University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee | UWM Alumni | Spring 2023

UWM ALUMNI

A Publication of the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee

UNION RENOVATIONS AND NEW CHEMISTRY BUILDING NEARLY COMPLETE

By Laura L. Otto

UWM is undergoing a makeover. Construction of a new chemistry building on Kenwood Boulevard is nearing completion, and a much-needed face-lift for the UWM Student Union is set to conclude by the end of the year.

The new chemistry building replaces the current 1970s-era structure. The $118 million four-story, 163,400-squarefoot building will provide modern space for the nearly 5,000 UWM students who take chemistry and biochemistry classes each year.

The new building will consist of classrooms, lecture halls, offices and formal and informal collaboration spaces. Its design is intended to connect researchers, students and the

STEM community in a common area on campus.

The new facilities will support learning for UWM chemistry students and students in fields ranging from freshwater sciences to engineering, said Kristen Murphy, chemistry professor and department chair. The building is scheduled to open in late 2023 or early 2024.

Live photos of the construction can be found by searching online for “UWM chemistry webcam.”

Across Maryland Avenue to the east, the Student Union is being transformed. The 350,000-square-foot building, which was built in stages in the 1950s, ’60s and ’70s, gets around 20,000 visitors a

day during the academic year.

Current students are already enjoying the new furniture and large windows that brighten the ground-floor concourse with natural light for the first time. The basement-level Gasthaus will soon have a refreshed look, too.

The space that once held the UWM Bookstore has been divided, housing the PantherShop on one side of a new corridor and the Tech Store, Books by eCampus, and Center for Community Based Learning, Leadership and Research on the other side.

Another focus of the $40.7 million renovation has been upgrading the Union’s mechanical, electrical and alarm systems, and restoring the exterior.

The newly renovated main entrance inside the UWM Student Union.

A MESSAGE FROM CHANCELLOR MONE

As you read through this edition of UWM Alumni, you’ll see prime examples of the countless ways UWM makes positive impacts on people. They are reminders of why the value of UWM, and of higher education in general, has never been higher.

Every year, UWM graduates more than 5,000 students, and more than 80% of them stay in Wisconsin. They join our workforces, raise their families and become active members of our communities.

Similar stories play out at colleges across the country, and the benefits are tangible. College graduates, on average, earn $1 million more over their lifetime than those without a college degree. They’re also more likely to be employed, own a home, donate to charity, live longer, volunteer and vote, while being less likely to be unemployed, impoverished or imprisoned. And that’s just the broad view of things.

Industry experts are sounding alarm bells about Wisconsin needing more health care workers, and nobody is better positioned to train them than UWM. We already have the state’s largest Health Sciences program. You’ll see on this page and the next how our new Ziemer Clinical Simulation Center has become a critical educational component. But our enrollment is at capacity, and we’re hopeful the state will fund plans for a new facility that increases enrollment by 15%. I know doing so will provide another powerful example of the value UWM delivers, time and time again.

Best regards,

DELIVERING A NEXT-GEN HEALTH CARE EDUCATION

UWM celebrated the Fall 2022 opening of the James and Yvonne Ziemer Clinical Simulation Center, a state-of-the-art facility that provides a nextgeneration educational experience for future health care professionals.

The 22,000-square-foot center at the Northwest Quad complex includes experiential learning spaces like staged hospital, surgical, intensive care and labor/delivery rooms. It features sophisticated, programmable manikins that breathe, sweat and give birth. There are also simulated settings for an apartment and clinic, as well as lab spaces.

Moreover, the facility allows nursing and health sciences students to learn and work together as teams, just as they would in real-world settings. The center is named in honor of James and Yvonne Ziemer, who donated $1 million in support of the College of Nursing in 2015. James Ziemer is a three-time alumnus and former CEO and president of Harley-Davidson. Other significant gifts came from GE Healthcare, which provided more than $450,000 in medical equipment, and Constance A. (Connie) Greiser, a

M-CUBED PROGRAM PRODUCES FIRST COLLEGE GRADUATES

Kayla Jackson’s May graduation represents both an individual and a collective success story. Jackson is one of the first UWM graduates who benefited from the M³ College Connections program, a partnership involving UWM, Milwaukee Area Technical College and Milwaukee Public Schools. She credits the educational psychology course she took through that program with giving her the tools to succeed in earning her bachelor’s degree.

