UWM Alumni magazine, Fall 2015

Magazine of the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Fall 2015 Vol. 17, No. 2

THE

ENERGY REVOLU TION STARTS HERE

TABLE OF CONTENTS Alumni

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8

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FALL 2015 VOL.17, NO. 2

3 Panther & Proud

Chancellor: Mark A. Mone

4 Quotable & Notable

Vice Chancellor for University Relations and Communications: Tom Luljak (’95)

6 New@UWM

8 Kenwood Interdisciplinary Research Complex Interdisciplinary research at UWM has a new address, and you’re invited to the grand opening.

Vice Chancellor for Development and Alumni Relations: Patricia Borger Associate Vice Chancellor for Alumni Relations: Adrienne Bass Assistant Vice Chancellor of Integrated Marketing & Communications: Laura Porfilio Glawe (’89) Media Services Manager: Michelle Johnson

Join the UWM community as we install Mark A. Mone as chancellor.

10 Cover Story: The Energy Revolution Starts Here

WM and partners are making Milwaukee the epicenter of a Midwestern U energy boom. It matters to the region, the environment and you.

Editor: Angela McManaman (’08, ’00) Assistant Editor: Alex Vagelatos Designer & Art Director: Shelly Rosenquist

Photography: UWM Photo Services

UWM Alumni is published annually for alumni and other friends of the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.

Send correspondence and address changes to: UWM Alumni Association P.O. Box 413 Milwaukee, WI 53201-0413

Eight days, seven decades, dozens of events make homecoming weekend a must-attend celebration of Panther Pride. See you there!

24 College of Nursing Turns 50 Just in time for its big anniversary, the college launches a new program to train emergency responders in the essentials of community-based health care.

26 Nursing Simulation Center A generous gift from the James and Yvonne Ziemer Family Foundation will help the College of Nursing meet the fast-growing demand for quality nursing care.

28 Helen Bader School of Social Welfare Turns 50 The school has graduated a powerful, unprecedented force of social welfare and criminal justice experts. Meet one crusading alumna who’s looking out for women, girls and locked-up foreigners in Kabul.

ISSN: 1550-9583 Not printed at taxpayer expense

Follow us: twitter.com/uwm

32 Landmark Gift Makes UWM a Leader in Entrepreneurial Ed

A $10 million gift from Sheldon and Marianne Lubar is taking shape as the new, necessary Lubar Center for Entrepreneurship.

34 Lubar School of Business Nears Milestone Anniversary The school has emerged as a regional leader on issues from finance to executive management to the supply chain. See why that journey – factory floor to grocery store – matters to you.

36 The Alumni Association Needs You Start a new chapter of the UWM Alumni Association. Take a few notes from these enterprising alumni.

38 Class Notes

42 They’re Here for You and UWM Meet the newest members of the UWM Alumni Association Board of Trustees.

Watch our videos: youtube.com/uwmnews Pin with us: pinterest.com/uwmilwaukee Watch our clips: viddy.com/uwmilwaukee

alumni.uwm.edu

20 College of Engineering Celebrates 50th Anniversary The story of one academic department’s rise from its startup days to become a major research force in coding, encrypting, computation and the education of top IT professionals.

22 Alumni Homecoming Weekend

Phone: 414-229-4290 Email: alumni@uwm.edu

Like us: Facebook.com/uwmilwaukee

9 Inauguration Ceremonies Commence Oct. 2

A special thank you to Ewald Automotive Group for lending us their 2015 Ford Fusion Hybrid at their facility and allowing us access to their charging station for photos featured in this edition.

PANTHER & PROUD

This fall at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee is like no other time in our history.

It’s not simply the start of a new academic year. It is a new beginning for UWM as an institution as we manage a challenging budget and head down new paths with the support of our alumni and donors. At the same time, we honor our significant history with several of our schools and colleges marking 50th anniversaries this year.

I’m pleased to announce that Sheldon and Marianne Lubar have very generously donated $10 million to UWM to establish the Lubar Center for Entrepreneurship. The center will bring together, expand and enhance UWM’s strong array of entrepreneurial programs. You can read more about how the Lubars are transforming lives and UWM on pages 32-33 of this issue of the UWM Alumni magazine.

Energy, on a number of fronts, also is a key element and a featured focus in this issue on pages 10-18. Our faculty and alumni are making major contributions to the study of energy supply – making it greener, more affordable and stabilizing energy supply nationwide. Increasingly, we’re bringing together water and energy for a look at how we can improve the accessibility and quality of these vital resources.

Alumni Energy Your role in the state – and well beyond – is absolutely critical, not only as the backbone of our economy, but also as innovation and knowledge leaders. This summer, I had the distinct pleasure of meeting and networking with UWM alumni across the state.

I continue to be fascinated by the many different ways in which you positively impact thousands of people. Your energy and advocacy for UWM during the 2015-17 biennial budget process were remarkable, and I sincerely thank you.

Please allow our campus community to thank you in person during UWM Alumni Homecoming Week, when we will welcome alumni across seven decades back to campus for ceremonies, celebration, tours, speakers, cultural events, family-friendly programs and so much more. Please see page 22-23 for details.

more than three times the size of our largest cut of $8 million. Thankfully, our budget cut will not be $24 million each year. With the final budget including $250 million in cuts over two years to the UW System, UWM will see a $12.2 million cut in its true operating base budget for FY16. This will likely increase to $18 million in FY17. We received the largest shares of $20 million in one-time cash from the UW System and of the $25 million that was restored to the System budget. Your letters and calls of support made a difference.

Energy for the New UWM Our path ahead will require a great deal of energy and “big idea” thinking. We are facing the biggest test of our time in higher education. With the implementation of budget cuts, we will all be thinking and working in ways we have not yet encountered as we reorganize and reshape UWM for the future. We need your good ideas. I encourage you to share your transformational thoughts at uwm.edu/budget.

Despite our challenges and because of the extraordinary support of the Lubars and other donors, we have many reasons to be optimistic: • As UWM alumni, you are a powerful force and are agents of positive change through scholarships, mentoring, advocacy and more • Our students have a strong voice that is growing • Our enrollments are on the rise • Our many new initiatives and increasing collaborations, including the James and Yvonne Ziemer Clinical Simulation Center; expanded veterans education support; NANOGrav Physics Frontiers Center; and the M3 collaboration with UWM, Milwaukee Public Schools and Milwaukee Area Technical College.

I will be inaugurated on Oct. 2 as UWM’s ninth chancellor, and I couldn’t be more Panther Proud. UWM would not be as strong or vibrant without your past involvement. Your philosophies, bold ideas and energies will be needed as we enter our new frontier. Let’s roll up our sleeves together.

Best regards,

Energy and the State Budget Last January, we were fearing the worst and hoping for the best. There were so many unknowns. We were looking at a potential $300 million cut to the UW System in 2015 and 2016, which would have translated to up to a $24 million annual cut to UWM. Had that happened, we would be facing cuts that are

Mark A. Mone Chancellor

QUOTABLE DANCE ALUMNA CAN’T STOP – DANCING, TEACHING, INSPIRING

M

ost people don’t discover their true calling while still in middle school, but that’s exactly what happened to dance alumna Sandra Jordan. She saw one dance performance and knew she’d found her passion. Since then, Jordan has dedicated her life to dance.

She studied it first at UWM, where she received a bachelor of fine arts degree in 1987. She moved on to UW-Madison for an arts administration MBA then returned to UWM for a master’s degree in dance in 2000. By this time, Jordan had

already begun her career at Milwaukee High School of the Arts (MHSA), where she has taught dance since 1995.

“Of course I would like my students to find a love for dance, but the main lesson I would like to teach them is that hard work and discipline pay off,” said Jordan. “If you truly want to achieve something in life, you have to understand that it may not come as easy as you want it to. And no matter how much you love something, it is always good to have a backup plan on how you are going to direct your career path.”

Jordan’s passion continues outside the classroom. She attends every dance performance she can, taking in events across Wisconsin, and travels annually to the National High School Dance Festival. “I love watching dancers who are dedicated and committed to their craft. It inspires me and helps draw out the creative process in me. It excites me to see people so engulfed in their art and working hard to get to the next level of their career.”

Jordan said that the Milwaukee dance scene moves at what she calls a “medium” pace. “Students get involved in dance at a much older age, and they find that it’s a lot harder to fully develop their technical skills. We need more exposure to dance that’s happening around the country so that our students can be more informed when it comes to choosing where to go for additional training after they graduate.”

Her solution was to develop the Summer Dance Intensive at MHSA. Jordan explained: “I work all year raising money to bring in guest artists from around the country to give the students a look inside the dance world outside of Milwaukee.”

PHYSICAL THERAPY GRAD MAKES REHAB PLANS BUT SAYS REAL RECOVERY IS ALL ABOUT THE PATIENT

W

hen John Kuhn began his undergraduate studies, he thought he had already decided on a career path. “I was always interested in the human body.

I thought I would become an orthopedic or sports physical therapist,” he explained. But then his undergraduate courses offered him a close look at the body-brain connection.

“Seeing people who have had life-altering events such as strokes, amputations or progressive neurologic disorders, I became very interested in neurologic issues and inpatient rehabilitation.”

After receiving his undergraduate degree in exercise science from the University of Minnesota Duluth, Kuhn entered UWM’s doctor of physical therapy program (DPT).

He completed that in 2010 and today works as an inpatient physical therapist at the Clement J. Zablocki VA Medical Center. He specializes in providing treatment for patients

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suffering neurologic, musculoskeletal and neuromuscular conditions. Once the patients are ready to leave the facility, his duties include working with the rest of the rehab team to implement a cohesive discharge plan.

For Kuhn, the key to successful rehabilitation ultimately lies with the patient. “I can provide the expertise and the knowledge of what would benefit the patient, but they have to put in the hard work and consistent effort to make functional improvements which will ultimately make their everyday life easier and allow them to live with reduced pain levels,” said Kuhn.

When it all comes together and the patient follows the plan, works hard and eventually shows improvement – that is when Kuhn says his job is truly rewarding. “I see people who have had life altering events every day, and I love that I get a chance to make a significant positive impact on their lives.”

&

NOTABLE LOVE ON THE DANCE FLOOR

I

n 2006, Betsy Guerrero and Matt Woida were both students at UWM. But that’s not where they met.

That happened on a dance floor at Beulah Brinton Community Center in Bay View. Guerrero was teaching a class for Milwaukee Recreation, and Woida was taking one.

In fact, it was his first dance class ever. Nine years later, they are married and managing Mezclando Milwaukee Dance Company, which they founded in 2008.

The name, which in Spanish means “mixing Milwaukee,” came to Guerrero after teaching a Rueda de Casino class (Cuban salsa wheel). “The group consisted of people from China, Nigeria, Poland, Mexico, USA and me of Colombian descent,” explained Guerrero, who earned an international relations degree with a Spanish minor from UWM in 2007.

“Looking around that circle, I realized we had members from four continents and that we were helping to bring people together from all over the world. More importantly, it was happening in a city known for being segregated.”

Since then, everything about the company has been a team effort. Woida created the logo, upgraded the website and handles email and social media for Mezclando.

Together, they teach.

“Yes we are a company of two, and we keep each other company,” said Guerrero with a laugh. “We are the only married couple teaching together in Milwaukee.

We are literally the mom-and-pop shop of salsa dancing!”

Outside of Mezclando, which stays true to its Bay View roots at the Delaware House

studio just blocks from Lake Michigan, Milwaukee’s salsa power couple both teach for Danceworks and Milwaukee Recreation. Guerrero still teaches the class where she met Woida in 2006.

So how do they view the Latin salsa scene in Milwaukee?

