Featured Alumni
Dale Chihuly
Dale Chihuly Creates a World of Wonder and Color Sand, fire, and light. Dale Chihuly combines the first two to create his intricate art, but it’s the third — energy swirling through a transparent medium... Read more »
David Obey
Congressman Paying his college bills with money earned as a busboy at Rennebohm’s Drug Store on State Street and by installing tile for his landlord, David Obey BS1960, MA1968 never envisioned a political career. Then... Read more »
Demondrae Thurman
Musical Mentor Demondrae Thurman MMusic 1998 hits so many notes in his busy life that the cadence belies the mellow tones of his horn, the euphonium. A brass instrument smaller than a tuba, the euphonium... Read more »
Don Fraynd
Bold Reformer The decades-long debate about school reform drags on, but Donald Fraynd PhD2004, who earned his doctorate in educational administration, has developed some bold solutions that work. Using research begun during his PhD program,... Read more »
Dong-Soo Hur
From “Mr. Oil” to “Mr. Green” Though the press usually dubs Dong-Soo Hur MS1968, PhD1971 as Korea’s “Mr. Oil,” a better nickname for the long-time energy executive is “Mr. Green.” In the 1960s, Hur came... Read more »
Doris Meissner
The Perfect Public Servant Fred and Bertha Borst were German immigrants to America. Fred arrived via Ellis Island in the 1920s, and told of his heartache when he lost his naturalization papers in a fire.... Read more »
Dormsylvania
Dukes of the Dorms Badgers take silly seriously. Where else would you celebrate spring with a week of crazy campaigns — from mock kidnappings and bed races to ventriloquism — and say it’s in honor... Read more »
Edward Schildhauer
A Man, a Plan, a Canal — Panama! In 1904, the United States took over an ambitious plan that French engineers had abandoned: working to build a 50-mile canal joining the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans... Read more »
Edwin Witte
Economist for the People Edwin Witte BA1909 PhD1927 — a lifelong Wisconsin resident and UW-educated economist — took the Wisconsin Idea to the nation’s capital in the 1930s, when he helped to create the Social... Read more »
Emily Hahn
Writing Roughshod A “spirited” engineer In 1922, Emily “Mickey” Hahn BS1926 tried to enroll in a UW chemistry course. When told the class was open only to engineering students, she thumbed her nose at the... Read more »
Eric Green
Genomics Chief Eric Green BS1981’s ability to understand and convey the intricacies and the promise of science is part of his DNA, which only seems fitting. The son of a noted Saint Louis virologist, Green... Read more »
Eric Neufeld
Restoring Limbs, Restoring Lives Eric Neufeld BA1998 began his career in the field of prosthetic engineering at Scheck & Siress, Chicago’s largest provider of orthotics and prosthetics, using his free time to help more than... Read more »
Errol Morris
‘History is a crime scene’ With a ninth-grade IQ measured at 87 and habit of getting thrown out of graduate schools, Errol Morris BA1969 never claimed to be an academic. Still, he became an Oscar-winning... Read more »
Father of the Frontier Thesis
The man who advanced the idea that moving westward shaped America’s very character was himself a pioneer. While Frederick Jackson Turner BA 1884, MA 1888’s Frontier Thesis has been roundly debated since he first shared... Read more »
Father of the House
Elected 21 times, Jim Sensenbrenner JD1968 is Wisconsin’s longest-serving member of Congress.... Read more »
Fifth Quarter
The UW Band dates to 1884, when it began life as part of the University Battalion, the military education program. It grew and shrank and evolved over the decades until Edson Morphy became UW band... Read more »
Flamingos
On September 4, 1979, UW students found a surprise while they made their way to class on the first day of the school year: a flock of plastic pink flamingos had been planted on Bascom... Read more »
Florence Bascom
Rock Star There’s an apocryphal story about what set Florence Bascom BA1882, BS1884, MS1887 on her rocky path to a career in geology. The story goes that her father, John Bascom, took her to Mammoth... Read more »
Florence Chenoweth
Champion for Food Security A thread has run through the storied life of Florence Chenoweth MS1970, PhD1986: no one in this world should go hungry. Long a champion for Africa’s poor, Chenoweth’s work has focused... Read more »
Football
Game On The smell of freshly grilled brats saturates the air as a sea of red T-shirts flows westward: it’s time for another Badger Game Day. For decades, UW students, alumni, and fans have flocked... Read more »
Frank Lloyd Wright
The 20th Century’s Architect Although he soared to fame as the most acclaimed architect of 20th-century America, the design for Frank Lloyd Wright’s life always included Wisconsin. Born in Richland Center in 1867, Wright enrolled... Read more »
From Personal Health to National Health Care
Kiana Beaudin BS2010, MPAS2015 has devoted her career to health, first for her own patients and then for the entire Ho-Chunk Nation.... Read more »
Gabriel Stulman
Restaurant Phenom When Gabriel Stulman BA2003 faced a crabby customer who was throwing a tantrum over the wait for a table in one of his New York City restaurants, he spontaneously hugged her. Not only... Read more »
Gabriela Cezar
Stem-Cell Visionary The door to major breakthroughs in human health and medical care opened in 1998 when a UW researcher first cultured human embryonic stem cells. Gabriela Cezar PhD2002 walked right on through, discovering ways... Read more »
Gaylord Nelson
Earth Day Founder, Champion for Change Gaylord Nelson LLB1942 led the movement for environmental stewardship and education long before words such as green or sustainable were in fashion. The founder of Earth Day and one... Read more »