“I learned the process of college and the class format. I was able to see how different high school and college were,” said Jackson, who did a double major in psychology and neuroscience on the pre-med track at UWM. “I was better prepared to make the transition into college.”

College Connections is an award-winning M³ (pronounced M-Cubed) program that allows eligible MPS students to complete their high school graduation requirements while earning up to 20 college credits.

Since the 2019 launch of the pilot courses, 325 high school students have gone through the program, including 87 students in the latest session. They take mathematics and English courses at MATC and an educational psychology class and ethnic studies class at UWM. The educational psychology course focuses on helping high school students develop the tools they need to succeed in college. That course has expanded to help high school students select majors and consider future careers.

Mark A. Mone, PhD Chancellor

“It was great to get those credits and save some tuition money,” said Jackson, who also worked for UWM as a campus ambassador.

“I’d recommend College Connections to others,” Jackson said. “I learned where to go for support and to not be afraid to ask your teachers questions. It’s been amazing.”

– Kathy Quirk

Kayla Jackson

nursing alumna who donated $225,000 to fund the Public Home and Health Learning Lab.

The center reflects UWM’s continuing commitment to providing a world-class education while meeting the health care industry’s growing workforce needs. And that need is acute, according to the Wisconsin Hospital Association’s 2023 Workforce Report, which declared, “The health care workforce must grow faster to meet the increased demand for health care created by an aging population.”

UWM already enrolls 2,000 health sciences students and 1,500 nursing students every year, but it’s at capacity. That’s why UWM is seeking state investment for a $181 million renovation of the Northwest Quad complex.

Doing so will consolidate UWM’s health sciences programs, labs and classrooms in a modern, interdisciplinary facility while allowing a 15% increase in health sciences enrollment. That means 500 local partners could hire 3,000 more employees over 10 years.

– Howie Magner

UWM INTERNSHIPS GET FAST FORWARD BOOST

UWM has received more than $590,000 to develop and offer paid internship opportunities for students in collaboration with area businesses.

The grant comes from the state Department of Workforce Development’s Wisconsin Fast Forward Program, which connects UWM students with meaningful work experience in two areas – green energy, and the social sciences and humanities.

“We are grateful to DWD for this funding,” UWM Chancellor Mark Mone said. “It will enhance the vital role UWM plays in developing the highly skilled workforce that Wisconsin companies need and have come to expect from our graduates. Our emphasis on real-world experience is part of what makes a UWM degree so valuable, and more than 80% of our graduates in the last decade live and work in Wisconsin.”

More than half of the funding, $382,000, is being used on paid internships in Wisconsin’s green energy and clean water industries. Between 40 and 50 student interns will be placed in more than a dozen companies across the state, said Prasenjit

Guptasarma, associate dean in the College of Engineering & Applied Science, who is overseeing this part of the program. The remainder of the funding, $208,624, is earmarked to develop internship opportunities for 20 students in the areas of social sciences and the humanities, majors in which students often can find only unpaid internships.

This part of the funding extends a program that began last year when the Department of Workforce Development provided $500,000 to fund 100 UWM student internship opportunities with a focus on recruiting students from underrepresented backgrounds, said Laurie Marks, executive director of the Office of Student Experience and Talent, who is managing both of the grants.

“This new funding provides us with more opportunity to get UWM students the on-the-job experience they need to start their careers and allows them to begin building a professional network,” Marks said.

“Support for these programs also ensures that employers have a diverse and skilled workforce pipeline they can rely on.”

– Laura L. Otto

UWM nursing students in the Ziemer Clinical Simulation Center.

Isaac Gonzales (right) , shown here with his Molson-Coors supervisor Jonah Turner, earned one of UWM's first Fast Forward paid internships, which later became a job with the company.

