She is rental/accounts manager for Murphy Development, Inc.

Brown, LaGrange Park, Ill., joined the basketball team in its first season in Division I, and was a three-time co-captain. He earned numerous awards and recognitions and remains in the program's top 10 for field goals made and attempted, free throws made and attempted, and steals. Brown was on the UW-Green Bay staff from 1988 to 1998, first as an assistant basketball coach, and later as an academic adviser. He is a developmental guidance specialist and adviser at Roosevelt University.

Also inducted was Green Bay physician, Dr. James Hinckley, an orthopedic surgeon who has served the athletic department as a consultant, physician, surgeon, philanthropist, and friend since 1978.

Alumni notes

1970s

Patricia Finder-Stone, '73, is a member of the statewide Advisory Council for the Creating Health Project, a collaborative effort between Wisconsin Public Television and UW-Extension, Madison, which will result in television programs, events, a World Wide Web site, and other means to connect women across generational, racial, community, and income divides to address a broad array of women's health issues. Early this year, Gov. Tommy Thompson appointed Finder-Stone to the state's Tobacco Control Board, the body that will decide how to best invest $23.5-million in smoking-prevention programs. A registered nurse, she's the past chair of the American Cancer Society Wisconsin Council. Finder-Stone majored in Growth and Development.

Donald Kotecki, '73, has returned to Green Bay to become director of the St. Norbert College Survey Center. He comes from a position as senior financial manager of the Duke (University) Clinical Research Institute and has previous experience in survey research at the Research Triangle Institute in North Carolina and the National Opinion Research Center at the University of Chicago. The Analysis-Synthesis major reports that he served a stint in the Peace Corps in Ethiopia after graduating, earned a master's degree in international affairs and education from Ohio University, and taught English for a time in Iran, before focusing on the survey research field.

Paul F. Mathews, ' 73, is president of the Marcus Center for the Performing Arts in Milwaukee. An Urban Analysis major, Mathews previously was chairman of Mathews Fitzgerald Inc., a Milwaukee-based strategic planning and project management consulting firm. Mathews also spent a dozen years in elective office, serving on the Milwaukee County Board of Supervisors.

Gerald A. Saindon, '74, is head of the Communicative Arts Department at West High School in Appleton, where he joined the teaching staff in 1974. His major was Analysis-Synthesis. His community involvement includes founding and serving as president of Mother and Unborn Baby Care - Fox Valley.

Kent O. Jones, '76, is coordinator of the Baker Near-Wilderness Settlement with Hennepin Parks, one of the largest park districts in the country, serving the west metropolitan area of Minneapolis-St. Paul. Jones says the Settlement is a residential environmental learning center that offers groups from fourth grade up a nearly wilderness, rustic "camping in a cabin" experience in a setting only 20 miles from downtown Minneapolis. Jones, who majored in Science and Environmental Change and completed a minor in Biology, has held various environmental education positions with Hennepin Parks over the past 12 years.

Scott Pribyl, '78, has opened an Edward Jones Investments Office on West Mason Street in Green Bay. The investment representative completed a major in Managerial Systems and a minor in Regional Analysis. He also attended the UW-Madison Management Institute. Pribyl formerly owned Minuteman Press in Green Bay.

Adele Wutke, '79, devotes a lot of time in retirement to promoting recycling. She earned her personal major when she was 61 and took a job as director of the Brown County Senior Center, a position she held until retiring in 1986. Wutke organized the Encore Recycling Group, which meets monthly to swap used items. She's currently organizing an exhibit of arts and crafts made from recycled materials that will open at the Brown County Senior Center on Make a Difference Day, Oct. 28, 2000. Wutke was the second family member to graduate from UW-Green Bay. Daughter Yvonne Wutke Haworth, '72, earned her degree in Communication and the Arts. Granddaughter Emily Haworth is a UW-Green Bay freshman.

