Alumna establishes chair in Russian history

Alice D. Mortenson, an alumna of UW–Madison with a degree in history, has established a chair in her “home department.” The Alice D. Mortenson/Petrovich Chair in Russian History also honors Michael B. Petrovich, an esteemed faculty member in the history department.

“I wanted to do something for my university, of which I am very proud,” says Mortenson, who lives in Minneapolis and is director of community relations for the M. A. Mortenson Co. “I wanted to recognize and support an excellent teacher.”

The faculty member named to the chair must have a record of excellence in undergraduate teaching, a scholarly concentration in Russian history and devote at least 25 percent of his or her professional time to teaching Russian history to undergraduates.

“Alice Mortenson’s generosity is a model of the difference professors can make in the lives of students and the difference alumni can make in the life of the university,” says Professor Steve J. Stern, chair of the UW–Madison history department. “Her gift is also a wonderful tribute to Professor Michael Petrovich, a superb scholar who pioneered multimedia techniques in the teaching of history and whose dedication to teaching and students was legendary.”

Of the professor who inspired her studies, Mortenson says: “Dr. Petrovich wouldn’t have known who I was from Adam. He was such a great teacher. I took every class he taught that I could as an undergraduate, although I couldn’t imagine that he would have even known my name.”

This latest commitment is one of many Mortenson has made in support of activities in UW–Madison’s College of Letters and Science. “To me, the College of Letters and Science is really the foundation of the university,” she says. “It’s where everyone, even those heading for professional programs in areas like medicine and engineering, get their core education. It establishes the base of knowledge that makes a UW graduate well-rounded and aware of the world.”

Emphasizing undergraduate education in the Russian history chair was important for Mortenson. “It’s set up to reward a scholar with a track record of excellence in teaching, not just an excellent historian,” she says. “Great teachers lead to future investigation of areas the student is interested in. I’m sure that all the Nobel Prize winners had a fabulous teacher who inspired them at sometime to follow their passion.”

The gift is part of the University of Wisconsin Foundation’s Create the Future: The Wisconsin Campaign.