Doyle appoints two to Board of Regents

Gov. Jim Doyle appointed Thomas Loftus and Christopher Semenas to the University of Wisconsin System’s Board of Regents.

Loftus will leave the post he has held since 1998 as the special adviser to the director general of the World Health Organization and will return to Sun Prairie, Wis., to live. Loftus’ Board of Regents appointment is effective July 1 and will expire on May 1, 2011.

From November 1993 to December 1997, Loftus was the United States ambassador to the Kingdom of Norway. He also served in the Wisconsin Legislature from 1977-91 and was the speaker of the house from 1983-91. During his tenure as speaker, he created and served as chair of the Committee on the Future of the University of Wisconsin System. The committee’s recommendations were adopted and led to a major reform of the UW System.

Loftus holds a bachelor’s degree from UW-Whitewater and a master’s degree from UW–Madison. He is a member of the UW political science department’s advisory board, a member of the alumni group working with the dean of International Studies setting up a UW international semester in Washington, D.C., and a member of the College of Letters and Science Dean’s Advisory Board at UW-Whitewater.

“Tom Loftus is uniquely qualified. I have great confidence in Tom, a friend of 30 years,” Doyle said. “He will help the regents find a way to ensure that the University of Wisconsin System remains one of the world’s premier systems of higher education.

“The University System, the state and Wisconsin’s businesses must compete in a global marketplace. Tom’s breadth of experience will help keep that perspective at the forefront,” Doyle added.

Semenas will replace Beth Richlen as the student representative. His appointment is effective immediately and will expire May 1, 2007.

Semenas is the first student regent appointed from UW-Parkside, where he is in his fourth year majoring in English and history. He is the past president of the Parkside Student Government Association. He also was president pro tempore and legislative issues director for the Student Government Association, where he was awarded the Director of the Year award in 2003. He currently is the campus events assistant at the Office of Student Activities. Semenas is actively involved in United Council of UW Students and the United States Student Association. He is a native of Rosendale, Wis.

“Christopher Semenas has been an active member of UW-Parkside since he arrived on the campus,” Doyle said. “He has a solid grasp of the issues confronting students and will be an outstanding voice for the over 160,000 students in the UW-System.”