2005 Distinguished Alumni Awards Honorees

As a student at UW-Madison, Shadid augmented his studies in journalism and political science with Arabic language courses.

In 1990, he earned his undergraduate degree in journalism and landed a position with the Associated Press as a Middle East correspondent in Cairo. His daily work ranged from reporting on events in the West Bank to interviewing Taliban fighters on the Afghanistan front. In the wake of September 11, 2001, Shadid was hired by the Boston Globe as foreign affairs writer on Arab and Muslim issues.

On March 31, 2002, shortly before he was to return to Madison to accept the School of Journalism's Ralph O. Nafziger Award for distinguished achievement within 10 years of graduation, Shadid was shot. Two weeks after a bullet tore open his shoulder, he traveled to Madison to accept the award — and deliver a forum for students interested in international news. Shadid has worked at the Washington Post since 2003, and his style of writing was recognized by the Pulitzer board when it awarded him the 2004 Prize for International Reporting.

Chenoweth earned her UW-Madison master's degree in agricultural economics in 1970. In 1977, she became the first woman in her home country of Liberia to be appointed as minister of agriculture. When the president of Liberia was assassinated in a coup in 1980, Chenoweth was lucky to escape with her life. She walked across the country with her children to safety in Sierra Leone. She was able to return to Madison and enrolled in the PhD program in land resources, achieving her doctorate in 1986.

In 1995, Dr. Chenoweth joined the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), which leads international efforts to defeat hunger. Today, she serves as the main link between the FAO, the UN's General Assembly and the world.

Collins received his bachelor's degree from the business school in 1958. During his 39-year career with Citigroup, he forged relationships with corporate customers in more than 100 countries. Although he retired in 2000, his global leadership and knowledge are still sought by top companies and organizations throughout the world.

In the fall of 2001, Collins gave the School of Music the largest gift in its history in honor of his mother, Adele Stoppenbach Collins, who graduated from the music school in 1929. The gift will provide for as many as 16 graduate performance fellowships. He has endowed two professorships — the first endowed professorships in the performing arts on the UW-Madison campus.

Lehman, a 1938 journalism graduate, is co-chair emeritus of Fel-Pro, Inc., a manufacturer of gaskets, sealants and lubricants for automotive and industrial usage. The company has been consistently honored by Fortune and Working Mother as an innovator in creating a family-friendly workplace.

Lehman initiated groundbreaking policies such as family leave, flexible hours and job-sharing. In 1993, he was inducted into the Automotive Hall of Fame for his impact on labor and management. That same year, President Clinton requested that Fel-Pro be present at the landmark signing of the national Family Leave Act. The company was the only corporation to have a representative there.

The Morgridges met during their high school years in Wauwatosa and pursued their undergraduate degrees together at UW-Madison. In 1955, John earned his bachelor's of business administration and Tashia achieved her degree in education.

John Morgridge is chair of the board at Cisco Systems and works as director of numerous nonprofit organizations, including the Tech Advisory Board for Milwaukee Public Schools and the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation. John is deeply involved with the Cisco Networking Academies, a course that teaches students in U.S. high schools and universities worldwide to design, install and maintain computer networks. Tashia Morgridge taught disabled children for 13 years.

In 2004, the Morgridges gave UW-Madison the single largest gift from individual donors ever received. The Morgridges will receive the first Distinguished Alumni Award to be presented to a family in the program's 69-year history.