2009-2010 Annual Report - Wayland Academy

Matt Nielsen `90
Twenty years ago, Matt Nielsen was a teenager living in Glen Dye dormitory.
Now, he is the Chief Operating Officer of Nielsen-Massey Vanillas. The paths that
lead us from one place to another in life are often difficult to formulate into a
linear narrative, but Matt gives a lot of credit to Wayland for helping him become
the man he is today. “Not everyone would necessarily agree with this, but I
matured tremendously over the three years I was at Wayland,” he said. “I came in
as a complete slacker, but I took the opportunities Wayland gave me, and I
graduated a more well-rounded person than when I came in.”
He was the third child in his family to attend Wayland, as his brother Craig
graduated in 1982 and his sister Beth did so in 1988, and the main thing he recalls
about his time at Wayland Academy is the friends that he made and still keeps in
touch with today. “The friendships were with people not only from the Midwest,
but throughout the country and internationally. There were people from the Middle
East and exchange students from Korea. It was a unique experience to go to school
and live in such close quarters with such a diverse community.”
Marilea & Richard Keating
William Keating `00
David Larson `71
Elizabeth Boucher Lee `99
Jason Liao `94
Ruth & Robert Martin
Susie Cubberly McDonald `59
Stephen Miller `59
Thomas Moore `62
Peter Morton `53
Eric Nagle `82
Alan Neil
Rosemary & Phillip Resch
Elizabeth & Erik Ritman
F. Robert Russo, Jr. `71
Ann Sensenbrenner Salutz `78
Nadia Samadani Kathwari `97
Sara Sanderson `74 &
Eric Weaver
John Santucci
Linda Adams & Charles Schleevogt
Charles E. Shaw `94
Janet Brown Smith `57
George Socha, Jr. `75
Jean Duchow Solomon `62
Mary Strange `58
Nancy Swanson
Braden Tempas `89
Philip Templeton `64
Leann & Paul Tramm
Michael VanHaren `82
Ruth Ann & Thomas Watkins `54
Kathleen & Steven Weinstein
Peter Williams `89
Christopher Wilson `67
Wendy Wilson `71
Jennifer `86 & Arthur Wirtz `86
Richard Wittnebel `53
Mary Margaret Wohlwend
Jung Sook Kim & Jin Mo Yang
Yeping Sun & Lei Yao
Jianhong Che & Xiaogang Zhang
BayCare Clinic Foundation
Horicon Bank
Matt Nielsen `90
Nielsen also recalls how important the faculty and staff were to his formation at the
time. “I can't say I was a perfect angel,” he recalls. “The academy was good for providing structure for my life and seeing
potential in me that I didn't know I had, and that came from the teachers as well as the staff.” In particular, he singles out
his mentor, current Interim President Joe Lennertz H`86, as a source of tremendous support in good times and bad. He
also recalls that George Cobb H`80 and Eli Seighman H`71, who was the head resident of Glen Dye at the time, supplied
essential support during his time at Wayland, as did then president, the late Dr. William Ellis H`67. “They all in one way
or another challenged me,” he recalls.
It’s because he had such a good experience at Wayland that Matt Nielsen describes his donations to the school not just as
charity, or something that makes him feel good. He refers to it as a responsibility. “I feel I had a duty to give back to
Wayland,” he says, “so that other students can have that opportunity that I had. And if I have children, I want to send them
there. I have to help and make sure that that opportunity is viable. It was too important a part of my life to ignore.”
Keating Foundation, Inc.
Menasha Corporation Foundation
The Retirement Research Foundation
Faculty Level
The Faculty Level recognizes donors
who contribute from $400 to $499
during the fiscal year.
Daniel Barber `56
Julia & Thomas Behrenbeck
Steven Detweiler `65
George Dowell
Anne Provost Drummond `75
Marilynn Hamar
Elaine Hill
Linda & Thomas Lutes
Marc Stecker `78
Nichol & Craig Swenson
Julie & Dean Wahl
David Walton
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