HOW UWM HELPS STUDENTS WHO ARE PARENTS SUCCEED

YOUNG ALUM CARVES A PERSONAL ROLE IN JOURNALISM

When Nyesha Stone graduated from UWM in 2018 with her degree in journalism, advertising and media studies, she wasn’t quite sure if she wanted to go into traditional newspaper journalism, and jobs were scarce.

When she arrived on the UWM campus, Justice Grau was pregnant with her son, Jaxson. Grau knew the importance of obtaining a degree, but also understood that this wouldn’t be an easy accomplishment.

“We don’t have family in Milwaukee, and we were new to the area,” Grau said. “I knew I would need support navigating higher education as a firstgeneration student and soon-to-be parent.” She found her answer at UWM through the Life Impact program, which transitioned into the Student Parent Success Program in 2021.

With the support those programs provided, Grau earned her bachelor’s degree in community education, then graduated in December 2022 with a master’s degree in cultural foundations of community engagement and education, as well as a certificate in racial and social justice in education.

The Student Parent Success and Life Impact programs were invaluable to her. “Whenever I was having a hard day, juggling all my responsibilities as a firstgeneration student parent, their offices were always open,” Grau said. “It made me feel seen and recognized. I don’t think I would have graduated without that support, to be honest.”

Jaxson is now 4 years old, and Grau works for the American Civil Liberties

Union as

a community engagement director.

The Life Impact program started in 2005 as a collaboration with the Jane Bradley Pettit Foundation and was originally a pilot program serving a select group of undergraduate parents. Today, the Student Parent Success Program is open to all 1,300 of UWM’s student parents, including undergraduate, graduate and international students.

The program “provides students an opportunity to connect with their parenting peers and receive individualized support from program staff when needed,” said Rachel Kubczak, the program’s director.

At UWM, Grau found that the School of Education’s program in community education matched her interests. She particularly remembers the support she received from Agnes Williams, lecturer in educational policy and community studies. “She was my first-ever Black woman teacher in my entire life,” Grau said. “She was so supportive. It was so encouraging to see someone that looks like you and understands.”

These days, Grau makes a point of telling other parents about her own experiences at UWM. “I want to let people know they can feel supported as I felt supported when I found UWM’s program.”

– Kathy Quirk

So she launched her own communications business, Carvd N Stone, even before she graduated. It has been successful enough that Stone is providing scholarships to help other young creatives.

Stone started Carvd N Stone in 2017 as a news company. Initially, she began posting features to her website, much like a blog, that emphasized positive stories. “People ask why, and I say, ‘Why are we OK with the way news is right now? Why do we accept news as just focusing on the negative when news is just getting information out?’”

In 2020, Carvd N Stone expanded to offer marketing services. “A lot of people need help with the media,” she said. “They don’t know how to connect with the media.”

She started relatively small, providing news releases and newsletters, and has since added social media, campaigns and commercials. Along the way, she’s developed an impressive list of clients, including Safe & Sound, Quad/Graphics and the Greater Milwaukee Foundation. She also serves on the board of the Milwaukee Press Club.

“What’s cool is I’m Black and I’m young. Most PR companies are white-male driven, so they don’t have the perspective that I have,” Stone said. “Since I started in college, I’ve been doing something in journalism every single day for six years. I tell people, in order to get better at something, you’ve got to keep doing it. Be consistent and don’t give up on yourself.”

– Kathy Quirk

Nyesha Stone

Justice Grau (left) getting some graduation cap help from her son, Jaxson.

MAKING SPORTS MORE ACCESSIBLE FOR DEAF FANS

What is “Giannis Antetokounmpo” in American Sign Language? Well, long.

But Brice Christianson knows that if you just fingerspell “Giannis,” then everyone knows you’re referencing the Milwaukee Bucks’ global superstar.

Christianson is an alum of UWM’s Interpreter Training Program in the School of Education, now a stand-alone degree program in American Sign Language/ English Interpreting. He launched his P-X-P business (which stands for “play by play”) two years ago, focusing on interpreting for entertainment and sports.

