WAA News
Welcome Aboard
WAA inducts seven national board members.
Doug Griese ’75 was recently elected chair of the board of the Wisconsin Alumni Association for the 2007–08 term. Griese steps into the role previously held by Regina Millner JD’85, MS’91.
Griese, a member of the WAA board since 1989, is the Detroit district sales manager for Donaldson Company, Inc., an industrial filtration business in Michigan and Ohio. He plays an active role in his industry and has been elected to several offices, including president of the Detroit chapter of the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating, and Air-Conditioning Engineers. He has been highly engaged with the Detroit alumni chapter of WAA, serving six years as chapter president. Doug also serves on the executive, compensation, and nominating committees for the WAA board, as well as the diversity and inclusivity council. In his free time, he has enjoyed coaching youth athletic teams.
“Doug is a real asset to the alumni association,” says WAA President and CEO Paula Bonner MS’78. “He brings a wealth of knowledge, experience, and Badger spirit to the organization.”
Also joining the board this year are Hilton Augustine, Jr. ’82, president and chief executive officer of Global Management Systems, Inc., in Maryland; Nancy Ballsrud MBA’75, a resident of Minnetonka, Minnesota, who serves as vice president of Cargill’s administrative division and regional treasurer for Latin America; Bill McCoshen ’87, vice president of Capitol Consultants, a Madison firm specializing in government relations and public affairs; William Raaths ’69, CEO of Great Northern Corporation, headquartered in Appleton, Wisconsin; Vasudevan Rajaram PhD’78, an environmental engineer at Techknow Engineering LLC in Chicago; and Jeff Wiesner ’83, a Waukesha resident whose professional career has been spent with Accenture. Each board member will serve a three-year term.
— Ben Wischnewski ’05
Doug Griese ’75 was recently elected chair of the board of the Wisconsin Alumni Association for the 2007–08 term. Griese steps into the role previously held by Regina Millner JD’85, MS’91.
Griese, a member of the WAA board since 1989, is the Detroit district sales manager for Donaldson Company, Inc., an industrial filtration business in Michigan and Ohio. He plays an active role in his industry and has been elected to several offices, including president of the Detroit chapter of the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating, and Air-Conditioning Engineers. He has been highly engaged with the Detroit alumni chapter of WAA, serving six years as chapter president. Doug also serves on the executive, compensation, and nominating committees for the WAA board, as well as the diversity and inclusivity council. In his free time, he has enjoyed coaching youth athletic teams.
“Doug is a real asset to the alumni association,” says WAA President and CEO Paula Bonner MS’78. “He brings a wealth of knowledge, experience, and Badger spirit to the organization.”
Also joining the board this year are Hilton Augustine, Jr. ’82, president and chief executive officer of Global Management Systems, Inc., in Maryland; Nancy Ballsrud MBA’75, a resident of Minnetonka, Minnesota, who serves as vice president of Cargill’s administrative division and regional treasurer for Latin America; Bill McCoshen ’87, vice president of Capitol Consultants, a Madison firm specializing in government relations and public affairs; William Raaths ’69, CEO of Great Northern Corporation, headquartered in Appleton, Wisconsin; Vasudevan Rajaram PhD’78, an environmental engineer at Techknow Engineering LLC in Chicago; and Jeff Wiesner ’83, a Waukesha resident whose professional career has been spent with Accenture. Each board member will serve a three-year term.
— Ben Wischnewski ’05
Big Badger Auction
The Wisconsin Alumni Association is about to launch a Badger bidding war. UW alumni and friends all over the globe will soon have a crack at the next online Big Badger Auction, which runs from September 26 to October 10.
Last spring, more than seven hundred Badgers competed for prizes ranging from a custom pair of red-and-white Allen Edmonds shoes to a Bucky weather vane to a backstage tour of Camp Randall Stadium. This time around, many of the same items, as well as many new ones, will be up for bid. Proceeds will benefit WAA’s student scholarships, lifelong learning programs, and nationwide chapter events. But that’s just part of what makes it fun.
“Alumni told us how much they loved being part of the Big Badger Auction, so we just had to do it again,” says WAA President and CEO Paula Bonner. “People can get their hands on some high-end, unique things and feel good knowing that their dollars will benefit a great cause.”
For a full list of Big Badger Auction items and more details, visit uwalumni.com/auction.
— B.W.
Last spring, more than seven hundred Badgers competed for prizes ranging from a custom pair of red-and-white Allen Edmonds shoes to a Bucky weather vane to a backstage tour of Camp Randall Stadium. This time around, many of the same items, as well as many new ones, will be up for bid. Proceeds will benefit WAA’s student scholarships, lifelong learning programs, and nationwide chapter events. But that’s just part of what makes it fun.
“Alumni told us how much they loved being part of the Big Badger Auction, so we just had to do it again,” says WAA President and CEO Paula Bonner. “People can get their hands on some high-end, unique things and feel good knowing that their dollars will benefit a great cause.”
For a full list of Big Badger Auction items and more details, visit uwalumni.com/auction.
— B.W.
