67° FFeatured Alumni
Abraham Maslow
Creator of the Hierarchy of Needs What motivates us as human beings? Abraham Maslow BA1930, MA1931, PhD1934 saw a “gaping hole in psychology” when approaching this question, believing that his field of study wrongly focused... Read more »
Ada Deer
Ada Deer inspires a legacy of justice For her first 18 years, Ada Deer BA1957 and her family lived in a log cabin on the Menominee Indian Reservation in Keshena, Wisconsin. Inspired in part by... Read more »
Adam Steltzner
From Madison to Mars Adam Steltzner PhD 1999 has been called a cross between Einstein and Elvis Costello — and that’s among the milder descriptions attached to the would-be rock star turned NASA engineer who... Read more »
Alice Evans
Safe-Milk Scientist Alice Catherine Evans MS1910 knew that she was right. She stayed the course, her doubters eventually came around, and, in time, she was credited with making one of the most important contributions to... Read more »
Anders Holm
Comedy Actor, Writer, and Producer Anders Holm BA 2003 is best known for his sharp wit, but he’s dead serious about his love for UW-Madison. Just take a look at his Twitter feed during a Badger game... Read more »
Andre De Shields
From his appearance in a campus production of Peter Pan to his Tony-winning role on Broadway, André De Shields BA1970 has always strode the stage like a Colossus.... Read more »
Andrew Goodman
Legacy of the Freedom Summer Again you show yourselves, you wavering Forms, Revealed, as you once were, to clouded vision. Shall I attempt to hold you fast once more? Heart’s willing still to suffer that... Read more »
Anil Rathi
Sparking Creativity Anil Rathi BBA1997 has built a business around rewarding good ideas. As the creator of the Innovation Challenge, which he describes as the world’s largest and most established online innovation competition, Rathi has... Read more »
Arthur C. Nielsen Sr.
Measured success: from family business to worldwide corporation Building an empire Few industries have a better read on American media habits than the Nielsen Corporation, a global marketing research firm that tracks what people watch,... Read more »
Arthur Hasler
A Fresh Perspective on Limnology A pioneer in the study of freshwater ecology, Arthur Hasler PhD1937 carried on the University of Wisconsin traditions of curiosity and conservation for four decades, discovering new ways to conduct... Read more »
Ayse Gurses
Error Eliminator As an associate professor at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Ayse Gurses PhD2005 uses her doctorate in industrial and systems engineering to improve the safety and quality of health care. Her... Read more »
bell hooks
Feminist fervor She rises at 4 or 5 a.m., prays and meditates, and then tries to read a nonfiction book each day. It’s part of an almost athletic preparation as an intellectual and author who... Read more »
Ben Karlin
Comedy Writer and Producer A funny bone isn’t required for admission to UW–Madison, but most Badgers quickly catch on to the university’s unique wit. Eleven-time Emmy award winner Ben Karlin BA1993 has spent more than... Read more »
Ben Relles
YouTube In his role as the head of comedy at YouTube, Ben Relles BA1997 oversees development of new content from YouTube’s top comedy talent. While he was still a UW senior, Relles started his first... Read more »
Brent McCowan
The Cranberry Scoop and the Hyred Cranberry Thanks to a boggy landscape and university ingenuity, Wisconsin is the leading state when it comes to the production of cranberries. About 60 percent of America’s cranberry harvest... Read more »
Brent McCown
Cranberry Leaders It’s no wonder that cranberries are Wisconsin’s official state fruit. The state’s growers produce some five million 100-pound barrels of a bright red berries each year, accounting for nearly 60 percent of the... Read more »
Brewster Shaw
Space Shuttle Astronaut If Brewster Shaw BS1968, MS1969 had his way, everyone would get the chance to soar thousands of miles above Earth as he did. The former astronaut completed three space-shuttle missions — twice... Read more »
Carl Djerassi
Modern-Day Renaissance Man ACT I Carl Djerassi PhD1945’s story opens dramatically. Born to Jewish parents in Vienna, he split his childhood between his mother’s Austria and his father’s Bulgaria. When the Nazis annexed Austria to... Read more »
Carol Bartz
Learning from Failure Carol Bartz BA1971 lives her business career by what she calls the three Fs: Fail. Fast. Forward. “Accept failure and learn from it,” Bartz told graduates at UW–Madison’s 2012 commencement. “Failure, especially... Read more »
Caroline Savage
Diplomacy Expert Caroline Savage MA2002, MA2004 has played a challenging role behind the scenes as a top leader in Russian, Eurasian, and African diplomacy. At age 32, she spent a year coordinating policy development relating... Read more »
Casey Rotter
Children’s Champion Casey Rotter 2005 was committed to the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) as a campus member of the UW UNICEF Club. But it was a conversation with a UW Sudanese student that sealed... Read more »
Charles Robb
U.S. Senator In 1961, before anti-Vietnam War fervor seared Madison, Charles Robb BA 1961 was often seen walking down Langdon Street in his ROTC drill uniform on his way to his Chi Phi fraternity. He... Read more »
Charles Van Hise
Out of the Classroom, into the Community Just as Wisconsin was written all over Charles Van Hise BS1879, BS1880, MS1882, PhD1892, his legacy is written all across Wisconsin. He was the son of a Rock... Read more »
Charles Wedemeyer
Distance-Learning Visionary The notion that students must sit in a physical classroom to gain new knowledge seems quaint in the days of high-speed Wi-Fi connections and the steady flow of information that pops up on... Read more »
Dale Chihuly
Dale Chihuly Creates a World of Wonder and Color Sand, fire, and light. Dale Chihuly combines the first two to create his intricate art, but it’s the third — energy swirling through a transparent medium... Read more »