Five UW-Madison graduates join Wisconsin Alumni Association board

Five accomplished graduates of the University of Wisconsin–Madison have been named new members of the Wisconsin Alumni Association (WAA) Board of Directors.

“All five alumni bring wise counsel and experienced stewardship to our organization as we prepare to begin celebrating our 150th anniversary,” says Paula Bonner MS’78, WAA’s president and CEO. “They are a vital part of connecting UW–Madison alumni and friends back to our wonderful university and to each other.”

New WAA board members include:

• Shawn Bergemann ’74, MBA’80, retired senior director for global financial shared services, Motorola, LaGrange, Ill.;
• Stephen Jarchow ’74, MS’76, JD’76, chairman, Here Media and Regent Entertainment, Inc., Dallas, Los Angeles and Madison;
• Peter S. Kies ’87, MS’89, managing director, Robert W. Baird & Co., Milwaukee;
• Dale Nitschke ’84, CEO & managing partner, Ovative/Group, Minneapolis; and
• Kelli Trumble ’79, secretary of tourism for the State of Wisconsin, Madison, and Wisconsin Dells, Wis.

As members of the WAA board, these alumni partner with the association’s executive leadership and staff to drive the strategic thinking and direction of the independently financed, nonprofit organization, serving more than 376,000 living alumni.

WAA board members provide governance and financial oversight for WAA, and serve as ambassadors for the association and the university to strengthen constituent relationships with the campus, the corporate community, state government and alumni in Wisconsin and around the world.

Renee H. Ramirez ’83, executive director of the Waukesha County Community Dental clinic in Waukesha, Wis., will serve as chair of the board for 2010-11. Ramirez works in her community to support youth, parents and public education, and has campaigned in the Waukesha and Milwaukee areas for the WAA’s Alumni for Wisconsin volunteer advocacy organization.

Ramirez earned her bachelor’s degree in international relations and economics from UW–Madison. Ramirez, who has served four terms on the WAA board, succeeds Peter Christianson ’71, JD’77, attorney at DeWitt, Ross & Stevens S.C., as the board’s chairman.

Current board members also include:

• Nancy Ballsrud MBA’82, (2nd vice chair) retired vice president of administrative division and regional treasurer for Latin America, Cargill Inc., Minnetonka, Minn.;
• John Baumann ’82, president and CEO, The Swiss Colony, Inc., Monroe, Wis.;
• Theodore “Ted” Beck MBA’76, president and CEO, National Endowment for Financial Education, Denver;
• Peter Christianson ’71, JD’77, attorney at Madison-based firm DeWitt Ross & Stevens SC;
• Ken Ciriacks ’58, retired vice present, AMOCO Corp., Chicago;
• Megan Costello ’07, associate outreach specialist, College of Letters and Science, UW–Madison (ex-officio);
• H. Margo Edl, member of the UW School of Veterinary Medicine’s board of visitors, Middleton, Wis.;
• Tom Emmrich ’83, MBA’84, president, Dassault Systemes Americas, Charlotte, N.C.;
• Farrah Flanagan ’98, editor/producer, CNN Media Operations, Atlanta;
• David Florin ’92, (1st vice chair) president of Hiebing, a Madison-based marketing communications firm;
• Curt Fuszard ’76, president and CEO, Associated Investment Services, Middleton, Wis.;
• Jean Towell Gebhard ’78, assistant director of media relations, Northwestern Mutual, Milwaukee;
• Diana Haugen ’05, Chandler Chicco (PR) Agency, Santa Monica, Calif.;
• Georgia Herrera ’82, JD’85, Law Offices of Georgia L. Herrera, Racine, Wis.;
• Jack Kaiser JD’76, practicing partner at Schrage & Kaiser Law Firm, Eau Claire, Wis.;
• Peter Kappelman ’85, owner, Meadowbrook Farms, Manitowoc, Wis.;
• Christopher Kozina ’92, chief human resources officer, MillerCoors, Winnetka, Ill.;
• Tom Llaurado, president, Wisconsin Alumni Student Board (ex-officio);
• Chancellor Biddy Martin PhD’85 and Vince Sweeney ’78, vice chancellor for university relations, UW–Madison (ex-officio);
• D. Cecil Martin ’99, educational speaker, National Collegiate Scouting Association, Evanston, Ill.;
• Bill McCoshen ’87, vice president of Madison-based Capitol Consultants, Inc.;
• William “Bill” Raaths ’69, chief executive, Aurizon Ultrasonics LLC, and chairman, Great Northern Corporation, Appleton, Wis.;
• Jay Sekelsky ’81, MBA’87, managing director, Madison Investment Advisors, Inc., Middleton;
• Stephanie Swartz ’74, senior nurse consultant, Gundersen Lutheran Medical Center, LaCrescent, Minn.;
• Fran Taylor ’68, board chair of the University of Wisconsin Foundation (ex-officio);
• Martha Vukelich-Austin ’81, president, Foundation for Madison’s Public Schools, Madison;
• Jeff Wiesner ’83, retired partner from Accenture, Waukesha, Wis.; and
• Andrew “Sandy” Wilcox, president of the University of Wisconsin Foundation (ex-officio).