Distinguished Alumni Awards

Nominations Now Open!

The Distinguished Alumni Awards are the highest honor bestowed by the Wisconsin Alumni Association.

Since 1936, WAA has been presenting the awards to the most prestigious graduates of UW-Madison for their professional achievements, contributions to society and support of the university.

Click here to submit a nomination for the 2011 Distinguished Alumni Awards.

74th Distinguished Alumni Awards

We celebrated the 74th Distinguished Alumni Awards on Thursday, April 22, 2010, with a ceremony and dinner at Memorial Union.

Watch video of the ceremony on WAA's YouTube Channel. See biographies of all the honorees, hear their memories of days on campus, and enjoy an original musical tribute to their accomplishments.

And, check out episodes of Wisconsin Reflections, airing on the Big Ten Network, featuring the 2009 honorees!

74th Distinguished Alumni Award Honorees

  • Robert Barnett ’68 and Rita Braver ’70: Barnett is a leading attorney who represents authors, television news anchors and producers, and government officials, and has worked on eight presidential campaigns. Braver is an award-winning senior correspondent for CBS News, where she reports on topics ranging from arts and entertainment to politics and foreign policy for Sunday Morning.
  • Haynes Johnson MS’56 and Kathryn Oberly ’71, JD’73: Johnson is a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, one of America’s leading voices on current politics, and the author of more than a dozen books of political analysis and modern history. Oberly is an associate judge on the District of Columbia Court of Appeals; her first official act was to swear in Hillary Rodham Clinton as Secretary of State.
  • Arnold Weiss ’51, LLB’53: A German-Jewish immigrant and decorated World War II U.S. intelligence officer, Weiss discovered Adolf Hitler’s last will, now in the National Archives. Having witnessed the war’s destruction, Weiss dedicated his career as an investment-bank attorney to building, and his efforts brought social and economic progress to many developing nations.