Deborah: Homemaker and philanthropist
Elzie: Founder and Chair of East Lake Management & Development Corp.
UW Major: Agricultural Economics
In March 2022, Deborah and Elzie Higginbottom walked onto the Kohl Center court beside their son Carter for Senior Day introductions for the Wisconsin men’s basketball team. Sixty years earlier, it was Elzie wearing cardinal and white; he had arrived in Madison on a track scholarship with no idea how much the university would come to shape his career, his family, and the opportunities he and Deborah would later help create for future generations of Badgers.
Elzie grew up in Chicago Heights, Illinois, where his father worked factory jobs, ran a produce stand, and later opened a laundromat. A standout athlete in high school, he drew interest from multiple universities before choosing the UW, and he earned a bachelor’s degree in agricultural economics while competing for the Badgers track and field team. During his collegiate career, Elzie became a three-time Big Ten champion, earned all-American honors in the 440-yard dash, and held UW records in the indoor and outdoor 440 for more than 20 years. In 2019, he was inducted into the UW Athletic Hall of Fame.
After graduating, Elzie joined the Chicago real estate firm Baird & Warner, becoming the first African American professional hired by the company. During the late 1960s and 1970s, Baird & Warner helped Black families secure housing in neighborhoods that had long been inaccessible because of lending, redlining, and systemic housing exclusion. Elzie created and directed Baird & Warner’s Government Assisted Multifamily Finance Division before leaving in 1983 to found East Lake Management & Development Corp.
Under Elzie’s leadership, East Lake has grown into one of Illinois’s largest minority-owned real estate development and property management firms. He was a standout as a Black real estate professional who pushed past historic color lines, developing and managing thousands of residential units across Chicago — from long-underinvested neighborhoods to high-rise projects in the city’s central business district. In 2000, his trailblazing contributions were recognized when he was inducted into the Chicago Association of Realtors Hall of Fame.
Elzie’s work in Chicago extended beyond commercial development in partnership with Deborah, his wife of more than 30 years. Together, the couple has championed a wide range of civic, educational, health care, and community-focused efforts across the city.
The Higginbottoms have contributed to neighborhood revitalization and cultural preservation projects, such as the restoration of Chicago’s historic Liberty Life Insurance Building and redevelopment efforts aimed at supporting local businesses and housing access. In 2009, the couple received the Jane Addams Legacy Award in recognition of their contributions to affordable housing and community philanthropy in Chicago.
Knowing firsthand the transformative power that athletics and mentorship can have on young lives, Elzie cofounded Friends of Track and Field to uplift student-athletes, and he is currently the chairman of the board of After School Matters, an organization providing Chicago teenagers with paid opportunities in life-changing after-school programs.
That same commitment to empowering youth and expanding access to education motivates their support of the UW. Through giving to the Mercile J. Lee Scholars Program (formerly the Chancellor’s and Powers-Knapp Scholarship Programs) and endowing the directorship of the former Division of Diversity, Equity, and Educational Achievement, the Higginbottoms helped open doors for students from historically underrepresented backgrounds at the UW and advanced the work of student success and belonging across the campus. Elzie also currently serves on the Wisconsin Foundation and Alumni Association Board of Directors while Deborah serves on the Student Affairs Board of Visitors.
Drawing on both his Chicago roots and his connection to the College of Agricultural and Life Sciences, Elzie helped pilot recruitment efforts aimed at introducing underrepresented Chicago-area students to opportunities in agriculture and life sciences at the UW. He also remains deeply engaged with the university through alumni leadership and advisory efforts.
Elzie said he hoped his children would consider UW–Madison but that he and Deborah tried not to pressure them toward the university that had shaped so much of their own lives. Their daughter, Caroline, chose the University of Pennsylvania, while all three of the couple’s sons — William, Carter, and Parker — attended the University of Wisconsin.
“Wisconsin changed the trajectory of my life. It gave me opportunities and a sense of possibility that shaped everything that followed,” Elzie reflects. “I want today’s students, especially those who have historically been underrepresented, to know those same possibilities belong to them.”