“We have just as much talent here as there is in Chicago, but we are a lot friendlier,” said Guerrero. “I would love for Milwaukeeans to value taking lessons more than they currently do and to have more performance teams. We are still a small town in the salsa world, but my dream is to grow past that.”

It is not only patients’ lives that Kuhn has impacted. He works with Equip Africa to deliver computers to developing countries. Three years ago, Kuhn, along with fellow UWM alum Ryan Tully, implemented a scholarship for first-year DPT students at UWM. The $1,000 scholarship was set up to assist in offsetting the cost of textbooks. “At present, Ryan and I fund it ourselves. It is our way of giving something back to the College of Health Sciences. We are hoping to develop it further in the near future so that more people can reach their goals and become practicing physical therapists.”

FALL 2015 UWM ALUMNI • 5

NEW @

WUWM EARNS PRESTIGIOUS EDWARD R. MURROW AWARD

I

nspired by a report on black male incarceration in Wisconsin from UWM’s School of Continuing Education, WUWM tackled the topic in the series, “Project Milwaukee: Black Men in Prison.”

For its efforts, WUWM became the only Wisconsin radio station to receive the prestigious Edward R. Murrow Award – the equivalent of the Pulitzer Prize for broadcasters.

Operated by the College of Letters & Science, WUWM is a member- and listener-supported station broadcasting locally produced news and music as well as national and international programming from NPR, APM and BBC. The Radio Television Digital News Association announced the award on June 24.

ONLY ROCK ‘N’ ROLL, BUT THEY LOVED IT

T

he Rolling Stones usually get what they want. In June, they needed a choir to perform with them during Summerfest.

Two dozen members of UWM’s elite Concert Chorale joined the Stones on stage at the world’s largest music festival. For the students, it was their biggest crowd – and biggest thrill.

Zack Durlam, director of choral activities, noted that the hallmark of the Peck School of the Arts program is instruction that encourages students to “be as versatile as they want to be.”

Of course, they performed the show’s finale – “You Can’t Always Get What You Want.”

RESEARCHERS LOOKING FOR EVIDENCE OF THE BIG BANG

U

WM and partners at 10 other research institutions landed a highly competitive $14.5 million grant from the National Science Foundation to advance efforts to detect lowfrequency gravitational waves in the universe.

Gravitational waves are elusive ripples in the fabric of space and time, which Albert Einstein predicted should arise from extremely energetic cosmic events. Low-frequency waves carry the imprint from supermassive black hole mergers and events from the period just after the Big Bang when scientists theorize that the entire universe expanded in size from submicroscopic to gargantuan in an instant.

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UWM AIDS RESOURCE CENTER DONATES PAPERS TO UWM ARCHIVES

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IDS Resource Center of Wisconsin donated its historical records to the Archives of the UWM Libraries for use by historians and others telling the story of the epidemic in the Midwest.

“The archives are a significant addition to the holdings of the UWM Archives and our collection of LGBT historical resources,” said Michael Doylen, an assistant director of the UWM Libraries and head of Archives. “Only a handful of other AIDS service organizations have taken similar steps to open their historical records for research.”

AIDS Resource Center of Wisconsin is a national leader in comprehensive patient care for people with HIV/AIDS.

NEW ‘SPIT’ TEST MAY IMMEDIATELY DETECT EBOLA VIRUS

E

ngineers at UWM and the Georgia Institute of Technology are developing a sensor that can be used to immediately detect the Ebola virus with a simple “spit” test.

Junhong Chen, UWM professor of mechanical and materials engineering, will use a sensor platform he created to detect water contamination to make the low-cost virus sensor.

The National Science Foundationfunded project aims to arm public health responders with tools for rapid detection and containment of an Ebola outbreak.

Chen’s sensor will target seven proteins associated with Ebola infection that are present in human saliva. A prototype may be ready by December.

FALL 2015 UWM ALUMNI • 7

A SPECIAL BUILDING OPENS A NEW ERA ON CAMPUS

By Alex Vagelatos

Flooded with natural light and built to strict environmental standards, the six-story Kenwood Interdisciplinary Research Complex (KIRC) has already changed the look of UWM’s campus.

Now, the gateway building at Kenwood and Maryland avenues is going to play its part in changing the way UWM faculty and students conduct scientific research and education – housing additional laboratories, classrooms, offices and meeting spaces for three academic disciplines: physics, chemistry and the Environmental Health Sciences doctoral program within the Zilber School of Public Health.

The first Eastside Campus academic construction project in 20 years – and UWM’s first interdisciplinary building – the KIRC will have its grand opening and offer guided tours Oct. 2, kicking off inauguration events for Chancellor Mark Mone.

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The 153,000-square-foot, $80 million project was paid for with state funds, campus grant research funds and private gifts, including a donation from Milwaukee’s Bader Philanthropies.

Special construction methods give the building vibration control that will allow researchers to use hypersensitive instrumentation to obtain the most accurate data. Stormwater runoff will be detained and treated through several underground detention fields and seven bioretention cells.

& A NEW ERA

NAUGURATIO

celebrates the partnerships

By Kathy Quirk

Chancellor Mark Mone formally assumed leadership of Wisconsin’s premier urban research university in December 2014. A month later, Mone and UWM faced a significant challenge when the governor proposed significant cuts to the University of Wisconsin System, including UWM. While dealing with that challenge, the university continued to move ahead with plans to build on its expertise in research, teaching and community engagement.

On Oct. 2, Chancellor Mone will reflect on the university’s progress in challenging times and make his tenure official as he is inaugurated as UWM’s ninth chancellor.

To emphasize the university’s continued strength in top-tier interdisciplinary research, UWM’s new Kenwood Interdisciplinary Research Complex (KIRC) will be dedicated as part of inauguration day ceremonies. (For more about the center, please see page 8.)

The KIRC dedication and building tours are among a number of public events that will be part of the celebration.

“The new Kenwood Interdisciplinary Research Complex is just one symbol of our progress and strength going forward,” Mone said. “We will continue to face challenges, but with the help of our faculty, staff, alumni and friends in the community, we will continue to meet them.”

“No one is better positioned to handle the challenges the university faces than Chancellor Mone,” said David Misky, president of the UWM Alumni Association Board of Trustees and assistant executive director of the Redevelopment Authority of the City of Milwaukee. “He has incredible support within the university, but he also has a wonderful relationship with business. Both of these relationships will be incredibly useful.”

More about Mone After seven months as interim chancellor, Mone was named to the position permanently in late 2014 by the UW System Board of Regents.

Prior to becoming interim chancellor, he had served as the Chancellor’s Designee for Strategic Planning and Campus Climate. In that role, he worked with senior campus leadership, governance groups and all stakeholders to develop UWM’s 2020 strategic plan and campus-level programs to improve the organizational climate.

A professor of business focused on executive education, organizational behavior and theory, he has been a member of the UWM faculty since 1989 and served more than 15 years as associate dean for executive education and business engagement. From that background, colleagues say, Mone brings a strong dedication to the UWM mission and community as well as a calm and collaborative leadership style.

In speaking to the regents at a June 2015 meeting at UWM, he spoke passionately about the university’s impact on southeastern Wisconsin.

“UWM is the only public urban research university in Wisconsin, with a strong reputation for community engagement, economic revitalization and entrepreneurism. It is an economic driver in the Midwest, with an annual $1.5 billion impact in Wisconsin alone since 2012.”

In addition, he proudly noted that UWM continues to serve a unique mission in Wisconsin’s largest urban area – making a college education accessible for many first-generation and economically disadvantaged students. “We continue to offer incredible value for the dollar.”

progress signal ing

AT UWM

“ T he new Kenwood Interdisciplinary Research Complex is just one symbol of our progress and strength going forward...”

If You Go

INAUGURATION OF CHANCELLOR MONE The installation ceremony for UWM Chancellor Mark Mone begins at 2 p.m.

Friday, Oct. 2, at the Zelazo Center, 2419 E. Kenwood Ave. The installation ceremony will include UWM students, faculty, alumni and staff representatives, UW System colleagues and members of the Milwaukee community. Peck School of the Arts graduate student Samuel Hines is set to present a guitar solo, and the UWM Chorale will perform.

Dedication of the Kenwood Interdisciplinary Research Complex, located at the corner of Maryland and Kenwood avenues, begins at 10 a.m. Friday, Oct. 2. Guests can tour the newest UWM building featuring physics, chemistry and public health labs, classrooms, a soaring atrium and more.

FALL 2015 UWM ALUMNI • 9

PHOTO BY TROYE FOX

THE

ENERGY

TION STA

By Laura Otto

In a world facing shortages in energy and water, UWM researchers are focused on tomorrow – building new distribution and conservation technologies that will change the game in our search for a more sustainable future.

This work is already rebooting the economy in Wisconsin, where the energy industry is the No. 1 driver, according to the Midwest Energy Research Consortium.

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UWM IS WORKING TO KEEP IT THAT WAY.

REVOLU RTS HERE The university’s partnership with Fortune

Perfecting systems called microgrids,

100 company Johnson Controls Inc., the

UWM researchers and their industry partners

world’s largest supplier of vehicle batteries,

are helping build a market with potential

has already earned tens of millions of dollars

revenues worth billions. For consumers, that

in energy-research grants aimed at developing

means more affordable and reliable access

next-generation batteries.

to green energy and water.

Energy storage and control also play a central role in another kind of research.

UWM’s engineering and freshwater researchers are helping revolutionize our

Along the way, UWM is supplying the workforce with the skills necessary to thrive in this market. Meet two alumni who are making a difference in powering our future.

nation’s method of distributing electricity while restructuring how water is used and delivered.

FALL 2015 UWM ALUMNI • 11

FUTU

THE

FUELING

JOHNSON CONTROLS PARTNERSHIP FUELS THE FUTURE OF ENERGY STORAGE At no time since the first Model T rolled off the manufacturing assembly line in 1908 has vehicle technology evolved as quickly as it is today.

“It wasn’t that long ago when the only electric vehicles that existed were golf carts,” said Deyang Qu, the recently named Johnson Controls Endowed Professor of Energy Storage Research. “Now, you have the pure electric vehicles, the hybrid plug-in and the ‘micro-hybrid.’”

With new car technology comes a need for advanced batteries capable of powering the vehicles. But one battery does not fit all, said Qu. At Johnson Controls, the research is focused on two kinds of vehicle batteries: leadacid batteries, existing technology that’s being upgraded to enable higher vehicle performance, and Lithium-ion, which can be recharged more quickly than their lead-acid counterpart.

Qu is heading research at both UWM and UW-Madison as part of a unique partnership between Wisconsin’s two public research universities and Johnson Controls. The company’s multimillion-dollar investment supports the endowed professorship, graduate student education and research laboratories at both universities.

Faculty members, students and Johnson Controls scientists work side by side in two labs at UWM’s College of Engineering & Applied Science. One is a “dry lab” with the right conditions to test-manufacture next-generation Lithium-ion batteries. It’s the only one of its kind at a North American university.

Results are promising. Since 2012, work done in these labs has attracted $35 million in federal grants for energy storage research, and several UWM grads have been hired by Johnson Controls.

“We want to make sure there is a return on this investment that benefits the economy of Wisconsin,” Qu added. This includes turning out skilled engineers with coveted expertise in the highly charged field of battery research.

“Because of this collaboration, Johnson Controls is on our campus all year round. Students can be working on a real-world project as part of their education.

And we can tailor our curriculum to take advantage of those experiences to give our students the maximum benefit.”

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The road map to new products Qu came to Milwaukee from the University of Massachusetts Boston, where he built a research program in energy storage systems for electric vehicles and smart-grid technology. Prior to 2005, he worked as a research scientist for private industry, including at Wisconsin-based Rayovac Corp. (now called Spectrum Brands).

