‘Storytellers’ to be honored as Distinguished Alumni Award winners

Five alumni whose positive contributions have earned them national recognition will be honored next month with the 2009 Distinguished Alumni Awards, presented by the Wisconsin Alumni Association (WAA).

The recipients will be honored at an awards program at 5 p.m. on Thursday, April 23, at the Wisconsin Union Theater in Memorial Union. The awards program is free and open to the public.

The Distinguished Alumni Award is the highest honor bestowed by the WAA. The award celebrates outstanding Madison graduates whose professional achievements, contributions to society and support of the university exemplify the Wisconsin Idea.

The 73rd annual Distinguished Alumni Award honorees are:

Walt Bogdanich ’75

Bogdanich earned his bachelor of arts degree in political science from UW-Madison and is now the assistant editor on the investigative desk for the New York Times. He has also worked in television journalism for “60 Minutes” and the ABC newsmagazine “Day One,” where his expose of the tobacco industry led to Congressional hearings and changed the way society looks at cigarettes. Bogdanich also sounded the alarm on issues ranging from substandard medical laboratories to toxic drugs imported from China. His hard-hitting journalism has earned him the distinction of being one of only a handful of people to win three Pulitzer Prizes, as well as four George Polk Awards, an IRE Award and an Overseas Press Club award. He returned to campus as a writer in residence in 2006.

Peter ’65 and Susan ’66 Straub

Both graduates of the English department, Peter and Susan have dedicated their lives to the importance of good literature. As the author of 18 novels and an eight-time recipient of the Bram Stoker Award for horror fiction, Peter is one of American’s leading figures in Gothic literature. His titles include “Koko,” “Julia,” “Marriages” and “Ghost Story,” as well as “The Talisman,” which he co-wrote with Stephen King.

After earning her master’s degree in clinical social work from New York University, Susan pioneered her own award-winning program, Read to Me, which encourages parents to spend more time reading with their young children to enhance academic success later in life.

Peter and Susan are founding members of the Board of Visitors for UW-Madison’s English department, and they provide support for the department’s Peter Straub Distinguished Writer-in-Residence series.

Peter Weil ’70, JD ’74

Soon after graduating from the Law School in 1974, Weil moved to Los Angeles, where he is a managing partner of Glaser, Weil, Fink, Jacobs & Shapiro LLP and a widely recognized expert in real estate law. Most recently, Weil is head of the legal team working on one of the largest environmentally sustainable real estate developments in history, a Las Vegas project known as CityCenter. Every year, Weil and his wife, Julie, host a reception in Los Angeles for prospective UW-Madison students.

Weil also serves on the UW Foundation Board of Directors and has given his support to the departments of political science and history as well as the Law School, the Center for Jewish Studies, the College of Letters and Science and the American Family Children’s Hospital.

Jean Wilkowski MA ’44

After earning her master’s degree in journalism, Wilkowski went into a career with the U.S. Foreign Service, where she developed an expertise in commercial affairs and helped negotiate the expansion of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, which led to the creation of the World Trade Organization. From 1972–79, she served as the first woman ambassador to Zambia and helped change U.S. policy in southern Africa.

In later years, Wilkowski continued to serve the State Department through an assignment at the United Nations, helping to organize the U.S. policy position for a world conference on science and technology. Wilkowski has received six honorary degrees and published her autobiography, “Abroad for Her Country,” in April 2008.

A reception and dinner will follow the awards program at Memorial Union. Details, online registration and more information about the 2009 recipients are available at http://uwalumni.com/daa.