Fact Sheet: About the Wisconsin Alumni Association

About WAA

Since 1861, the Wisconsin Alumni Association has been enriching the lives of UW alumni by connecting old friends through the alumni directory, making new memories on our alumni tours, expanding horizons at lifelong learning events, and much more!

2008 Alumni Facts

  • Living alumni: 376,577
  • Addressable alumni: 346,517 (92%)
  • International alumni 15,013 (4%)
  • Alumni in Wisconsin: 139,631 (40%)
  • U.S. cities by alumni populations:
    • Madison: 50,370 (15%)
    • Milwaukee: 19,139 (6%)
    • Chicago: 22,905 (7%)
    • Twin Cities: 16,594 (5%)
    • New York: 11,239 (3%)
    • San Francisco: 9,731 (3%)
    • Washington, D.C.: 7,843 (2%)
    • Los Angeles: 5,515 (2%)
    • TOTAL: 143,436 (41%)
  • 17 Nobel Prizes and 24 Pulitzer Prizes have been awarded to UW alumni or faculty.
  • More than 1,505 UW-Madison alumni serve as CEOs, and nearly 16,000 hold an executive management position.
  • More than 2,700 grads have served in the Peace Corps since 1961, ranking UW No. 2 in the nation.

WAA Serving Your Needs

  • Free e-mail and Web site at uwalumni.com
  • Publications
    • Insider Magazine, members-only publication sent four times per year (circ. 40,000)
    • On Wisconsin Magazine, sent quarterly to all alumni and friends (circ. 310,000)
    • ONline WISCONSIN, a free monthly e-newsletter (circ. 120,000)
  • $570,000 annually in student scholarships
  • More than 100 alumni chapters in cities worldwide
  • 90+ Lifelong Learning programs
  • 50 international tours
  • And more!

University of Wisconsin

  • Founded 1848
  • Total enrollment in fall 2007: 42,041
    • Residents: 25,398 / Non-residents: 16,643
    • Freshman applications submitted: 24,870
    • Admits: 13,977
    • Enrolled: 5,996
  • 2007-08 yearly tuition:
    • In-state: $7,188 (second-lowest among public Big Ten universities)
    • Out-of-state: $21,438 (fourth-lowest among public Big Ten universities)
  • Recent building projects
  • Microbial Sciences (2007): The UW's largest academic building at 330,000-sq.-ft. is home
    to the Departments of Bacteriology and Medical Microbiology and Immunology.
  • Mechanical Engineering (2007): At 270,000-sq.-ft., it houses the Departments of Industrial and Systems Engineering and Mechanical Engineering.
  • Newell J. Smith Hall (2005) and Ogg Hall (2007): The first UW residence halls to be built since the 1960s, replacing the towers of the old Ogg Hall.

The Wisconsin Idea

First started by UW President Charles Van Hise in 1904, the Wisconsin Idea is the principle that the boundaries and influence of the university should extend to the boundaries of the state of Wisconsin and beyond.

The Wisconsin Idea Today

  • Building Wisconsin's economy: University Research Park is home to 110 companies, employing 5,500 people.
  • Advancing health and medicine: By January 2006, the UW Hospital had conducted more than 1,000 heart and lung transplants, a milestone reached by only nine other hospitals nationwide.
  • Educating young and old: WAA's Grandparents University® enables attendees to bring their young grandchildren for a college experience.
  • Enhancing quality of life: UW-Madison is partnering with Google to digitize books and documents and allow anyone to search them online.

Visit www.wisconsinidea.wisc.edu to see the Wisconsin Idea at work.

UW-Madison Firsts

1875 - UW holds first class
1861 - Wisconsin Alumni Association founded
1899 - First alumni magazine published
1907 - Wisconsin Union founded
1917 - WHA Radio begins broadcasting
1924 - First Founders' Day celebration
1939 - Wisconsin Union Theater opens
1945 - Memorial Library opens
1959 - First space-based weather camera
1968 - First bone marrow transplant
1973 - Nation's only on-campus blood donation center created
1975 - Development of Wisconsin Solution, used in transplant surgery
1998 - First cultivation of embryonic stem cells in a lab
1999 - UW-Madison celebrates 150th anniversary
2002 - Students use Internet to register for classes
2011 - WAA's 150th anniversary
For detailed information on all UW athletic programs, including scores, game times, news and more, visit uwbadgers.com.

Wisconsin Alumni Association®

Paula Bonner MS’78
President and CEO

650 North Lake Street
Madison, WI 53706
Voice (608) 262-2551
Toll free (888) WIS-ALUM
Fax (608) 262-3332
E-mail WAA@uwalumni.com
uwalumni.com

The Wisconsin Alumni Association encourages diversity, inclusivity, nondiscrimination and participation by all alumni, students and friends in its activities.