Kristen (Yarbrough) Richards, '79, was named Effingham County (Georgia) Teacher of the Year in 1999. She teaches fifth grade. A Humanistic Studies major, Richards was a newspaper reporter for a number of years and wrote for other venues such as Peach State Public Radio, before deciding in 1990 to go back to school to earn teaching certification. She credits the influences of her teacher-father, the late UW-Green Bay Prof. Jarrell Yarbrough, and her grandmother, also a teacher, in her decision to change careers.

1980s

Daniel J. Kieffer, '80, has his own business, Daniel Kieffer Photography, and as owner of Lone Tree Press, photographs and publishes state-themed, black-and-white landscape calendars which he markets through gift and book stores and to companies which use them as corporate gifts. In 1999, he published calendars for Minnesota, Oregon, and Alaska. Kieffer was a photographer for the University of Minnesota Hospital for 12 years before opening his own business. Kieffer is a Communication and the Arts graduate.

Mark King, '81, is president of Taylor Made-Addidas, the golf equipment manufacturer, in Carlsbad, Calif. The Business Administration graduate competed on UW-Green Bay's golf team.

Thomas Felmer, '84, has been appointed international vice president and general manager for the Graphics Group of Brady Corp., Milwaukee. He's responsible for European and Asian operations, which make and market safety and facility-identification products and printing systems. Felmer earned his degree in Business Administration with a Science and Environmental Change minor.

Dr. Barbara Weber, '85, opened a practice last fall at Holy Family Memorial Medical Center in Cleveland, Wis. Weber, who decided on a career in family practice medicine after working for a veterinarian, shoeing horses, studying pre-veterinary medicine at UW-Madison, and studying in Germany, earned her UW-Green Bay degree in Human Adaptability. Her medical degree is from the University of Minnesota and she completed both internship and residency at Tacoma (Wash.) Family Medicine. Weber honed her skills in small town family practice in northern Minnesota and Wisconsin, working through the National Health Service Corp., a federal program that helps physicians repay educational loans in return for working in underserved areas. Weber lives on a Sheboygan County farm with 22 horses. She's helping to re-establish a breed of Russian horses that had dwindled to five animals by the close of World War II. Weber imported a stallion and now also has some of his offspring. Her nine Orlor-Rostopchin horses are among 500 in the world.

Christine (LaCount) Mau, '87, and Michael Mau, '88, both work from home in Neenah while alternating caring for sons who are nearly five and nearly two. The Communication Processes majors call their business MauHaus Incorporated. Chris divides her time between Kimberly-Clark Corporation, where she manages product aesthetics for the household and infant care products, and work as an illustrator. She just finished illustrations for young children's texts for McGraw Hill and Harcourt Brace. Her illustrations for a children's book recasting the "Twelve Days of Christmas" to a southwestern theme (Twelve Lizards Leaping) took her on a book signing tour to the southwest. Michael, who completed a master's degree in architecture at UW-Milwaukee, is a photographer, specializing in architectural work and does architectural drawing, frequently for clients needing spaces for creative work. He also teaches the pre-architecture component in UW-Green Bay's Environmental Design sequence. Both earned minors in Communication and the Arts; Chris also completed an Art minor.

Debbie Skenandore (Doxtater), '88, recently became support center leader at Bellin Health Systems in Green Bay. The departments of materials management, facilities, engineering, guest services, and risk management report to her. She previously served two terms as chair of the Oneida Tribe of Indians of Wisconsin. Skenandore, who completed majors in Human Development and Psychology, will join the board of directors for the UW-Green Bay Founders Association on July 1.

Peter C. Barta, '88, is broadcast advertising coordinator in the advertising and marketing department for Kohl's Department Stores in the Menomonee Falls corporate offices. He works with the J. Walter Thompson advertising agency to create, produce, and place television and radio commercials. Barta completed the electronic media emphasis in his Communication Processes major.

