Paula Bonner - Biography
President and CEO
BS'75, University of North Carolina, Greensboro
MS'78, School of Education, UW-Madison
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Paula became the president and chief executive officer of the Wisconsin Alumni Association in January 2000. During the previous eight years, she served the organization as its associate executive director, chief operating officer and chief financial officer.
In leading WAA into the twenty-first century, Paula strives to make the association the university's central strategic coordinator for alumni relations -- the chief conduit through which UW-Madison and its 376,000 graduates communicate with each other.
Under Paula's direction, the association has launched new initiatives across the state and around the globe, including hosting international alumni conferences in Bangkok (2000) and Oslo (2003), and developing Alumni for Wisconsin, which informs UW grads and friends statewide about legislative issues that are critical for the university's future.
She has helped turn WAA into an organization that provides alumni relations marketing to more than 15 schools and colleges, alumni groups and other campus units. She promotes the university's importance in the state, national, and global economy, and she served on the search and screen committee that led to the hiring of UW-Madison Chancellor Biddy Martin.
Paula is a national leader in alumni relations, as a member of the Commission on Communications for the Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE) and the Council of Alumni Association Executives (CAAE). She is the recipient of the first alumni relations fellowship from CAAE.
In the Madison community, she is a member of Tempo International and serves on the board of directors for the Greater Madison Convention and Visitors Bureau. She is also an ex-officio member of the board of directors for the University of Wisconsin Foundation. Paula was honored with the Madison Civics Club Advocate Award in 1999.
Prior to joining WAA, Paula was UW-Madison's associate athletic director, with responsibility for directing the eleven sports that comprised the women's athletics program.