Murder, They Wrote
Alumni try their hands at whodunits.
Who killed Cheese Buckmunster? Badger mystery junkies were charged with cracking this hypothetical case — and picking up some mystery-writing clues along the shores of Lake Michigan in June. With instructor and mystery writer Marshall Cook, UW alumni and friends learned how to create a protagonist, build suspense, and hide clues in plain sight: tools that writers use to keep the rest of us awake at night.
They were attending Alumni College in Door County, a lifelong learning event sponsored by the Division of Continuing Studies and the Wisconsin Alumni Association. “This annual event gives alumni with a common interest the chance to get away from it all and explore a topic with a UW faculty expert,” says Sarah Schutt, WAA’s senior director of alumni education.
The appeal of whodunits is no mystery to Cook. “The good stuff has sharply drawn characters, an interesting setting, and a puzzle to solve,” he says. “What’s not to like?”
Who killed Cheese Buckmunster? Badger mystery junkies were charged with cracking this hypothetical case — and picking up some mystery-writing clues along the shores of Lake Michigan in June. With instructor and mystery writer Marshall Cook, UW alumni and friends learned how to create a protagonist, build suspense, and hide clues in plain sight: tools that writers use to keep the rest of us awake at night.
They were attending Alumni College in Door County, a lifelong learning event sponsored by the Division of Continuing Studies and the Wisconsin Alumni Association. “This annual event gives alumni with a common interest the chance to get away from it all and explore a topic with a UW faculty expert,” says Sarah Schutt, WAA’s senior director of alumni education.
The appeal of whodunits is no mystery to Cook. “The good stuff has sharply drawn characters, an interesting setting, and a puzzle to solve,” he says. “What’s not to like?”
In this case, the setting was Björklunden lodge. Situated on 425 wooded acres and complete with a twelfth-century Norwegian stave chapel, it was perfect for a weekend of murder and mayhem, and, as it turns out, romance. Lea and Chris ’79 Davis of Philadelphia spent the weekend sleuthing and celebrating their twenty-fifth wedding anniversary. “Not only is Lea a huge mystery buff,” says Chris, “but Door County is where I proposed to her all those years ago.”
Cook says he got interested in mystery writing through mystery reading. “For me, it all started with the Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew. Franklin W. Dixon and Carolyn Keene were my heroes — until I discovered that they don’t exist.” Dixon and Keene were pen names for syndicates of writers who authored the popular teen mystery series.
A perennial favorite among students of all ages, Cook teaches creative writing through the UW Division of Continuing Studies, and he edits a newsletter for writers. His special passion is writing the Monona Quinn mystery series.
Cook says he got interested in mystery writing through mystery reading. “For me, it all started with the Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew. Franklin W. Dixon and Carolyn Keene were my heroes — until I discovered that they don’t exist.” Dixon and Keene were pen names for syndicates of writers who authored the popular teen mystery series.
A perennial favorite among students of all ages, Cook teaches creative writing through the UW Division of Continuing Studies, and he edits a newsletter for writers. His special passion is writing the Monona Quinn mystery series.
This fall, Cook will teach another alumni course on creative writing, this time using the Internet as his setting. The interactive online course will run from October 1 to November 12, with lectures and discussion topics posted weekly. Participants will be able to work at their own pace and submit samples for review. Visit uwalumni.com/learning to find out more.
So: who did kill Cheese Buckmunster? Several theories surfaced during the Door County course, but for now, the killer and motive remain a mystery.
— Karen Roach ’82
So: who did kill Cheese Buckmunster? Several theories surfaced during the Door County course, but for now, the killer and motive remain a mystery.
— Karen Roach ’82
All Grown Up
The Badger Insider, WAA’s member magazine, has done a bit of growing up. And out.
Formerly smaller in size than On Wisconsin, Badger Insider has grown into a large-format, quarterly magazine. And while Badger Insider was previously tucked inside members’ copies of On Wisconsin, it will now be mailed separately.
“Badger Insider is the community voice of WAA,” says the association’s president and CEO, Paula Bonner. “It’s the place where alumni can tell their own stories and share their own photos. We want to give Badgers a larger canvas on which to see their experiences. It’s a fun way for them to connect with their past and with each other.”
Watch for your first issue of the new Badger Insider, arriving in October. If you’re not receiving Badger Insider, you can get a free subscription by joining WAA. To find out more, or to become a member, visit uwalumni.com.
— Staff
Formerly smaller in size than On Wisconsin, Badger Insider has grown into a large-format, quarterly magazine. And while Badger Insider was previously tucked inside members’ copies of On Wisconsin, it will now be mailed separately.
“Badger Insider is the community voice of WAA,” says the association’s president and CEO, Paula Bonner. “It’s the place where alumni can tell their own stories and share their own photos. We want to give Badgers a larger canvas on which to see their experiences. It’s a fun way for them to connect with their past and with each other.”
Watch for your first issue of the new Badger Insider, arriving in October. If you’re not receiving Badger Insider, you can get a free subscription by joining WAA. To find out more, or to become a member, visit uwalumni.com.
— Staff