In his new position, Qu has three goals: • P rovide a road map for Johnson Controls in the development of new technologies, including the next generation of Lithium-ion batteries • H elp the company improve the capability and performance of current lead-acid battery technology • Create a talent pipeline for the industry

This college-to-career pipeline is integral to the partnership, said MaryAnn Wright, vice president of engineering and product development at Johnson Controls Power Solutions.

“Today’s vehicle batteries are required to do much more than simply start your car. Recruiting and retaining highly skilled engineers who are interested in commercializing evolving technologies in a sustainable manner is important to Johnson Controls and the entire industry,” said Wright.

URE

A head start on ‘start-stop’ Good news for tomorrow’s energy engineers: The automotive industry can’t wait to tap into their expertise.

In the next four years, said Qu, the number of cars on the road with gas-saving “start-stop” technology will reach 20 million. Start-stop technology enables cars to turn off momentarily when they stop, such as at a traffic light.

The car then automatically starts up again when the driver releases the brake.

Virtually standard equipment in Europe, start-stop systems improve fuel economy and emissions by as much as 5 percent over conventional internal combustion engine technology. The system is expected to be a standard feature on all American-made cars in the next decade.

Fuel-saving technologies like start-stop demand better performance from current lead-acid battery technology.

“Lead-acid technology, the benchmark for performance in automotive applications can be further improved to drive the emissions and fuel economy performance of start-stop and take micro-hybrid vehicles to the next level,” said Qu. “What we’re doing now is optimizing this proven technology to fit a broad range of applications.” Innovations in vehicle batteries don’t happen overnight, he said. It took many decades to turn Lithium-ion batteries into a product.

Involving students in improving Lithium-ion battery technology is the aim of the Johnson Controls pilot dry lab located on the first floor of the College of Engineering and Applied Science.

Here, students can gather for instruction or don the appropriate protective clothing necessary to guard against dust and moisture contamination. At right, Deyang Qu, Johnson Controls Endowed Professor of Energy Storage Research, works with students in the lab and with vehicles. (Photos

by Troye Fox)

“But our research is creative, exciting. It’s on the right track,” Qu said. “It can keep you awake at night!”

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ALUMNI SPOTLIGHT:

MICHAEL ANDREW

Director of Academic and Technical Programs, Johnson Controls-Power Solutions, Engineering and Product Development Michael Andrew followed the path of the average UWM student circa 1970. He graduated from Brown Deer High School and then commuted to classes at UWM while living at home.

But after completing his bachelor’s degree in chemical processing engineering, Andrew embarked on a career that has been anything but ordinary.

As a rookie product engineer at Johnson Controls in the 1970s, he was in on the ground floor of early work on electric car batteries. He managed several advanced battery technology programs, including electric vehicle battery development for the Department of Energy, the U.S. Air Force and the CIA. Today, Andrew leads collaborative partnerships with universities and federal laboratories, oversees technical aspects of research and development in Power Solutions and supports Johnson Controls’ government relations team. One more thing: He holds 12 U.S. patents.

Recently he talked to UWM Alumni about his evolving career at Johnson Controls.

What has been the biggest change in the industry during the years you’ve been at Johnson Controls?

The age of information technology exploded, and now we’re moving at the speed of electrons. In my era, the emphasis was on the information you brought to the project. Now, it’s what do you do with the limitless information available to you that’s important. The right [research] direction to pursue is also not as clear-cut as it once was.

That’s when judgment becomes important.

Our new endowed professor, Deyang Qu, said that identifying the direction of research was one role of the universities in the Johnson Controls partnership.

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Yes. I call the work we’re doing with the universities “productive tension” because industry is always pushing to move as fast as possible. Dr. Qu has a “semi-separation” from us that allows for a different creative process. That may sound like an insignificant difference, but it’s not.

Most engineering students complete an internship while working on their degrees.

What else will help them as they begin looking for employment?

The key is your ability to approach your job with the widest possible perspective. As an employee, you need to add value to the company. So if you can come into the job with a common-sense business outlook, it will allow you to be problem solvers. Plus, you have to be able to work in a constantly changing world and also stay curious. It’s easy to get hyper-focused on one goal.

What are a few of your favorite memories as an undergrad at UWM? I really enjoyed the lab portion of some of my courses. For example, in qualitative analysis, we got to investigate the amount of lead in gasoline – there was still lead in gas in those days.

Then there were some faculty I still remember. Thermodynamics was a tough course, but Bob Balmer [now emeritus] made it so entertaining. He came to class one day dressed as [mathematician] Daniel Bernoulli. He lit candles in the room when he passed out our final exams because he said he wanted us to experience what it would have been like to study in the 18th century – and then he walked out. We all just sat there initially, and finally we got up, blew out the candles and turned on the lights.

Alum Michael Andrew is director of academic and technical programs at Johnson Controls-Power Solutions.

HOW WATE

ENE

WHAT IF NEW WATER TECHNOLOGY COULD REDUCE THE COST OF HEATING OR COOLING YOUR HOME OR WORKPLACE? That’s just what UWM researchers are developing – smart technology that capitalizes on the water-energy nexus to conserve both.

The link lies in the fact that much of the water used in buildings – 40 percent in homes – is heated, said David Garman, dean of UWM’s School of Freshwater Sciences. “This presents an opportunity to reuse the heat before it even leaves the building,” he said.

UWM freshwater and engineering researchers are creating a system in which water and heat from groups of buildings is collected and managed for different purposes, allowing many processes to happen at once: Heat can be extracted from wastewater; organic matter in that

FOR

ER TECH MAKES ‘CENTS’

RGY EFFICIENCY water is converted to energy added to the grid; and drinking water can be continuously monitored for safety.

Microgrids, water sensors and other technology developed at UWM could help create that network, said Brett Peters, dean of UWM’s College of Engineering and Applied Science.

Just as microgrids blend energy from power plants with that from alternative sources, such as solar panels, they can manage multiple streams of water simultaneously. These water microgrids enable individual buildings to feed recycled water into a city’s water treatment and distribution system or operate independently of it, providing a small area with treated water while also fostering conservation.

“UWM has made strides in moving energy microgrid technology closer to commercial use,” Peters said. “The next step is to develop water microgrids and integrate the two so the outputs of each can be used to the best advantage.”

Peters and Garman envision a sustainable energy and water future made possible by energy and water microgrids working in tandem to move wastewater and energy back and forth to achieve optimal efficiency.

Sensors developed at UWM may soon be tested in a cluster of buildings slated for construction near the Global Water Center, where scientists and entrepreneurs join forces to grow the city’s water tech sector.

Milwaukee, they contend, is perfectly positioned to lead this research effort as a hub for energy and power control with a growing water technology sector.

The city also is home to two academicindustry research centers: the Midwest Energy Research Consortium and the Water and Equipment Policy Research Center, funded in part by the National Science Foundation.

At Milwaukee’s Reed Street Yards, a prototype of a water microgrid containing sensors will allow recycling and treatment across an area planned as a mixed-use development with residential, office and light industrial structures. The developer, General Capital Group, hopes it will become a model for energy and water conservation.

“A water microgrid depends on sensors to direct fluid traffic in the infrastructure,” Garman said. “In a system where there are separate pipes for clean water, gray water and black water [bound for the sewage plant], sensors tell you about temperature and water quality – and then route it for specific purposes.”

“The beauty of such a linked system is it can be applied to not only homes and offices, but also to industries that use a lot of water, such as Milwaukee’s cheesemakers, brewers and other food and beverage producers,” Garman said.

Funding for various components of the project is being sought from federal research agencies, state economic development groups, industry and private foundations. Initial phases of the project will take shape within the year.

Brett Peters (left), dean of the College of Engineering and Applied Science, makes a visit to Reed Street Yards with David Garman, dean of the School of Freshwater Sciences.

FALL 2015 UWM ALUMNI • 15

BUILDING A BETTER WAY TO

SUPPLY ENER IT WASN’T A NATURAL DISASTER OR HIGH DEMAND THAT CAUSED AN ELECTRICAL BLACKOUT IN THE NORTHEASTERN UNITED STATES IN SUMMER 2003. A HIGH-VOLTAGE POWER LINE IN OHIO BRUSHED AGAINST OVERGROWN TREES, CAUSING IT TO SHUT DOWN AND TOUCHING OFF A DOMINO EFFECT OF DISABLED LINES. For the following two days, 50 million people in eight states were left without power. But a technology being perfected at UWM, called a microgrid, will keep that from happening again.

Microgrids are freestanding power sources that integrate disparate energy-generating sources, store the energy and then distribute it uninterrupted to a limited surrounding area during power outages.

“Any place where large numbers of people congregate – military bases, factories, sports arenas or even Disney World – would be unaffected by a blackout if there is a microgrid in place,” said Vijay Bhavaraju, principal engineer in power system technologies at Eaton Corp.

Eaton is one of nine area partners working with UWM Professor Adel Nasiri to advance microgrid technology, addressing the obstacles that have so far kept it from the commercial market, where it is projected to generate revenues of $3 billion by 2017.

“This one in Milwaukee will be the state-of-the-art microgrid testbed in the country,” explained Nasiri, who also serves as associate dean for research in the College of Engineering and Applied Science. “We can use it in conducting research for federal projects and for testing with private companies. It will accelerate what we can do together with industry.”

Professor Adel Nasiri in Milwaukee.

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While microgrids can serve as energy islands, Nasiri’s testbed has another important benefit: It can integrate energy from diverse sources – like solar, wind and batteries – into the nation’s distribution system for electricity, called the central grid. That means

eco-minded energy consumers won’t have to put solar cells in their backyards in order to have access to green energy.

Balancing act The timing is right. The cost of obtaining renewable energy is dropping. But because renewables generate and distribute energy differently than power plants, the transfer of these added sources isn’t compatible with the nation’s grid.

In order to augment the grid, the “added” energy sources must conform to the way the existing grid distributes electricity.

When dispatching energy from coal-burning power plants or hydroelectric plants, the grid adjusts the output amount to match user demand. Energy coming from renewable energy sources is not adjustable, however, and is difficult to store.

“By adding multiple other sources, we will need to smooth out the intermittent power that renewables generate, in order to keep the output demand in balance,” said Nasiri.

GY Wind turbines, for example, generate electricity only when the wind is blowing. But in most places, the wind blows more often at night when demand for electricity is low. Nasiri’s patented technology allows renewable energy produced when demand is low to be stored and then released when the demand is high.

Microgrids like the one Nasiri is building with industry partners will fix energy-compatibility problems and ultimately help reduce emissions from fossil fuel-burning power plants by increasing use of renewables.

mix of energy sources in its arsenal in order to improve efficiency.

“For example, on a windy day, you could eliminate the diesel portion of the microgrid,” said Eaton’s Bhavaraju. “You can tune the kind of output to the end user by scheduling when to turn one source on and another one off. So if we can manage the electricity sources, we could show up to 40 percent in fuel savings.”

Continued on page 18

The energy sources in a microgrid vary in number and variety. Renewables could be included in a microgrid, but so could natural gas- and diesel-fueled generators.

UWM engineering students are working with Eaton on software that allows communication among the various energy sources, giving the microgrid the ability to customize the

FALL 2015 UWM ALUMNI • 17

Continued from page 17

UWM-industry collaboration UWM’s microgrid testbed, funded in part by the Midwest Energy Research Consortium, an industrial-academic research coalition, will give regional companies a first look at the compatibility of their parts. Other participating partners are Rockwell Automation, LEM, Odyne, ZBB Energy Corp., Kohler, Johnson Controls Inc. and Regal Beloit.

The U.S. Army is already developing microgrid technology to supply power to military bases. Nasiri and Bhavaraju recently received funding to improve operations of a microgrid at Fort Sill, a base about 80 miles southwest of Oklahoma City.

Their objective was to identify how to orchestrate a seamless transfer of service when the microgrid is disconnected from the grid.

