Annual Report

We’re particularly proud of what WAA has been able to accomplish this year, in spite of tightening budgets. We introduced a new chancellor to the alumni community, helped push for the adoption of the university’s Madison Initiative for Undergraduates, and launched plans to mark our 150th anniversary, which will come in 2011. And we rolled out new career programs to help graduates negotiate the uncertainties of today’s working world.

In the following pages, you’ll read about some of the programs we launched or enhanced in 2008–09, and see where we hope to go in the future.

The full energy of what it means to be a Badger takes many forms — the mission embodied in the Wisconsin Idea, the wonder and curiosity that comes from the UW’s instructors, and the sense of joy embodied by Bucky, just to name a few

In short, Badger energy inspires us. And it, in turn, inspired our 2008 annual report — Energizing Alumni.

We’ve detailed shining examples of this exceptional energy in action. It catalyzed Forward under 40, our new award and magazine that celebrates ambitious young grads. It propelled our Save Bucky campaign, which generated an unprecedented response and helped give voice to alumni concerns for the UW’s future. And it fueled our ever-expanding learning programs.

We hope that, as you read these pages, you’ll feel that exceptional Badger energy, too.

Everywhere we look, we see grads taking an active role in shaping the future of the university and the alumni experience.

That's why we've decided to call this annual report Forward. Living. At WAA, we spent the year engaging with the UW legacy in order to build its future. In the following pages, you'll find some examples of what we mean: creating a new Founders' Day tradition aimed at students, in order to teach them how to become involved alumni; drawing on a legendary professor's lectures to create a Web-based course and develop the future of alumni lifelong learning; helping promote UW health science work that will address the future needs of the state.

Voices. It’s just one word, but it represents our biggest accomplishment this year and every year: Keeping alumni in touch with the UW.

In Voices, WAA’s 2006 annual report, you’ll find measures of accountability and sustainability. But our year in review is less about financial returns and more about how we’ve made an impact in 2006.

Some would argue that voices defy measurement, but we believe that every voice counts. Alumni phone calls and letters, participation in events, loyalty as members and volunteers, and interaction with the UW are among our greatest resources.