2008–2009 Almanac - School of Human Ecology - University of ...

University of Wisconsin-Madison 

School of Human Ecology 

2008–2009 Almanac

2008–2009 

Almanac 

The 2008–2009 Almanac documents the School of Human Ecology 

during the period September 2007 through December 2008. 

Improving the Quality of Human Life

Contents 

7 Contacting the School of Human Ecology 

8 Snapshot 

10 Overview 

Mission 

Values and Operating Principles 

History 

Timeline 

Leadership and Administration 

Administrative Staff 

Budget: 2007–2008 Expenditures 

Facilities 

16 Students 

Student Profile 

Tuition and Fees 

Financial Aid 

Student Clubs 

23 Academics 

Departments and Majors 

Graduate Degrees Awarded 

List of Faculty by Department 

Human Ecology Committees 

Preschool Laboratories 

Campus Centers Based at Human Ecology 

Helen Louise Allen Textile Collection 

Design Gallery 

Wisconsin Child Welfare Training System 

34 Recent Faculty Scholarship, Creative Endeavors and Outreach 

Consumer Science 

Design Studies 

Human Development and Family Studies 

Interdisciplinary Studies 

Extension Activities 

Other Outreach Activities 

4 SoHE Almanac 2008–2009

Contents 

51 Alumni and Donor Interests 

Wisconsin Alumni Association 

Board of Visitors 

63 Impact of Private Support 

www.sohe.wisc.edu 5

Contact Information 

Contacting the School of Human Ecology 

By mail 

School of Human Ecology 

University of Wisconsin-Madison 

1300 Linden Drive 

Madison, WI 53706 

By phone 

(608) 262-4847 

On the Web 

www.sohe.wisc.edu 

Giving opportunities 

http://www.uwfoundation.wisc.edu/home/findgiftopportunity/ 

byschool/sohe/sohe.aspx 

www.sohe.wisc.edu 7

Snapshot 

Who We Are 

Four departments offering the following undergraduate majors: 

• Retailing 

• Interior Design 

• Consumer Science (with concentrations in Consumer Affairs 

and Personal Finance) 

• Human Development and Family Studies (with options in 

Child Development and Family Studies) 

• Textile and Apparel Design 

• Family, Consumer and Community Education (with options in 

Community Leadership and Teacher Certification) 

Students 

• More than 1,000 undergraduate and graduate students 

• 1,004 undergraduate students in fall 2008 

• 67 graduate students 

• 14.2 percent of undergraduate and graduate students represent 

minority populations. 

• A total of 131 participated in UW-Madison study-abroad 

programs, an increase of 37 percent over the past three years. 

Faculty 

• 38 faculty 

• Many Human Ecology faculty have joint appointments with 

UW-Extension, totaling 7.5 FTE positions. 

• Faculty served as principal investigator on $5.3 million in grants during 

the 2007–2008 academic year. 

Major State Initiatives 

• The $1.8 million Southern Wisconsin Child Welfare Training 

Partnership provides training to all the social workers in child 

protective services in the 21 southern-tier counties of the state. 

• The Wisconsin Covering Kids and Families project creates greater 

awareness and utilization of existing health care programs. The 

project works primarily through a coalition of more than 65 organizations 

that work with low-income families who are likely to have 

family members eligible for Medicaid or BadgerCare. 

Among UW-Madison Campus Partnerships 

• Arts Institute 

• Institute on Aging 


Snapshot 

• College of Engineering 

• Institute for Research on Poverty 

• La Follette School of Public Affairs 

• Waisman Center 

• Material Culture Program 

Diverse Facilities in Madison, Wisconsin 

• Human Ecology Building, 1300 Linden Drive 

• Human Development and Family Studies Building,1430 Linden Drive 

• University Preschool Laboratory, 1440 Linden Drive; 

• Off-campus Preschool Laboratory, 3910 Mineral Point Road 

• Southern Child Welfare Training Partnership/Wisconsin 

Child Welfare Training System, University Research Park, 

455 Science Drive 


• Located in the Human Ecology building, the Design Gallery 

hosts several exhibitions annually by professional, faculty and 

student artists and designers. 

Textile Collection 

• The Helen Louise Allen Textile Collection, located in the 

Human Ecology building, contains more than 13,000 textiles 

and costumes, valued at approximately $3.1 million. 

Budget 

• $11.8 million: As state general tax-supported funding has 

declined, the percentage of funds received from gifts and 

endowments has increased from 9 percent in 1999–2000 to 

22 percent in 2007–2008. 

New Building 

• An $8 million lead gift from Nancy Johnson Nicholas and her 

husband Albert “Ab” Nicholas helped launch a campaign for a 

new addition and remodeling of the Human Ecology building. The 

estimated project cost is $48 million. Program revenue, including 

parking, will cover $2.5 million, with about $24 million coming 

from private gifts. Approval of the state-funded portion is included 

in the 2011–2013 capital biennial budget. 

www.sohe.wisc.edu 9

Overview 

Overview 

Mission 

To understand the complex relationships and interdependence among 

individuals, groups and families, and to focus on quality-of-life issues 

through research, creative innovation, education and outreach. 

Values and Operating Principles 

• We are deeply committed to enhancing student development. 

• We prepare graduates to assume leadership positions in their 

personal, civic and professional lives. 

