Badgers take a bite out of Big Apple

It’s well known that alumni of the University of Wisconsin–Madison make a mark everywhere they go.

But very few places do they have as big of an influence as they do in New York City, where a core group of movers and shakers are deeply influential in the worlds of finance, sports, media, fashion and art.

University Communications video producer Justin Bomberg recently spent time in New York to meet with some of the most distinguished alums to hear insights into how the university shaped their careers.

“Big Apple Badgers” launches with a profile of Jeff Sprecher, a Madison native and former Wisconsin State Journal paperboy, who went on to earn a degree in chemical and biological engineering in 1978.

Today, he’s founder, chairman and CEO of Intercontinental Exchange and chairman of the New York Stock Exchange, one of the world’s most powerful financial institutions.

Watch the video:

Additional profiles will roll out later this month and in January. They include:

• Stacy Igel, founder of the Boy Meets Girl clothing line, 1999 retailing graduate from the School of Human Ecology and 2005 graduate from the Wisconsin School of Business.
• Jerome and Mona Chazen, university benefactors and founders of the Chazen Museum of Art in Madison. Jerome is a 1948 graduate of the College of Letters & Science, founder and chairman of Chazen Capital Partners and chairman emeritus and co-founder of Liz Claiborne Inc.
• Troy Vincent, former Badgers and NFL star and current NFL executive vice president of football operations.
• Gabe Stulman, restaurateur in the “Little Wisco” section of the West Village and a 2003 Letters & Science graduate.

The series is a follow-up to “Badgerwood,” an exploration of influential Badgers in the entertainment industry.