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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

 

Expert in intellectual property,
she values UW-Green Bay above all

Barbara Polich '72
Commercial litigation, intellectual property lawyer
Salt Lake City
Hometown: Green Bay
UW-Green Bay Major: Personal major in urban analysis
Law School: University of Wisconsin '76

High-profile attorney, civic leader, avid birder and art lover, Barbara Polich is proud to say her life today rests in part upon undergraduate experiences of more than 35 years ago.
      “I absolutely love UW-Green Bay,” she says.
      Start with her legal career. She’s a partner in the Litigation Department and a member of the Intellectual Property Group for Ballard Spahr Andrews & Ingersoll LLP, a national firm with an office in Salt Lake City. A winner of Utah lawyer of the year honors, she is among the nation’s leaders in her field.
      With the economy’s transition from manufacturing to knowledge, her specialty — patents, trade secrets and intellectual property — expands at broadband speed. Polich points to Green Bay’s interdisciplinary emphasis as “a real gift.”
      “As a trial lawyer in commercial cases you’re always dabbling in other people’s areas of expertise,      ” she explains. “Maybe it’s the electrical bus-bar system at Kennecott’s refinery, or chemistry related to a coal-mining analysis, or perhaps attention deficit in children.
      “At UWGB I had math, social sciences, fine arts… just a wonderful range. That doesn’t make you an expert, but I do have a baseline to dig in and learn more.”
Arguably, her extensive community involvement today is a progression from college-era activism.  She is particularly active in Salt Lake City fine arts. Also benefiting from her participation are the University of Utah’s College of Nursing, Health Sciences programs and College of Fine Arts.
      Polich makes the case her lifelong love of birding and art have UW-Green Bay roots, as well.
      She recalls the winter a snowy owl took up residence near the Bay Apartments, thrilling nature-loving students. And just maybe it was that philosophy course, where she was encouraged to explore in-depth a favorite piece of modern art, that set her toward becoming a serious collector.
      “I had a remarkable experience at UWGB,” she says. “I knew it at the time, and my appreciation only grows. To this day, I tell everyone I know how special it was, and is.”
      Memorable professor: “(The late) Jarrell Yarbrough did so much to encourage my intellectual development… he pushed and challenged me.”
      Friendships: “One of my most amazing memories is how my friends and I became friends with the administrators, the people building this new university. They solicited our opinions, and listened. Dr. Weidner, Gary Weidner, their family… it was a small, close-knit campus that first year or two and we developed genuine and lasting friendships.”


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