WAA celebrates 140 years

The Wisconsin Alumni Association plans to celebrate 140 years of “connecting, enriching and serving” UW–Madison graduates with a full weekend of events May 11-12.

The anniversary celebration coincides with Alumni Weekend 2001, when more than 600 former students return to campus for class reunions, discussions and tours. At Friday’s “Day on Campus,” for example, they’ll have a chance to hear some of UW–Madison’s top professors once again.

WAA got its start June 26, 1861, when Charles Wakely, one of the first two students to graduate from UW–Madison, founded WAA on the belief that UW alumni needed a formal organization to promote the best interests of the university beyond graduation. Since that day, WAA has grown into an organization touching more than 333,000 alumni around the world, including 119,000 in Wisconsin and 70,000 in Dane County.

Today, WAA provides an array of services, including the quarterly On Wisconsin alumni magazine, international educational travel programs, athletic tours, career resources and mentoring services, student-related programming and scholarships, online services, legislative advocacy for higher education, awards, numerous alumni learning opportunities, and social events like the UW football Badger Huddles(r) and class reunions.

“We have a global pool of truly remarkable UW–Madison graduates,” says Paula Bonner, WAA president and CEO, “and throughout our 140 years, we have
continued to develop increasingly innovative programs and services that keep them connected to the university. We’re proud of our working mission.”

Four alumni will be honored at the Distinguished Alumni Awards ceremony on Friday, May 11, as part of the weekend’s celebration. And many “household names” are also alumni: Joan Cusack, the actress starring in “Grosse Pointe Blank” and the comedy TV series “Joan”; longtime actor and star of “Cocoon,” Don Ameche; “Malcolm in the Middle” mom Jane Kaczmarek; the Munchkin coroner in “The Wizard of Oz,” Meinhart Raabe; Butch Vig, music producer of “Garbage” fame; Michael Mann, “The Insider” filmmaker; and many more.