ALUMNI INITIATIVES

POUNCE STARS IN OWN BOOK

Despite being a pretty busy Panther, Pounce somehow still found time to take the starring role in a children’s book commissioned by the UWM Alumni Association.

“Hello, Pounce” depicts Pounce’s adventures around campus, including art classes, the Manfred Olson Planetarium and social experiences that highlight life at UWM. Pounce and Chancellor Mark Mone celebrated the literary success by reading the book in February to kids at the Children’s Learning Center.

Donna Pasternak, professor emerita of English education, and Hope Longwell-Grice, senior associate dean in the School of Education, co-authored the book. The UWM Alumni Association asked them to join the project because of their experience in literature and education. The book is available at most major booksellers.

NESBITT NAMED NEW DEVELOPMENT AND ALUMNI VC

UWM has welcomed Joan Nesbitt as its new vice chancellor for development and alumni relations, the role Patricia Borger retired from in January. Nesbitt joined UWM in February 2022 from Joan Nesbitt the Missouri University of Science and Technology in Rolla, Missouri, where she was vice chancellor for university advancement. She has more than 30 years of experience in university advancement, the last 15 at the executive level, and has been involved with four successful comprehensive campaigns.

“UWM has taken my love affair with higher education to a new level,” says Nesbitt, a fifthgeneration Oklahoman and member of the Cherokee Nation. “Since coming to Milwaukee, I have been mightily impressed by UWM’s faculty and staff, and by the remarkable institution to which my colleagues have devoted their careers. I am excited to get to know our alumni and friends as we work together to solve humanity’s great challenges and propel our students toward success.”

As UWM’s chief development officer, Nesbitt reports directly to Chancellor Mark Mone and serves as a member of his executive cabinet. She and her staff of 40 will continue cultivating relationships and generating support for students, faculty and UWM’s top-priority programs and initiatives.

“Joan was selected from a strong pool of national candidates,” Mone says. “She has bedrock skills in communication and public relations, and decades of higher education fundraising experience. I have every confidence that her agility and aptitude for relationship building will be an asset to UWM.”

During Nesbitt’s 11 years at Missouri S&T, she and her team earned two national fundraising awards from the Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE). They also aligned campus fundraising initiatives with strategic planning and launched a comprehensive campaign that garnered the largest higher education charitable gift in the state’s history, as well as the fourth-largest ever given to a public university. – Kari Pink

SEE THE IMPACT OF GIFTS AND SCHOLARSHIPS

The young UWM alum who created a scholarship honoring her mother. The scholarship that helps UWM artists in residence connect with older adults. You’ll find these uplifting, feel-good stories and more at give.uwm.edu/stories and give.uwm.edu/scholarships.

We created these websites to share how people with a variety of backgrounds and interests are making UWM a better, stronger place. The stories and videos there also feature students talking about the impact scholarships have had on their lives.

All materials are categorized by school or college, so no matter your connection to UWM, you’ll easily find what interests you. That includes The Brookby Foundation’s $1 million gift to support a new School of Freshwater Sciences research vessel as well as the College of Engineering & Applied Science alumni who established a memorial fund to support pre-college programs.

So the next time you’re surfing the web, take a moment to stop by and reconnect with the crucial role UWM plays in our community. – Kari Pink