Their efforts resulted in the creation of a new part, the controller, which enables that uninterrupted jump.

Working out the manipulation of energy needed to make microgrids safe and viable is a major undertaking.

One of Nasiri’s remaining challenges is developing components that will streamline the complicated task of managing voltage and frequency.

Along the microgrid construction journey, UWM engineering students from Nasiri’s lab have participated in grant-funded research, such as the Fort Sill microgrid project. Eaton has hired a few UWM students part time to focus on a specific feature, said Bhavaraju.

ALUMNI SPOTLIGHT:

QIANG FU

Lead Engineer, Global Research & Technology, Eaton Corp.

Qiang Fu grew up in the city of Wuhu, in the center of the world’s largest energy consumer – China.

So it isn’t surprising that a motivated engineering student like Fu would be interested in applying his talents to something that is already becoming imperative – integrating green energy into people’s everyday lives.

So why did Fu decide to come to the United States to earn his PhD? “U.S. universities, research institutions and academia associations are leading in green energy development,” he explained.

While earning his bachelor’s and master’s degrees at Chongqing University, he was introduced to UWM through the research of Electrical Engineering Professors David Yu and Adel Nasiri.

“I came to UWM for professors Yu and [Adel] Nasiri,” Fu said. “They have an international reputation in power electronics and power systems.”

Since high school, Fu knew that he wanted to pursue technologies that would help to save fuel and reduce greenhouse gases.

At UWM, that landed him in Nasiri’s lab working on the UWM microgrid, an innovative energy distribution system that is about to do something epic with renewable and traditional electricity. Nasiri’s microgrid testbed is aiming to integrate multiple green energy sources into the national electrical grid while providing uninterrupted power to small areas that might become disconnected from the grid in the event of a power outage.

This research brought Fu into contact with UWM industry partner Eaton Corp., where he interned in 2012 and became a full-time employee in 2013. The company is interested in supplying all parts necessary to operate microgrids once they are commercially available.

One of Fu’s tasks is to develop a virtual microgrid platform in the lab. Through communication and metering interfaces, the platform at Eaton is capable of demonstrating microgrid management, control and protection.

Fu said he decided to stay in Milwaukee, even before receiving the job offer at Eaton, because he really likes the city.

“There are a lot of industries here that provide opportunities for professors and students to participate in industrial projects and find jobs.”

How did he choose between using his education in academia or the private sector?

The choice comes with a trade-off, he said.

“You want to spend time doing research, but you have to keep in mind that there’s a monetary component in industry. You have to be familiar with the business and market in order to find a channel to monetize your innovation. This is very important for PhD students to learn.”

Fu has become an adjunct at UWM so that he can be tethered to the wide range of ongoing research projects in his field.

“Without the constraints of the market placed on them, academic researchers have more freedom to explore the future direction of innovation. They can take a longer look forward.”

Of three UWM students assisting with the work at Fort Sill, Eaton recently hired two full time after graduation.

The participation of students is an asset to the work, added Bhavaraju.

“It will be the students who will move the needle.”

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Alum Qiang Fu now works at Eaton Corp., continuing research he began as an engineering PhD candidate at UWM.

YOUR JOURNEY STARTED HERE.

A UWM education prepared you for the life ahead. Today’s UWM students are having similar experiences. Meeting new friends, pulling late-night study sessions, getting ready for their own journey. The UWM Annual Fund is a way for Panthers to support Panthers as they begin their journey.

Supporting the UWM Annual Fund and your school or college ensures deserving students have access to UWM and helps us maintain our status as a world-class educational institution.

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Make History

FROM CYBER SECURITY TO HEALTH CARE, UWM COMPUTER SCIENTISTS

By Marie Rohde

FROM MAKING RENEWABLE ENERGY MORE AFFORDABLE FOR CONSUMERS TO MEDICAL IMAGING THAT MAKES ACCURATE MEDICAL DIAGNOSES FASTER AND MORE COST EFFECTIVE, THE UWM COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING AND APPLIED SCIENCE LEADS IN RESEARCH THAT IMPROVES LIVES AND INNOVATES INDUSTRY. Groundbreaking work in data encryption in the late 1960s helped the computer science program establish an international reputation, and a 1990 graduate of the master’s program may be one of the best-known computer scientists in the world. Today, Satya Nadella, works in Seattle as CEO of Microsoft.

As the college celebrates its 50th anniversary this fall, here’s a look at its rich research history and potential for the future.

Files from the UWM Archives offer an early look at computer science education at UWM.

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A program ahead of its time Years before the phrase “data security” worried the world, UWM researchers were pre-emptively attacking the problem.

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George Davida, an electrical engineer who’s now an emeritus professor, was one of about a dozen faculty hired in the late 1960s for the newly created UWM College of Engineering and Applied Science. He delved into unbreakable codes that can hide information, quickly becoming one of the foremost leaders in the field and creating UWM’s Center for Cryptography, Computer and Network Security.

“Davida was way ahead of his time,” said K. Vairavan, hired in 1968 and now an emeritus professor of electrical engineering and computer science. “It was cutting-edge research in a developing field.”

With two degrees in computer science from UWM, Ryan Hardt (left) is now an assistant professor at UW-Eau Claire. Professor Ethan Munson directs UWM’s Center for Advanced Computational Imaging.

Innovate Industry Leonard Levine, also hired in the late 1960s, had a doctorate in physics but learned electrical engineering doing work for the space program and nuclear submarines during the Cold War. He said research was critical to the success of the new college. “We had to develop as a research institution, or no one would come.”

The college now enrolls more than 2,000 students, including more than 400 in graduate programs, has more than 9,000 alums, and is set to soon open a biomedical engineering program. Almost a quarter of current students attend part time, more than 20 percent of the college’s enrollment is made up of international students and 13 percent of its students are women.

Industry partnerships boost resumes, accelerate research, improve care As part of its mission, the college continues to build partnerships with industry, adjusting its curriculum to provide employers with the workforce they need and giving students hands-on engineering experience to supplement their coursework and build resumes.

Jane Miceli chose UWM after hearing a talk by Levine in 2003 that emphasized the university’s industry connections.

“He talked about how it would be easier to find an internship and a job here,” said Miceli, now an Idaho-based consultant for Hewlett Packard and a mentor for women in IT. “I got an internship with Rockwell Automation and worked there for five years.”

Joint research by the university and industry drives the Center for Advanced Computational Imaging, created in 2014 in partnership with GE Healthcare to improve medical care by advancing 3-D imaging capabilities and reducing costs associated with powerful diagnostic tools like magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Computer science Professor Ethan Munson directs the center, working with four professors who were awarded research grants by GE and a number of GE employees.

collaboration benefitting the university and GE also has a broader impact.

“Some of the work being done in the research projects has the potential to really make a big difference in the technology of our product, specifically reducing the cost of production,” Kautzer said.

“This is broadly relevant considering health care costs today.”

Munson said there’s potential for collaborating Alumna Jane Miceli (far right) transitioned from college intern with a number of major to full-time employee at Rockwell Automation. companies in the region on other uses of embedded systems – distinct, built-in computer systems that perform dedicated functions within a larger device or technology, powering everything from hybrid vehicles to digital watches.

“With local and global demand for engineers strong, our way forward for the next 50 years is to continue the tradition of excellence in areas of highest demand,” said Brett Peters, the college’s dean.

If You Go

“UWM is located in the economic center of the state,” said Munson, who also serves as associate dean for academic affairs in the College of Engineering and Applied Science. “That proximity means that engineers (in the private sector) can do continuing education more easily and students can work directly with these companies.”

GE and Munson’s team also designed a 15-credit graduate certificate program around continuing education in computerized imaging. Paul Cunningham, a manufacturing engineering team leader at GE, combined the certificate program with other classwork and recently received his master’s degree.

“It grew my experience faster than if I had just been working,” Cunningham said of the program, adding that the mix of traditional professors and adjuncts working in the field was particularly helpful.

Jeffrey Kautzer, a UWM engineering graduate and now GE chief engineer and UWM adjunct professor, said the

COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING 50TH ANNIVERSARY Events are scheduled from late September through October 2015, including a riverboat tour on Oct. 3 to kick off Homecoming Week, Take your Dean to Work Day(s) with Engineering Dean Brett Peters and more!

For the latest schedule, registration information, to share your stories and more, please visit uwm.edu/engineering/50th.

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on o Inaugurati ne r Mark Mo o ll e c n C ha e th f o n o ti a and dedic nary terdiscipli Kenwood In plex. om Research C d 9 for an 8 s ge pa See ation. more inform

By Keri Duce

The first official homecoming celebration in UWM’s recent history opens campus doors, long-closed yearbooks, and looks forward as UWM celebrates the inauguration of its ninth chancellor, Mark Mone, and changes the architecture of its beloved Eastside Campus with the public dedication of the new Kenwood Interdisciplinary Research Complex and installation of a new statue on Spaights Plaza.

Saturday, Oct. 3

“TEDxUWMilwaukee: React Differently” speakers discuss how personal and professional reactions can create waves of unknown size and consequence. Fifteen speakers share their ideas.

It’s all part of UWM Alumni Homecoming Week, Oct. 2-10, and UWM alumni and friends across the ages are invited.

Men’s soccer faces Valparaiso University, and women’s soccer plays Youngstown State in two important Horizon League matches.

“We have more than eight days of events and alumni from seven decades joining us on Milwaukee’s Eastside for Alumni Homecoming Weekend,” said UWM Associate Vice Chancellor of Alumni Relations Adrienne Bass. “Now is the perfect time to make plans to join your UWM friends and family for this historic celebration of school spirit, campus pride and great Milwaukee moments.“ Throughout the week, homecoming attendees and guests can enjoy movies in the Union Cinema, visit favorite Eastside establishments and meet up with friends old and new.

Few alumni are as busy preparing for homecoming weekend as Milwaukee-area artist and two-time UWM arts alumnus Tom Queoff. The 1970-73 Panther football star is putting the final touches on a bronze Panther statue that will be installed in Spaights Plaza to commemorate homecoming weekend and the 50th anniversary of UWM’s mascot.

“This project brings back good memories, and I feel privileged to do my best to give back to the university,” said the owner of Tom Queoff Sculpture Studio.

The bronze Panther starts prowling Spaights Plaza on Oct. 10. Additional highlights of homecoming weekend are listed here. A complete events calendar, registration information, accommodations, prices and more are available at uwm.edu/homecoming.

ct. 6 Tuesday, O Fair and

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Be back o nc for a hom ampus by lunchtime ecoming pep rally featuring spe and more. akers, prizes Evening e ven talen t sh ts include a camp u o w c a s e.

T he Manfr s Olson Plan ed etarium h o sts a Northern Ligh ts sh ow at 7 p .m.

Wednesday, Oct. 7

Svet the Hip Hop Violinist brings his unique sound to Spaights Plaza, where food and balloon animals will be available. TEDxU WMilwaukee hosts an evening talkback with “React Differently” speakers.

Th ursda y, Oct. 8

T he U W M J the plaza. az z Ensemble pla ys Co and Omid medians Greg Wilso Singh kee n p alumni laughing in th Trivia is o eir evening show. n tap at th e Gasthau s.

, Oct. 9y y a d i r F n, enjo the Unio

10 Saturday, Ohecrt.Prowl.

Alumn Tom Queoff puts the final touches on a bronze Panther that will be dedicated in Spaights Plaza Oct. 10, during UWM Alumni Homecoming Week.