He interprets news conferences for the Milwaukee Bucks and events for the National Hockey League, and he recently signed a deal with the OL Reign, a pro women’s soccer club in Seattle.

“Brice has been and continues to be an incredible resource to the Deaf community,” said Barry Baum, chief communications officer of the Milwaukee Bucks and Fiserv Forum. “Fans in the Deaf community have shown incredible appreciation of having him sign our press conferences for the coach and players, pregame and postgame.”

Both of Christianson’s parents were deaf, and he grew up with ASL.

His interest in sports interpreting initially grew from a podcast he started about the Green Bay Packers five years ago. A good friend, who is now his business partner, is deaf. That friend suggested he provide interpreting for the podcast.

“That’s when it clicked,” Christianson said. “I thought about my dad growing

up, and from there, I really started looking at the inaccessibility of sports within the Deaf community.”

Although closed captioning is accessible, Christianson’s interpretation takes things to the next level. Providing deaf and hard of hearing fans access to their visual language, he said, conveys more of the emotion, inflection and tone of what is being said. – Kathy

Quirk

STEPPING UP TO SUPPLY CRUCIAL MEDICAL MATERIAL

A UWM chemistry professor and several graduates of his lab are helping two Wisconsin companies produce a vital material that was, until recently, only available from foreign sources.

The material is molybdenum-99 (Mo-99), the parent of technetium-99m (Tc-99m). It’s the most widely used radioisotope in the world for diagnostic medical imaging, according to Mark Dietz, UWM chemistry professor.

About 10 years ago, after repeated disruptions to supplies of Mo-99 from abroad, the Department of Energy wanted to encourage production of this critical radioisotope in the United States.

Two Wisconsin companies – NorthStar Medical Radioisotopes in Beloit and SHINE Medical Technologies in Janesville – took up the challenge of producing Mo-99 domestically.

But doing so wasn’t easy. The companies needed chemists who were skilled in separations involving radioactive materials, and that’s where UWM came in. Over the last four years, five graduates of Dietz’s research group, all trained in this highly specialized work, have been hired by the companies.

“UWM and its graduates have contributed to Wisconsin employers’ ability to solve a

problem of national importance,” Dietz said.

Jim Harvey, senior vice president and chief science officer for NorthStar Medical Radioisotopes, talked about the importance of the talent pipeline to that growing company at the January toppingoff ceremony for UWM’s new chemistry building.

NorthStar has hired doctoral and other UWM graduates who support the company’s nuclear medicine business producing radiopharmaceuticals. These are used in the diagnosis and treatment of many diseases, including cancer and conditions that affect the heart.

“What we have found is that we can give these young people that we have hired major projects important to our company, and they can hit the ground running,” Harvey said.

“This is the type of student we need; this is the type of graduate we need.”

– Kathy Quirk

Brice Christianson (top right) doing sign language interpretation of a Giannis Antetokounmpo news conference.

Chemistry Professor Mark Dietz (third from right) and his lab alumni.

BUILDING AN ESPORTS CULTURE IN MILWAUKEE

Brandon Tschacher remembers typing “Milwaukee esports” into a search engine several years ago, wanting to find more information about the city’s competitive video gaming landscape. But his esports inquiry only returned “a mishmash of disjointed search results.”

“This is the state’s largest metro area, and esports is a billion-dollar industry in the U.S.,” he remembers thinking. “If I can’t find information on how to get involved here, how could anyone else?”

So, in November 2020, he began building what is now the MKEsports Alliance, an organization that works to create intersection points for the Wisconsin gaming community. It also advocates nationally for the region to attract esports investment.

The alliance recently held the second annual Wisconsin Esports Summit at UWM Panther Arena, drawing 136 organizations and more than 350 attendees.

The ultimate goal of the alliance is to continue boosting economic development around the sector in Wisconsin, said Tschacher, who earned a business administration degree from UWM in 2008. The ecosystem encompasses not only players and teams, but also the facilities, gaming lounges, marketing, and tourism and hospitality sectors.

