Gratitude led alum to fund business school chair

Chris DuPré

Bruce R. Ellig appreciates the way that UW–Madison gave him the tools to succeed.

“The strength of an education at UW–Madison is not so much what you learn, but that you learn how to learn,” says Ellig, who received his bachelor’s degree in 1959 and his master’s degree in 1960. “From my undergraduate years through the master’s program in business, what was most valuable was discovering how to ask the right questions. If you can do that, you can always get the answers you need to move forward.”

The retired corporate vice president in charge of Worldwide Human Resources at Pfizer Inc. has fully funded the Bruce R. Ellig Distinguished Chair in Pay and Organizational Effectiveness in the School of Business, in gratitude for knowledge that ranged beyond his eventual major.

Barry Gerhart, a professor and researcher of human resources, was named to the chair in September. Dean Michael Knetter says the chair will recruit faculty and students.

Ellig, a native of Manitowoc, didn’t start his undergraduate career in the ’50s on a business track. Like many students, he spent his first two years on campus in the College of Letters and Science. “I was intent on going on to Law School,” he says. “My father thought that was a great idea. I was hoping to get a job with the FBI, and I thought being a lawyer would help there. I was a big fan of ‘Perry Mason,'” he adds with a laugh.

But early on it became clear that memorizing case law was not for him.

During his junior year, he “decided to take a look at the business program, or commerce, as it was called at the time,” Ellig says. “I took a class called Wage and Salary Administration with Professor Alton Johnson. I still remember the course number — 174. He was a charming Texan who in his soft-spoken way made the subject very appealing to me.”

Ellig saw that statistical, qualitative and quantitative analysis was something he had a knack for and he took to his business curriculum with relish. Still, he’s grateful that he had the chance to explore different options before settling on his career path. “I enjoyed studying history, literature, economics, you name it,” he says.

His wide-ranging interests paid off in major academic honors. “I graduated both Beta Gamma Sigma, in business, and Phi Beta Kappa,” he says. “Wisconsin is unique in allowing you to take enough courses in a variety of subject areas to earn both keys.”

Among his many accomplishments, Ellig has written the industry reference “The Complete Guide to Executive Compensation.” For students interested in a human resources career, he suggests rotating through different parts of the business to see how they fit together.

“I would advise starting in sales, where you can learn the company, its products, its market and competitors,” he says. “Then you can maybe get into marketing, perhaps into manufacturing, so you can understand how products are produced and positioned. You’ll have a good understanding of the business and the abilities people need to make the organization successful.”