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in nd Day time elebration a , s 6C the 19 5 nce of activitie a d . n n u fu b a its d an d ays, foo ckets giveaw e your ti you hav t tire ready for re u s e B ta r elegan ening a n d y o u n i Aw a r d s E v m the Alu consin. is at Pier W

Alumni Homecoming Week comes to a festive, fast-paced conclusion with the Panther Prowl 5K, a food truck festival and campus open house, Panther Fandemonium, a Club Football game and UWM Family Weekend. There’s a welcome party for UWM’s newest addition, that bronze Panther mascot – 750-plus pounds of Panther Pride!

FALL 2015 UWM ALUMNI • 23

Team Up TO BRING COMMUNITY-BASED Paramedics and Professors

CARE INTO NEIGHBORHOODS

By Marie Rohde

IT SEEMED ODD TO THE PARAMEDICS ASSIGNED TO THE RIG THAT ROLLS OUT OF ENGINE 36 ON MILWAUKEE’S NORTH SIDE: FOR ONE WEEK STRAIGHT, THEY’D BEEN RESPONDING TO DAILY 6:45 A.M. CALLS FROM THE SAME ADDRESS. Capt. Michael Wright, who was assigned to Engine 36’s paramedic unit at the time, decided to look into it. The patient, a woman in her 70s, had diabetes. Her husband thought he was following doctor’s orders by giving his wife insulin first thing every morning. But it resulted in a massive blood sugar drop.

“She didn’t need the insulin every morning,” said Wright, now coordinator for the Milwaukee Fire Department’s community paramedic program. “She just needed breakfast.”

50 years of quality care and responsive partnerships Every day, paramedics across the country speed out of fire houses, red lights flashing and sirens blaring, to address medical problems that are not – or should not be – true emergencies. It’s health care at its costliest.

Looking for a solution, Wright and other emergency responders turned to the UWM College of Nursing for help in developing a training program to teach paramedics to address patients’ needs before their problems become true emergencies. As the college celebrates its 50th anniversary, this program – done in collaboration with the Milwaukee Fire Department, Milwaukee County Emergency Medical Services and the Medical College of Wisconsin – is just the latest of many

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partnerships designed to teach students and address the city’s medical needs.

The need for the paramedic partnership is great. In Milwaukee, just 100 people made almost 7 percent of the 62,663 emergency medical calls placed in 2014. Paramedics trained in the Community Paramedic Curriculum will not only teach their patients self-care, but will connect them with existing services to prevent future emergencies. This will be phase one of the pilot program.

Sally Lundeen, dean of the College of Nursing, emphasized that the project is in concert with the Wisconsin Idea, the University of Wisconsin System mission statement that emphasizes the universities’ connection to the community.

“ S he didn’t need the insulin every morning; she just needed to eat breakfast.”

“We are on the ground in areas of Milwaukee that have high health care needs and are addressing care coordination, health promotion and prevention,” said Lundeen, who has nearly 40 years’ experience establishing communitybased health care programs in Milwaukee and Chicago.

Milwaukee firefighter and paramedic Andrew Hargarten is taking a double-duty approach to his education. The College of Nursing Class of 2010 graduate is enrolled in the paramedic training program and UWM’s doctorate of nursing practice program.

He explained that similar programs elsewhere have proved to be cost effective with better medical outcomes.

“Fort Worth, Texas, has extensive data. Among other things, they significantly reduced the readmission of patients. With the Affordable Care Act, hospitals are penalized if a patient is readmitted within 30 days, so it saved the hospitals money. The number of paramedic runs went way down, and that saved money for the taxpayers.”

Education – a prescription for better health This fall, the first cohort of paramedics completed instruction on delivering health care in the community and managing chronic illness. Topics covered included asthma and infant mortality, two major health problems in Milwaukee. For phase two, 22 local medics will be trained to go into the homes of participating 911 callers, visiting each patient four times over three months to complete home assessments, provide education and connect the patients with services that meet their needs. They will also reach out to the homeless population.

Kim Litwack, the associate dean for academic affairs who is leading the program, said that while paramedics are well trained to provide “red light” emergency care, they aren’t trained to address less urgent calls from “yellow light” or “green light” patients.

“An asthmatic patient who has run out of needed medication would be a ‘yellow light’ call,” she said. “The patient needs to be evaluated to determine why they’ve run out of their medication so he or she doesn’t become a ‘red light’ patient requiring emergency transport. The partnership with the College of Nursing, with an emphasis on health promotion, assessment and education, is a natural fit.”

But this program is still in its early days, said Lundeen.

Ongoing funding is needed for the curriculum/training to reach its full potential as a cost and lifesaver across southeastern Wisconsin.

“We need to have coordination to make sure that not only are we providing the services, but that we are not duplicating what others are doing. We need to figure out how to sustain these new models,” Lundeen said.

“It’s a good investment, and funding the program is a good decision.”

Alum Andrew Hargarten, a Milwaukee firefighter and paramedic, takes a break from his doctoral studies at UWM. He also is enrolled in the paramedic training program.

If You Go

COLLEGE OF NURSING 50TH ANNIVERSARY Over the course of five decades, the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee College of Nursing has graduated more than 7,000 nurses. In recognition of the college’s 50th anniversary, a series of events will be held September 2015 through June 2016.

Celebrations will recognize the College of Nursing’s influence, impact, community engagement and health care initiatives in the state of Wisconsin, nationally and across the globe. We extend an invitation to alumni, friends, faculty and supporters to celebrate this momentous milestone. Please join us.

50TH ANNIVERSARY HIGHLIGHTS Oct. 10

P articipation in the 11th annual Panther Prowl 5K

Nov. 5 Mentoring and Nursing Leadership-Preceptor Recognition event April 14 Celebrating Community Impact April 15 50 Distinguished Alumni reception April 16 50th Anniversary Gala For registration information and a complete calendar of events, please visit uwm.edu/nursing/50th.

Transformational EXPANDS NURSING EDUCATION

By Patrick Kessenich

CHANCELLOR MARK MONE DESCRIBED A $1 MILLION GIFT FROM JAMES AND YVONNE ZIEMER TO THE COLLEGE OF NURSING AS “TRANSFORMATIONAL” FOR BOTH UWM AND THE REGION, ALLOWING THE COLLEGE TO ADMIT MORE STUDENTS TO MEET WISCONSIN’S NURSING SHORTAGE AND ENHANCE ITS CLINICAL TRAINING OPPORTUNITIES FOR NURSING MAJORS. James Ziemer is a three-time UWM business school alumnus and the former CEO and president of Harley-Davidson Inc. “This gift expresses our hope that our children, and our grandchildren, and all families within our community, will have access to the highest quality nursing care,” the Ziemers explained in a joint statement.

The Ziemers’ gift will help fund and name a clinical simulation center on UWM’s Eastside Campus.

The James and Yvonne Ziemer Clinical Simulation Center will provide UWM nursing students with state-of-the-art experiential learning in simulated clinical settings and enable the college to increase its enrollment by up to 30 percent. The university is home to Wisconsin’s largest nursing program.

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Gift

Improves CARE Yvonne and James Ziemer

“The new Ziemer Clinical Simulation Center will be a place for innovative clinical learning, not only for our nursing students, but for students from our College of Health Sciences and other UWM schools and colleges,” Mone said. “Integrated professional development at the cutting edge of interdisciplinary learning will be possible here.”

“We are so grateful to the Ziemers for their vision and extraordinary generosity,” added Sally Lundeen, dean of the College of Nursing. “Their gift assures that our College of Nursing will remain among the top nursing education programs in the country for many years to come and will provide the cornerstone for innovative interprofessional health education and research. The simulation center will also strengthen UWM’s ability to fill a growing nursing shortage in Wisconsin.”

The center will provide a real-world environment for teaching, learning and research where students are trained in patient care through use of models, manikins, medical equipment and living patients.

UWM’s College of Nursing graduates approximately 360 students annually, from all program levels – undergraduate, graduate and PhD. It estimates its current job placement rate at 93-95 percent following graduation.

“I had the good fortune of observing many talented students,” said Eric Schenker, dean emeritus of the Lubar School of Business. “James Ziemer always stood out as someone to watch. It does not surprise me that he and his wife Yvonne have emerged as one of greater Milwaukee’s leading philanthropic couples.”

James Ziemer has a long volunteer association with UWM. He served as co-chair for the Campaign for UWM (2003-08), chaired the Lubar School’s Business Advisory Council and serves as a senior adviser for UWM’s current fundraising efforts.

Fundraising for the simulation center continues. Please contact Nicole Blemberg, development director, College of Nursing at blembern@uwm.edu or 414-229-5617.

“ We are so grateful to the Ziemers for their vision and extraordinary generosity...”

“We know that UWM has outstanding students and faculty, and they need our support to expand their capacity to meet the workforce needs of the future,” explained the Ziemers, who live in the greater Milwaukee area.

Students training in the college’s current nursing simulation facility.

Top business alum provides support to a top health profession The demand for new nurses is projected to be 7,500 annually by 2020, based on forecasting models from the Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development.

Yvonne and James Ziemer (center) meet with College of Nursing Dean Sally Lundeen (left) and Chancellor Mark Mone.

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AN AMERICAN ATTORNEY IN KABUL, KIMBERLEY MOTLEY’S JOURNEY IS

SHAPED BY MILWAUKEE,

By Carolyn Bucior

IN MARCH 2015, FARKHUNDA MALIKZADA’S DEATH CAUGHT THE WORLD’S ATTENTION. JUST 27 YEARS OLD WHEN SHE WAS FALSELY ACCUSED OF BURNING THE QURAN, THE AFGHANI WOMAN DIED AT THE HANDS OF A VICIOUS, ALL-MALE MOB THAT BEAT HER, SET HER ON FIRE AND THREW HER IN THE KABUL RIVER. In a Kabul courtroom, Malikzada’s family was represented by UWM alumna Kimberley Cy Motley, who became the first foreign lawyer working in Afghanistan when she signed on to a State Department legal education program in 2008.

“I want to raise the capacity of legal representation worldwide...”

“As I travel, I see how abysmal the legal system is in so many countries,” Motley told UWM Alumni.

“I want to raise the capacity of legal representation worldwide while continuing to educate needy people of their rights. For as abysmal as it can be, you never give up hope. Where would American women be if we had given up hope in our fight for equal rights?”

Motley’s quest for justice and human rights in some of the world’s most remote courtrooms and corrupt prisons began in Milwaukee, where she earned four college degrees in six years, including bachelor’s and master’s degrees in criminal justice from the Helen Bader School of Social Welfare.

She’ll talk about her thriving international law practice and her Milwaukee roots on Oct. 15, when she returns to her alma mater as keynote speaker of a fundraising event for Helen Bader School of Social Welfare student scholarships.

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Alumna Kimberley Motley looks back on her early days in Milwaukee, and maps her future as a human rights advocate and defense attorney in Afghanistan and beyond.

A fighter, a lawyer, a visionary

Looking back on Milwaukee

Of the 49 suspects tried in Malikzada’s death last spring, four were sentenced to die. But the men’s sentences were promptly overturned behind closed doors.

Motley grew up in Milwaukee’s Berryland Housing Development and attended Whitefish Bay High School.

After she completed her education with a Marquette Law degree, she became a Milwaukee public defender.

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An Afghani woman, even when she wins in the courtroom, returns to a society in which systemic victories for human rights are yet to be achieved.

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“That person can get the hell out of [Afghanistan],” she said.

If You Go E RA

The remainder of Motley’s caseload is comprised of non-Afghan defendants in Kabul. Of her 90 percent success rate in Afghani courtrooms, Motley said the sweetest victories, surprisingly, are the ones she earns for her foreign clients.

Travel won’t be required for anyone who wants to follow Motley’s international quest for justice. A Danishmade documentary, “Motley’s Law,” will premiere at the Chicago International Film Festival in October, and a TV series based on her life is currently in the works.