Gaming tournaments go back more than 20 years, but the industry has really exploded since the early 2010s, Tschacher said. And, while large tournament events aren’t yet frequent in Milwaukee, he is betting that the alliance’s influence will stimulate that trend.

Such a catalyst has helped other U.S. cities gain ground in attracting the different facets of competitive gaming in esports, said Tschacher, who also operates the Chalker Group, a business consulting company.

And Tschacher sees esports as an opportunity to promote STEM education – the disciplines of science, technology, engineering and math. Working with New Horizons of Wisconsin and Milwaukee Public Schools, Tschacher helped develop a summer camp program that introduces school-age children to marketable skills that help bring competitive gaming to life. – Laura

L. Otto

RESTORING

THE ROAR IN LUNDY‘S FIRST SEASON

It’s the kind of season that makes people take notice.

UWM’s men’s basketball team was the Horizon League’s surprise package for the 2022-23 season. The Panthers, a preseason pick to place ninth out of 11 teams under new coach Bart Lundy, answered the doubts by finishing second and posting a whole lot of firsts.

In addition to their league success, the Panthers made their first postseason appearance since 2014 by playing in the College Basketball Invitational. An 87-83 victory over Stetson – highlighted by BJ Freeman’s tournament-record 43 points –marked their first postseason win since 2006. The final 22-12 record was UWM’s first winning season since the 2015-16 campaign, when they went 20-13. And it was the most wins for the Panthers since they went 22-9 in 2005-06

The success rekindled local interest in the team, boosting home attendance and generating a positive media buzz. It also caught the eye of national outlets. Looking back on the ’22-’23 season, CBSSports.com called Lundy one of the best coaching hires among mid-major schools and even suggested a league title could be on the horizon.

As far as Lundy’s concerned, the Panthers are just getting started.

“We want to build on this,” Lundy told UWM’s Roar Report. “The core coming back should get better. And then if you do it the right way and you add good pieces, good character guys, to that core, you continuously get better. But the most difficult thing is to stay relevant and good. Sometimes it’s easier to get there than it is to stay there. But, I mean, we’re going to work.”

They’ll do so in the brand-new Orthopaedic Hospital of Wisconsin Center, which is connected to the Klotsche Center and Pavilion and houses modern practice facilities for the men’s and women’s basketball teams.

“This facility does a lot of things for our program,” Lundy said. “It's game-changing.”

You could say the same thing about Lundy’s first season with the Panthers. – Howie

Magner

Esports advocate Brandon Tschacher

BJ Freeman

GIFTS WILL HELP MORE UWM STUDENTS GRADUATE

Donors are helping UWM close the gap in graduation rates between students of color and white students and improve the graduation rate for all students by 2030.

This spring, the We Energies Foundation gave the UWM Foundation $2 million to endow student success programs, such as emergency and retention grants, coaching, staffing and tools for advising, and to provide scholarships.

This builds on a $1 million gift from We Energies to UWM’s Moon Shot Initiative – the sweeping initiative that is central to UWM’s work as a student-focused university.

In addition, a group of donors recently committed $2.1 million through their partnership with the Greater Milwaukee

Foundation (GMF) to establish the Moon Shot for Equity Fund at GMF, which provides students with emergency grants for sudden needs, re-entry grants for students returning to school, and grants for students facing financial barriers to completing their degree.

In 2020, EAB, a national higher education consulting firm, partnered with UWM, Milwaukee Area Technical College, UW-Parkside and Carthage College to create Moon Shot for Equity. It became the country’s first group of colleges and universities to work regionally to improve college completion rates and eliminate the equity gap.

UWM has already seen improvements. The gap in six-year graduation rates

between underrepresented minority students and non-underrepresented minority students at UWM improved from 17.6% in 2021 to 14.2% in 2022. UWM students who received retention grants or emergency grants were more likely to stay in school, and success coaching has also kept students on track.

“We have learned there are things we can do to make all our students more successful,” said Kay Eilers, UWM’s associate vice chancellor for enrollment management.

“But funding those efforts has been beyond our reach. These gifts will help us continue to move the needle on this critical goal of improving graduation rates.”

– Kari Pink