1990s

Marc Jimos, '91, is a member of the board for the Wisconsin Music Educator's Association and has been appointed as the organization's state chair for jazz education. He recently also was appointed Wisconsin School Music Association saxophone coach for the honors high school jazz band that will perform at the fall state conference. A Music major emphasizing performance and education, Jimos teaches at Ashwaubenon High School.

Christine Munson, '96, is director of the Natural Resources program at the College of the Menominee Nation, a cooperative effort which enables students to transfer into the UW-Stevens Point School of Natural Resources, and is an activist on Native American issues. Last year, she spoke on the impact of tribal gaming on educational opportunities at a unity conference organized by Rep. Patrick Kennedy in Washington, D.C., and was a panelist at the Fifth National Conversation on Race, Ethnicity and Culture at the University of Southern California. The issues-oriented band, Rage Against the Machine, gave her its "freedom fighter of the month" award in December for her work against use of "Indian" symbols as mascots. Munson, a Biology major who earned Environmental Science and Chemistry minors, is completing a master's degree in conservation biology and sustainable development at the Institute for Environmental Studies at UW-Madison.

Jacqueline Tripp, '96, has been promoted to cost accounting supervisor at the Niagara Division of Consolidated Papers, Inc. Tripp, who joined the Niagara Division in 1986, completed an emphasis in business while earning her General Studies degree.

Tom Davis, M.S. '96, is the author of Sustaining the Forest, the People and the Spirit, recently published by the State University of New York Press. The book tells the story of the Menominee Indian Tribe and how they have sustained their 230,000-acre forest in ways that enhance, rather than degrade, the environment. The research and the initial manuscript was Davis's thesis project for his Master of Environmental Science and Policy degree, and collective campus memory has it this is the first UW-Green Bay thesis to result in a book. Davis is president of Lac Courte Orielles Ojibwa Community College, Hayward.

Eric Gass, '97, is Families and Schools Together (FAST) coordinator for the Alliance for Children and Families in Milwaukee. The Psychology major received his master's degree in child development and family studies last August from Purdue University.

Quasan Shaw, '97, and Vickie Patterson, '95, were recently named directors at United Way of Brown County. Shaw, the new youth development director, joined United Way from a position as neighborhood development specialist with Brown County/UW-Extension. One of his first projects will be to organize a community youth mapping project, which will employ teens over the summer to seek out resources for youth and families. Their findings will be plotted on maps. Shaw, who previously worked in the planning department for the Oneida Tribe, earned his degree in Urban and Regional Studies. Patterson, who was promoted to director of community planning and fund distribution, joined United Way in 1996 and was a staff member in the divisions she now heads. Her degree is in Public Administration with an Urban and Regional Studies minor. She's working toward a UW-Green Bay master's degree in Administrative Science.

Claudette Gunther, '98, is the business health services manager for Community Memorial Hospital, Oconto Falls. She earned her B.S.N. at UW-Green Bay and is certified by the American Board of Occupational Health Nurses and the CIRSC/Commissions of Case Management. She previously worked in occupational health for Bellin Health Systems and as a private contractor.

Jessica Del Bianco, '99, a Spanish major with a Secondary Education minor, completed her first year as a Spanish teacher at New Holstein High School.

Natalie Norman, '99, recently joined the staff of the Green Bay Botanical Garden as assistant youth education specialist. A Humanistic Studies major, Norman previously was a seasonal naturalist at the Trees for Tomorrow Natural Resources Education Center in Eagle River. She also has taught classes and assisted in coordinating activities at the Bay Beach Wildlife Sanctuary in Green Bay.

Emily Feld, '99, lives in New York where she is studying at the prestigious Lee Strasberg Acting Institute. The Theater major made her New York performance debut last winter in a play entitled, Precipice by Sri Rao, at New York Performance Works, an Off Off Broadway venue. She reports that the production was well received and the cast has been performing to audiences of potential backers to interest them in financing a move to a bigger venue.