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Her practice has also captured the attention of The New York Times, Vanity Fair and the BBC and became the focus of Motley’s TedTalk, “How I defend the rule of law.” The work has earned her something even more rare – acceptance in the country she lives in nearly nine months out of the year. “Afghans accepting me, that’s progress,” Motley said.

Afghanistan may be just the first stop of Motley’s larger journey. Word has spread of her passion and unique capabilities, and she is expanding her services and mission to India, Uganda, Bolivia and more.

H

This work has lead to some landmark rulings for her clients. “My work has lead to decriminalizing ‘running away’ as a crime,” Motely said.

Her time at UWM was marked by “extremely encouraging” faculty and staff. She had two of her three children while a student. Her social welfare education also made a difference. “At UWM, I learned how to research social issues and the importance of publishing. That definitely helped me in Afghanistan, especially when I performed an assessment of their juvenile justice system,” she said.

OO

About 30 percent of Motley’s practice is pro bono work on behalf of women and girls like Malikzada, who are trapped in a criminal justice system that imprisons and even executes them for “moral crimes” like fleeing forced marriages, being forced into prostitution or becoming the victim of domestic violence or rape.

SCH

“It’s depressing, but fighting a corrupt criminal justice system keeps pulling me back,” Motley said.

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65-2015

The HBSSW has graduated more than 10,000 family therapists, FBI agents, school social workers, police chiefs, community advocates and more, providing southeastern Wisconsin with an unprecedented force of social welfare experts. In recognition of the college’s 50th anniversary, the school invites alumni, friends, faculty and supporters to a student scholarship gala. Please join us.

Oct. 15, 5-8:30 p.m.

Harley-Davidson Museum Guest speaker: Kimberley Cy Motley, international human rights lawyer and alumna Cost: $100; 11 sponsorship opportunities range from $200 to $15,000 For registration information and a complete calendar of events, please visit uwm.edu/socialwelfare/about/timeline/ Or contact: Richard Kessler, kessle23@uwm.edu or 414-229-6890 Allyson Olivier, Olivier@uwm.edu or 262-385-1129.

FALL 2015 UWM ALUMNI • 29

“There is crying in startups.�

PANEL:

How to Succeed as an Entrepreneur

View hundreds of career webinars by top experts

Seek Advice

Deep Dives

Career Overviews

The UWM Alumni Association offers alumni FREE ACCESS to a library of hundreds of webinars that provide career advice from industry insiders, viewable anytime.

Questions? Contact Cindy Petrites in UWM Alumni Relations at petrites@uwm.edu.

Log in with your student or alumni email address:

uwm.evisors.com

5K run/walk on the UWM campus and in Lake Park

SATURDAY, OCT. 10, 2015 Race begins at 10 a.m.

TO ALL PROCEEDS GO IPS

SH STUDENT SCHOLAR

Attend the post-race party at UWM’s Homecoming celebration!

Register now!

pantherprowl.net

uwm.edu/homeco

ming

WITH THE NEW LUBAR CENTER FOR ENTREPRENEURSHIP,

UWM

Leadership Development,

By Angela McManaman

SHELDON LUBAR DOESN’T SIT ON THE SIDELINES. Feeling uninspired by work as an attorney in banking in the mid-1950s, he remembered his father’s advice: “‘It’s better to earn $1 working for yourself than to earn $2 working for someone else.’ If I had a path I was going to follow from that point, it was that I wanted to be in business for myself,” Lubar explained.

So he worked hard. “At the bank, I did everything I was asked to do. I never said no and saved enough money that I could leave what I was doing and look for a small company to acquire after 13 years in banking.” He started the private investment firm Lubar & Co. in 1966.

Fast-forward 60 years. Now deeply engaged Wisconsin philanthropists, Lubar and his wife, Marianne, donated $10 million to UWM in July to create the new Lubar Center for Entrepreneurship.

His hope is that it will serve as a catalyst for the region, inspiring others to start and expand businesses and to use entrepreneurial skills to address social problems.

‘This is our city’ “We’re talking about intelligent entrepreneurship that will enhance our community and our economy beyond anyone’s fondest hope,” Lubar said. “The objective of the Lubar Center for Entrepreneurship is to teach and motivate students, as well as business people in large and small companies, to take advantage of the opportunity that ownership brings. Simply said, you can be an owner of a business if you know how to think and act like an owner.”

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Lubar, who worked with UWM Chancellor Mark Mone and others to shape plans for the center, said he wanted to make a difference in Milwaukee. “This is our city, and we want it to be as strong and dynamic and vibrant as we can make it.”

UWM will erect a new building at the corner of East Kenwood Boulevard and Maryland Avenue that will be home for the Lubar Center for Entrepreneurship and a welcome center that will be the first stop for prospective students and others visiting UWM. With support from the UW System and other private donors, total investment in the project will be about $25 million.

Innovation can fuel revitalization As Wisconsin’s only public urban research university, UWM is uniquely positioned to provide students with opportunities to collaborate with companies and nonprofit organizations, fostering new, creative ways of doing business.

Lubar said that’s one reason why he chose UWM. “This is the most important university in the city, and I would say the most important in the state because the need here is so great.”

Businesses that start or grow with help from the center will provide jobs for southeastern Wisconsin and, eventually, the entire state. “Jobs create wealth,” Lubar said, “and wealth enables a higher standard of living.”

The Lubar Center for Entrepreneurship will make its home in a new building at UWM, sharing space with the university’s official welcome center.

TO BUILD ON STRENGTHS IN

Economic Growth The center will incorporate and encourage entrepreneurial activities within and among UWM’s 14 schools and colleges, including interdisciplinary and social entrepreneurship programs.

“The spirit of innovation will infuse and inspire students’ education here,” Mone said. “This is a real win for students, faculty, staff and the community because this center embraces all, providing opportunities for participation. For some, the goal will be bringing to market products and services. For others, it will be transforming lives in our region with social entrepreneurship.”

The announcement marked the Lubar family’s second major gift to UWM. In 2006, the Lubars donated $10 million for faculty and scholarships to support what is now the Lubar School of Business.

They also have been strong supporters of the Peck School of the Arts and UWM Libraries.

Recalling his Depression-era childhood in Sherman Park and Whitefish Bay, Lubar said his parents considered themselves successful because they made sure he and his two sisters were well educated. His gifts to UWM will ensure others have the same opportunity.

More than 50 students have graduated from or are enrolled in the Lubar School of Business with scholarships provided through the couple’s first major gift to the university, and the annual reception for awardees is a highlight for Sheldon and Marianne Lubar.

“The opportunity to provide this support is more gratifying for me, perhaps, than it is for the students,” Lubar said.

A former president of the UW System Board of Regents, Lubar said one of his proudest accomplishments was launching an initiative to increase minority enrollment across the UW System.

Sheldon and Marianne Lubar (top) celebrate the center’s announcement at UWM in July.

“I just recently saw the statistics, and 94 percent of those kids who had been part of the diversity program graduated from high school and went on to college,” Lubar said. “The numbers are just stunning.

“The American dream is out there,” he added. “Don’t ever believe that it isn’t.”

Making his second major gift to UWM, Sheldon Lubar said,

“The American dream is out there.”

FALL 2015 UWM ALUMNI • 33

In a Global Economy,

LUBAR SCHOOL OF BUSINESS

By Dan Simmons

THE JOURNEY OF A CONSUMER PRODUCT FROM RAW MATERIAL TO STORE SHELVES USED TO BE A SIMPLE ONE. FACTORIES IN THE U.S. MADE THE PRODUCTS. U.S. COMPANIES SHIPPED THEM, AND CONSUMERS LIKE US BOUGHT THEM IN CORNER STORES AND BIG-BOX RETAILERS. Everything changed with unilateral trade deals that began proliferating in the mid-1990s, making it cheaper for companies to manufacture and sell abroad and lengthening the supply chain. Products now regularly journey across oceans and pass through different cultures.

“Supply chains have become much more complex,” said Anthony Ross, Rockwell Automation Endowed Chair in Supply Chain Management at UWM’s Lubar School of Business. “At the same time, consumers became much more sophisticated.”

The Lubar School of Business has offered responsive, high-quality programs meeting the needs of major U.S. industries for 50 years. To meet the challenges introduced by global markets, the recently reaccredited school dramatically expanded and improved how it teaches supply chain management, collaborating with Rockwell Automation, the world’s largest company devoted exclusively to industrial automation products and software.

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Anthony Ross is Rockwell Automation Endowed Chair in Supply Chain Management in the Lubar School of Business.

If You Go

LEADS THE WAY “Our goal was to educate people in the science of the supply chain, to address the increased complexity and responsiveness that’s now required to compete in the global economy,” said Lyman Tschanz, a 1981 Lubar graduate and vice president of manufacturing at Rockwell.

In 2010, Rockwell Automation provided a $2.5 million endowed supply chain grant to Lubar to establish the Rockwell Automation Endowed Chair in Supply Chain Management. The goal is to strengthen the supply chain program to attract the best and brightest students and supply chain researchers from around the world to Milwaukee. The grant enabled Lubar to recruit Ross, then a professor at Michigan State University, to become the first endowed chair. Early success led to the formation of the Supply Chain Management Institute.

Nicholas Johnson, a 2014 LUBAR SCHOOL OF BUSINESS Lubar graduate in supply chain 50TH ANNIVERSARY management, CELEBRATION supervises 44 employees To learn more about the Lubar School’s golden as production anniversary gala in spring of 2016, as well as supervisor for other events planned for the anniversary year, a Rockwell visit lubar.uwm.edu/50Years Automation office in Richland Center, Wisconsin. He credits Lubar for preparing him for the job and early promotions.

“I had many opportunities within the school and throughout the community,” said Johnson, who joined a student group focused on supply chain management and interned with Rockwell Automation. “At times, this breadth of opportunity challenged me to perform outside of my comfort zone.”

Goodwill Industries of Southeastern Wisconsin heeded the call of Lubar’s supply chain researchers to involve local businesses in students’ research. In 2012, faculty members helped Goodwill Industries study optimal locations for its warehouses to streamline delivery of products to its network of stores.

“We saw the value throughout the whole organization but starting with donated goods,” said Vicki Holschuh, senior vice president and chief retail officer at Goodwill.

Rebecca Johnson, regional manager, with Anthony Ross in front of Goodwill Industries of Southeastern Wisconsin’s Palmer Street store.

A growing demand for supply-chain expertise Five years in, about 400 Lubar undergraduates study supply chain management, four times more than at the time of the grant. Graduates earn an average starting salary of $45,000, up from $38,000 when the program was much smaller. They’ve fanned out through the world, and many of the recent grads are working at Rockwell Automation.

Researchers also worked with Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin on sourcing health care products and sorting out which products are better kept in stock versus buying directly from suppliers as needed. Another project provided a comprehensive modeling of coal inventory management for We Energies.

Consumers probably don’t notice it, but Lubar’s research in the supply chain management field speeds cereal and rubber bands to them at a far lower cost. And with alumni holding key positions in corporations like SC Johnson, Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin, Rockwell Automation, Harley-Davidson and Johnson Controls Inc., the school’s influence will continue to grow.

With more than 700 UWM alumni working at Rockwell Automation’s Milwaukee headquarters, UWM is a key university from which Rockwell recruits new hires with business and engineering degrees. Many belong to a “Panthers at Work” alumni group at Rockwell Automation that’s supported through the UWM Alumni Association.

FALL 2015 UWM ALUMNI • 35

Alumni Chapters

THRIVE

at

PACKERS’ VP OF FINANCE SHOWS HIS PANTHER PRIDE

UWM’S MANY ALUMNI CHAPTERS COORDINATE A VARIETY OF PROGRAMS THROUGHOUT THE YEAR THAT ARE ESSENTIAL TO PROMOTING ALUMNI ENGAGEMENT WITH THE UNIVERSITY.

Alumni chapters may be located in the Milwaukee area and associated with a particular college or based on members’ common interest or affinity. Several regional chapters exist to promote Panther Pride to UWM alumni living within their geographic area. Membership in an alumni chapter has other benefits as well, including boosting leadership skills, promoting networking and professional development and fostering community engagement.

organization as both the team and the league have worked through some challenging economic times. We appreciate his strong leadership within the organization and the impact he has on our development efforts in and around Lambeau Field.”

For example, the Lubar School of Business Alumni Chapter hosted its 4th Annual Signature Event on June 17 at the Pilot House in Discovery World. Paul Baniel, 1983 Lubar graduate and currently vice president of finance and administration for the Green Bay Packers, was the keynote speaker.

To learn about opportunities to engage with UWM Alumni Association chapters – or to start one – contact Cynthia Fitzsimmons, 414-229-3266, or fitzsimm@uwm.edu.

A Milwaukee native, Baniel earned his accounting degree with honors in 1983 from UWM. Paul and his wife, Nancy, a 1999 graduate of UWM’s College of Nursing, live in Green Bay and have four children: Nick, Claire, Mary and Abby.

Guests enjoyed a lively discussion of Baniel’s fascinating career in the world of professional sports. This sort of experience illuminated the Lubar School of Business Alumni Chapter’s mission to enrich the UWM alumni experience and foster friendships and networking relationships in the Milwaukee community.

Baniel is in his sixth year of leading the Green Bay Packers’ financial operations – and in his third year as vice president of administration for the organization.

In addition to overseeing the daily operation of the club’s finances, facilities and information technology, Baniel represents the Packers at the NFL level on economic issues and leads strategic initiatives for the organization. He is integrally involved in Lambeau Field’s $312 million expansion project, drawing on his experience in major projects with the Milwaukee Brewers and Potawatomi Hotel and Casino while he was in leadership roles in those organizations.

A certified public accountant, Baniel also oversees auditing processes and works closely with the club’s treasurer, the board of directors’ audit and investment committees and the stadium district.

“Paul is a valuable member of our senior staff,” said Mark Murphy, Packers president and CEO. “His experience in professional sports has been an important asset to the

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Alum Paul Baniel talked business – and Packers – as keynote speaker for the Lubar School of Business’ alumni chapter event.

CELEBRATING EXCELLENCE & ACHIEVEMENT

A A E FRIDAY, OCTOBER 9 | 2015

There are no limits to where your UWM degree can take you.

We’re reminded of that each year when we celebrate excellence and achievement at the Alumni Awards Evening.

FRIDAY

OCT 9, 2015 6:00-9:00 p.m.

PIER WISCONSIN

500 North Harbor Drive, Milwaukee, WI 53202

alumniawards.uwm.edu

2015 AWARD RECIPIENTS LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD · Robert Cialdini `67

HONORARY ALUMNI AWARD · Leonard Goldstein

DISTINGUISHED ALUMNI SERVICE AWARD · Gregoria Karides Suchy `45

GRADUATE OF THE LAST DECADE AWARDS (UNDERGRADUATE DEGREES) · Nicholas Blish `07 · Paola Félix-Encarnación `11 · Hemad Fadaifar `08 · Paul Imig `10 · Martha Phillips `06

UWM FOUNDATION ALUMNI ACHIEVEMENT AWARD · Guy Mikkelsen `69 COMMUNITY SERVICE AWARDS · Kenneth Munson `84 · Mark Sabljak `79 · Rebecca Schultz `87, `95

CORPORATE PARTNER AWARDS · GE Healthcare · Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District

GRADUATE OF THE LAST DECADE AWARDS (GRADUATE DEGREES) · Ammar Alkhalidi `11 · Nathaniel Piotrowski `05 · Kristen Roche `11 · Stephanie Sikinger `09, `11 · Sylvia Wilson `04, `11 · DeVona Wright Cottrell `06 PANTHER PRIDE VOLUNTEER AWARDS · Josie Osborne `89 · Lubar School of Business Alumni Chapter

FALL 2015 UWM ALUMNI • 37

CLASS 1960s

Mark Mortier (’77 BS Architectural Studies) of Santa Fe, New Mexico, recently left his job at the National Park Service, where he was an architect for 18 years, to start a private practice: Mark L. Mortier-Architect LLC, focusing on homes, light commercial projects and historic preservation.

His website is marklmortierarchitect.com.

Charles Knutson (‘61 BS) is a Norwegian teacher who convened a May 2013 language and culture presentation at the Sons of Norway Trollheim Lodge near Denver, Colorado. Knutson is also the lodge’s musician and choir director, responsible for “enriching the lodge in countless ways.”

Larry Vanderhoef (’64 BS Education-Botany, ’65 MS EducationBotany), chancellor emeritus of the University of California-Davis, released “Indelibly Davis: A Quarter-Century of UC Davis Stories…and Backstories.”

1970s

Wayne Edmund Behrens (‘70 BS Psychology, ‘72 MS Educational Psychology) is development director for Southeastern Wisconsin Youth for Christ. He was previously with UW-Extension for more than 25 years, retiring in 1999.

Sandy Brehl (’71 BS Exceptional Education) saw her novel, “Odin’s Promise: A Novel of Norway,” recognized by the 25th Anniversary Midwest Book Awards as an outstanding middle-grade novel published in 2014 in the Midwest region.

Brehl, of Muskego, is a retired teacher and an active member of the Society of Children’s Book Writers & Illustrators. This was her debut novel.

Wallace Cheatham (’72 MS Music Education, ’02 Hon. PhD Fine Arts) had a piano composition included in the soundtrack of “Requiem for the Dead: American Spring 2014,” a documentary shown on HBO. After graduation, Cheatham went on to become an internationally distinguished composer, performing artist and scholar. He returned to UWM in 2002 to receive the honorary Doctor of Fine Arts degree.

Ed Hida (’72 MS) and Heidi Hida (‘59 BS, ’74 MS) opened Heidi’s Corner Antiques & Collectibles at the Antique Center-Walker’s Point, Milwaukee’s oldest antique mall, 1134 S. 1st St.

Larry Schnuck, AIA, NCARB (’78 BS Architecture, ’86 MARCH Architecture), who leads Kahler Slater’s Higher Education Team, was named a vice president. He has presented both regionally and nationally and has been published on the topic of medical education environments and the best ways to adapt these for the changing trends in health care education.

Susan Finco (’76 BS Mass Communication) joined the Green Bay Packers executive committee in August. She is owner of Leonard & Finco Public Relations. Finco is the executive committee’s first female member. Finco joined the Packers’ board in December 2000. She chairs the community relations committee.

Warren M. Mueller (’79 MS Botany) has written seven books and has been a featured in The New York Times, About Christianity and Christian Pulse websites. The latest book in his “Truth Seeker” series is a dialogue between Mueller and his father, who was a critic of the Bible and Christianity.

Mary (Maki) Strautmann (’77 BBA Accounting, ’94 MS Taxation) received the Institute of Management Accountants (IMA) Gold Level Leader Award, given to those who have met the criteria for leadership and education developed by IMA’s Leadership Academy.

Strautmann also received the Exceptional Volunteer Award. A 38-year member of the IMA, Strautmann served as past president of the Greater Milwaukee Chapter, past president of the Mid-America Regional Council and past regional vice president and Global Board Member. She also serves on the Milwaukee Area technical College accounting advisory board.

Strautmann Brehl

Judy Kain (’77 BFA Theatre) has been a professional actress for 37 years, appearing in more than 350 commercials and in more than 80 roles for film and television. She won a SAG Award for her role as Elisabeth Moss’ secretary on “Mad Men.” Other credits include “Married with Children,” “Modern Family,” “The Middle,” “Bones,” “Castle,” “Scrubs,” “Desperate Housewives,” “ER,” “Seinfeld,” “The West Wing,” “NYPD Blue,” “Friends” and “The Drew Carey Show.” She has been voted Backstage magazine’s “Best On-Camera Acting Coach” for multiple years and teaches at her own acting studio.

Mueller

NOTES Honora Norton (’79 BBA) was named chair-elect of Catholic Charities Community Services Board of Directors, whose mission is to help the most vulnerable in the central and northern Arizona communities. Norton was named treasurer of Rotary Club of Scottsdale, the largest Rotary Club in the Scottsdale and Paradise Valley areas.

JoAnn Early Macken (‘85 BA Economics) has a new rhyming board book, “Baby Says ‘Moo!’,” published by Disney-Hyperion. She is the author of four other picture books, the poetry instruction guide “Write a Poem Step by Step,” and more than 130 educational books for young readers.

Her poems appear in numerous children’s magazines and anthologies. Her website is joannmacken.com.

Michelle Czarnecki (’86 BS Nursing) earned the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel’s 2015 Nurse of the Year award. This award showcases the compassion and dedication she has for her work, which has made major differences in the pain control of thousands of children hospitalized throughout the years.

1980s

Brenda Avadian’s (’80 BA Communication, ’82 MA Communication) book, “STUFFology 101” was released in print and as an ebook.

Avadian sold the worldwide English audio rights last year and is awaiting confirmation that it will be available in Korea. Avadian writes for U.S. News & World Report in addition to the TheCaregiversVoice.com and STUFFology101.com. Avadian delivers keynotes at events nationwide and is currently working on her 10th book.

Ann Lobotzke (‘80 BFA Music) was the featured soloist with the Festival City Symphony, performing John Rutter’s “Suite Lyrique for Harp and Strings.” Lobotzke is a freelance musician in Milwaukee, playing for all of the major arts organizations.

Czarnecki Stephen Lesavich (’86 MS Computer Science) was interviewed for the cover story of the March 2015 issue of #WORLDCLASS magazine on being a technology expert, attorney entrepreneur and award-winning author.

Mary Jo (Paque) Baas (‘86 BBA Finance) received the 2015 Pollie Award for RadioCandidate Division from the American Association of Political Consultants. Baas is president of Liberty House Consulting and has three children with her husband, Steve Baas.

James DeVita (’87 BFA Theatre) has worked for 21 years at American Players Theater, a classical-based repertory theater that features several Shakespeare plays every year. His oneperson show, “In Acting Shakespeare,” toured the United States and 11 cities in Ireland last fall. He published a book in June, “A Winsome Murder,” a mystery in which the detective is a Shakespeare scholar who uses his knowledge of Shakespeare’s plays to solve crimes.

Lobotzke Judith Hooks (’82 BA Art) is founding member and director of Gallery 218, which celebrated its 25th anniversary this year. Since departing the original eclectic warehouse on S. 2nd Street in Walker’s Point, the gallery has focused on contemporary abstract and conceptual works in all media, serving thousands of artists.

Lynn Payerl (’84 BS Community Education) writes under the name Lynn Peril and is the author of three books: “Pink Think,” “College Girls” and “Swimming in the Steno Pool” and many articles that explore images and roles of women in American popular culture. She has been a guest lecturer/speaker on many college campuses. She lives in Oakland, California.

Ann M. Stone (’84 BBA Marketing) and Jeffrey S. Mueller (’85 BBA Marketing) met in school and have been together ever since.

Today, they are full-time residents in Cape Coral, Florida, and their latest endeavor began in 2009 with the creation of Pro-Gulf Properties, LLC, a residential real estate brokerage firm servicing southwest Florida.

Dan Morgan, AIA, EDAC (’86 BS Architectural Studies, ’88 MARCH Architecture), a leader of Kahler Slater’s Health Care Team, was named a vice president. He recently served as principal in charge for the Sauk Prairie Hospital project, named a 2014 Top Project by the Daily Reporter and received a Silver Award from the American Society of Interior Designers in Wisconsin.

Molly Gribb (‘88 MS Engineering, ’93 PhD Engineering), civil and environmental engineering department head and professor at the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology since 2010, became dean of UW-Platteville’s College of Engineering, Mathematics and Science in July. Gribb was previously professor of civil engineering at Boise State University and associate professor at University of South Carolina. Gribb is a licensed professional engineer and a Fellow of the American Society of Civil Engineers.

Terry Westfahl (’86 BS Communication) was elected principal for GRAEF’s Milwaukee office for 2015. Westfahl was vice president of human resources. She has been with GRAEF, a Wisconsin-based engineering and consulting firm, for 13 years.

Gribb

Westfahl

FALL 2015 UWM ALUMNI • 39

CLASS 1990s Capt. Andrew J. Schulman, U.S. Navy, (‘91 MARCH Architecture) was appointed director of military construction for the Department of Navy in the Pentagon. His previous Navy assignments include duty at Headquarters, Naval Facilities Engineering Command, Washington, D.C.; branch chief for construction, NATO Training Mission, Afghanistan, Kabul; executive officer, Naval Amphibious Construction Battalion ONE, San Diego, California; a DoD Legislative Fellow, U.S. Senate, Washington, D.C.; and numerous other architecture, facility engineering and construction management positions across the Department of the Navy and the Marine Corps. Schulman is a member of the DoD Acquisition Professional Community and a Certified Energy Manager through the Association of Energy Engineers.

Schulman

Kristen Wright (’94 BA French, ’99 MS Management) is senior vice president of Global Marketing & Sales Enablement at Cielo, responsible for driving its brand and reputation as a global authority on talent acquisition, talent management and human resources. She supports the lead generation efforts of the sales team and oversees all advertising, branding, marketing, public relations and social media initiatives.

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Dan Weninger (’94 BA Journalism and Mass Communication) attended the White House Community Leader Briefing on April 29. The event also honored the 100th anniversary of Kiwanis International. Weninger has been a member of the Fond du Lac Lakeside Evening Kiwanis Club since 1995 and serves as secretary.

He is a self-employed financial adviser.

Jennifer Schommer (’97 BA Mass Communication) is assistant director of public relations for Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service, responsible for developing and implementing publicity campaigns and coordinating promotional activities with museums that host the exhibitions.

Weninger Glenn Roby, AIA (’95 BS Architectural Studies, ’98 MARCH Architecture), a leader for the Kahler Slater Business Environments Team, was promoted to the level of vice president. As an expert in commercial design, he is sought out for his insights on workplace strategies, design trends and commercial real estate activities.

Roby is the principal in charge of the 17-story 833 East commercial office building under construction in Milwaukee. He serves on the board of the Real Estate Alliance for Charity.

Al Krueger, AIA, ACHA, EDAC (’96 BS Architectural Studies), a leader of Kahler Slater’s Health Care Team, was promoted to the level of vice president. He served as the principal in charge of the Martha Jefferson Hospital project, which was named the Most Beautiful Hospital

by Soliant in 2012. He is also a member of the American College of Healthcare Architects and the Lean Construction Institute.

Drake/Schommer

Eric Mayne, AIA, RIBA (’97 BS Architectural Studies), a project architect on Kahler Slater’s Health Care Team who also champions Kahler Slater’s Ambulatory Care Design initiative, was named an associate principal. Mayne has presented nationally on the topic of ambulatory care and recently published a white paper on ambulatory care design trends. He is based in Milwaukee.

2000s Andrew Fefer (‘00, BA) was recently named news director at WEAU-TV in Eau Claire, Wisconsin. Fefer began his television news career as a photojournalist at WSAW-TV in Wausau, Wisconsin. In his free time, he enjoys volunteering with the Indianhead Area Special Olympics and reading to students on Read Across America Day. Scott Lousier, AIA (’00 BS Architectural Studies, ’02 MARCH Architecture), a project architect on Kahler Slater’s Higher Education and Sports/Wellness Teams, is now an associate principal. He is based in Milwaukee.

NOTES Ursula Ann Lande (’00 BS Criminal Justice and Political Science), a professor at Georgia Military College, attended the 13th United Nations Congress on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice in April in Doha, Qatar. She worked as an individual expert involved in deliberations of the Congress as well as working with committees, subcommittees and other working groups. Attendance as an individual expert was by invitation only from the secretarygeneral of the United Nations. While at the conference, she also received the SAGE Junior Faculty Professional Development Teaching Award.

Saul Sopoci Drake (’01 BA Anthropology, ’05 Graduate Certificate Museum Studies and ’07 MS Cultural Anthropology) is a project director with the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service. Drake coordinated the development and production of a recent traveling exhibit – 60 handcrafted iconic movie costumes, “Rebel, Jedi, Princess, Queen: Star Wars™ and the Power of Costume” – working with exhibition designers, curators and archivists.

Kristin Flora (’03 MS Psychology, ’07 PhD Clinical Psychology) was recipient of the Clifford and Paula Dietz Award for Faculty Excellence.

She occupies the Roscoe W. Payne Chair in Philosophy and Psychology and serves as the division head for social sciences at Franklin College. Flora has taught psychology at Franklin College since 2007, becoming the department chair in 2009. Before coming to Franklin, Flora was a clinical outcomes analyst and research coordinator at a regional hospital in Wisconsin.

She has served on the steering committee for the Midwest Region of Psi Chi, an international honor society in psychology, and currently serves on the Psi Chi External Affairs Task Force.

Mary Pat Gage (’04 MLIS Library & Information Science) was promoted to library manager-north market for Wheaton Franciscan Healthcare SEWI, covering hospitals and clinics in Milwaukee, Brookfield and Wauwatosa. She previously published “Using a ‘Survivor’ Style Game to Guide Nursing Research into Practice.”

She is a member of the health care organization’s North Market Nursing Research Committee and treasurer of the Southeastern Wisconsin Health Science Libraries Consortium (SWHSL). She is a licensed and registered nurse.

Adam Bastjan, AIA (’06 MAR Architecture), architect and designer on Kahler Slater’s Higher Education and Sports/Wellness teams, is now an associate principal. He regularly serves as an adjunct professor and guest critic at UWM’s School of Architecture and Urban Planning. He is based in Milwaukee.

Rachel L. Kuske (’11 BS Nursing) finished her 4B clinical rotation at Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin and took a job on the same floor immediately following graduation and the NCLEX. She just finished her third year at the hospital.

Kuske

Chris Ludwig, AIA (’06 MARCH Architecture), a project architect on Kahler Slater’s Higher Education Team, is now an associate principal.

His designs have been recognized for excellence by the American Institute of Architects (AIA) and several higher education industry publications.

He is based in Milwaukee.

SHARE YOUR STORIES.

Stephanie Hacker (’07 MUP Urban Planning) was elected to serve as an associate of GRAEF, a Wisconsin-based engineering and consulting firm. Hacker is the practice area leader of the Planning & Urban Design Group and has been with GRAEF for six years.

We love bragging about you.

Won an award? Started a business?

Had an adventure? Welcomed a baby? We’d like to hear about it.

Email your class notes to alumni@uwm.edu or write to: UWM Alumni Association P.O. Box 413 Milwaukee WI 53201.

Hacker

Flora

Sol Caceres (’11 BS Community Education) was a star soccer player on the men’s varsity team. Now he is sharing his talent and passion for the sport with students at Success Academy Upper West in New York. Together with other soccer coaches, he is growing a one-of-a-kind program that helps athletes begin to gain the skills they need to compete at the highest levels.

He recently received a special award from the school’s parent council for “making a difference in their children’s lives.”

Please be sure to include your full name (including maiden name, if applicable), address, year(s) of graduation, degree(s) and major(s).

Photos are welcomed!

FALL 2015 UWM ALUMNI • 41

NEW BOARD MEMBERS THE UWM ALUMNI ASSOCIATION WELCOMED FOUR NEW MEMBERS TO THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES. HERE, THEY SHARE SOME COLLEGE MEMORIES AND THEIR FUTURE PLANS.

Brad Bertler, ’96, BBA in Accounting Global Coordinating Services Partner – Ernst & Young LLP In 20 years in public accounting, Brad Bertler has overseen global services for Wisconsin Fortune 500 companies and helped multinational clients reduce global risk and enhance their earnings per share.

And giving back to the community has been a priority. Bertler serves on the board of directors for the Kettle Moraine YMCA and for Sharp Literacy. He has worked with the United Way and United Performing Arts Fund.

Alumni Association: What was your favorite place on campus?

Brad: Hands down, the real Gasthaus from the early ‘90s.

Alumni Association: Why are you excited to join the board?

Brad: I would like to see UWM be more representative, from a diversity perspective, of the community it serves. I know other alumni share this passion.

Todd Brennan, ’14, MS in Freshwater Sciences & Technology Watershed Project Manager – Alliance for the Great Lakes, serving as a liaison to Great Lakes communities and a voice for the Alliance in Wisconsin Todd Brennan was in the first graduating class of UW-Milwaukee’s School of Freshwater Sciences, focusing on watershed planning and policy, researching farmers’ conservation behavior in the Green Bay watershed. His research helped develop a model for engaging farmers in watershed planning and sub-watershed prioritization within Wisconsin’s phosphorus standards.

UWM ALUMNI

FALL 2015

Social Media Marketing Manager and Strategist – Boelter + Lincoln

In 2009, Michael Kuharske founded Gravity Marketing LLC to help small- and medium-sized organizations grow revenue through its innovative Virtual Marketing Officer (VMO) service.

With 12 years of interactive media and project management experience, Katie KleinMurphy manages the strategic development and implementation of digital and social media within advertising and communications plans at Boelter + Lincoln. In 2015, Klein-Murphy was selected as one of Milwaukee Business Journal’s 40 Under 40.

Brennan works in planning, policy and education to address issues surrounding the health of the Great Lakes watershed.

Alumni Association: What was your favorite place on campus?

Alumni Association: What’s your favorite memory of UWM?

Todd: Most of my time was spent at Freshwater Sciences.

They have a tradition and atmosphere that is supportive and family-like.

Katie: The energy that radiated throughout the campus. Whether it was during a sporting event or everyday conversations in between classes, the energy was palpable and inspired the feeling of being part of a larger global community.

Todd: The UWM network in action! For my work, there are maybe two degrees of separation between me and most folks at Freshwater Sciences. I have collaborated with a former professor who is a titan of Great Lakes research, recruited students to help on a watershed project, hired another student and cohosted a workshop with Freshwater Sciences-affiliated staff and scientists.

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Michael Kuharske, ’04, BBA in Marketing

Passionate about giving back, Klein-Murphy was integral in the social media-driven #Saveteecycle fundraiser. She also volunteers with the Midwest Athletes Against Childhood Cancer (MACC Fund) and Special Olympics Wisconsin.

Alumni Association: How has UWM helped you since graduation?

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Katie Klein-Murphy, ’01, BS in Political Science and International Studies

Alumni Association: Why are you excited to join the board?

Katie: To connect with alumni around the world. I’m able to inspire former and future graduates of UWM to remain connected with the university and to reaffirm the Alumni Association as one of UWM’s leading recruitment and support structures.

Founder and President of Gravity Marketing LLC

Gravity Marketing serves as chief marketing officer for dozens of organizations and companies across the United States.

Located in Milwaukee’s historic Pritzlaff building, the company also houses Gravity Connect, a free community coffee house and gathering place. Kuharske is active in the community, serving on the Walker’s Point Association Board of Directors.

Alumni Association: What’s your favorite memory of UWM? Mike: A toss-up between playing racquetball at the Klotsche Center and catching up on studies in the Union Grind.

Alumni Association: How has UWM helped you since graduation?

Mike: I completed my business degree in the evenings after already establishing myself in business, so I missed the tight-knit relationships so many students experience. It’s been impactful since then to connect with so many fellow business people who share a connection to UWM.

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