• We value the complementary relationships of professional and 

liberal arts education. 

• We believe that teaching, research, creative innovation and 

outreach are enhanced when they are integrated. 

• We recognize that all members of the School contribute to its 

mission. 

• We are committed to creating a supportive working and learning 

environment. 

• We value our long history as part of the land grant mission of 

this university and the contribution of the home economics 

profession to our current mission. 

• We are caretakers of unique university assets including care 

facilities for children and a collection of historic textiles that 

directly contribute to the implementation of our mission and 

are important to the community. 

• We view the university as a community and value our many and 

diverse connections with other units, departments and disciplines 

in our programs, research and outreach. 

• We believe our endeavors must extend beyond the university 

into the various public, private, for-profit, not-for-profit and 

professional communities to which we are related. 

History 

The UW-Madison School of Human Ecology traces its history over 

a century, to 1903, when the Wisconsin Legislature established a 

University Department of Domestic Science. Since then, the unit 

has changed its name several times — to the Department of Home 

Economics in 1909, the School of Home Economics in 1951, the School 

of Family Resources and Consumer Sciences in 1968, and, finally, 

the School of Human Ecology in 1996. 


Overview 

The School’s focus has changed over the years, too, growing to 

encompass apparel design, textile design, interior design, personal 

finance, consumer affairs, retailing, family studies, child development, 

and family, consumer and community education. Students today take 

a wide array of courses, including many interdisciplinary offerings in 

fields as diverse as art, journalism, chemistry, landscape architecture, 

engineering and women’s studies. To learn more about the School’s 

history, visit its Web site at www.sohe.wisc.edu and click on the 

“History” link in the section, “About the School of Human Ecology.” 

Timeline 

1903: Wisconsin Legislature establishes a University Department of 

Domestic Science. 

1904: Professor Caroline Hunt and Instructor Ellen Huntington begin 

teaching 34 students, who take a broad range of courses in the 

humanities and social sciences, as well as dietetics and food 

analysis. 

1909: The Department joins the College of Agriculture, and Professor 

Abby Marlatt arrives to lead it. 

1914: The Home Economics Department moves into a new building 

with the University Extension. 

1923: May Reynolds begins giving lectures on nutrition on WHA 

Radio. Also this year, a tearoom is established in the home 

economics building, providing students with experience in 

food service management. 

1939: Abby Marlatt retires. Francis Zuill is appointed to carry on 

Marlatt’s work. 

1951: The department officially becomes the School of Home 

Economics. 

1961: Francis Zuill retires. A series of acting or associate deans begins 

with Professor Josephine Staab. She is followed by Professor Rita 

Youmans in 1965, Professor Louise Young in 1968, Professor 

William Marshall in 1969, and Professor Rose Marie Chioni in 

1973. 

1968: The School is renamed the School of Family Resources and 

Consumer Sciences. 

1973: The School becomes autonomous from the College of 

Agriculture. 

1974: Elizabeth Simpson becomes the first dean of the independent 

School. 

www.sohe.wisc.edu 11

Overview 

1985: Hamilton McCubbin succeeds Dean Simpson. 

1996: The School is again renamed — the School of Human Ecology. 

1999: Three Human Ecology professors — Inge Bretherton, Robin 

Douthitt and Dave Riley — are granted Bascom appointments. 

1999: Hamilton McCubbin steps down, and Professor Robin Douthitt 

is appointed interim dean. 

2001: Robin Douthitt is named permanent dean. 

2003–2004: School celebrates its centennial with a symposium, book, 

exhibits, alumni banquet and more. 

2004: UW-Madison Honorary Doctorate awarded to Pleasant T. 

Rowland, on the nomination of the School and the Department 

of Human Development and Family Studies. Founder of the 

Pleasant Company (later purchased by Mattel) and the American 

Girl series, Rowland is an educator, communicator, author, 

entrepreneur and philanthropist. 

2004: Nancy Johnson Nicholas and her husband Albert “Ab” Nicholas 

provide an $8 million lead gift to help launch a campaign for a 

new addition and remodeling of the historic Human Ecology 

building. 

2006: Elliot and Frances Lehman provide a $1 million gift for a 

Teaching and Research Preschool Laboratory, a key component 

of the new addition to the School’s historic building. 

2007: The Wisconsin Legislature approves the Human Ecology building 

project and a design team is selected for the programming phase. 

2008: Following completion of the programming, which informs the 

design of the new building and addition, the School begins the 

project’s design phase. 

Leadership and Administration 

The School of Human Ecology has had an impact far beyond what 

might be expected for a school of its size. Many faculty have joint 

appointments with the UW-Extension, providing outreach to parents, 

child care workers, social workers, business leaders and other professionals, 

as well as legislators and the public at large. In addition, the 

School has partnered with campus and community organizations to 

disseminate its research widely and provide interdisciplinary learning 

opportunities to interested students, adult learners and academicians. 

Led by Dean Robin A. Douthitt, the School is planning an expansion 

and renovation of its historic 1914 building and is on track to 

break ground in 2009, complete an addition and finish the renovation 

of the building in 2013. 


Overview 

Administrative Staff 

Dean’s Office 

Robin Douthitt, Dean 

Diane Barrett, Associate Dean of Research 

Linda Dicks, Associate Dean of Administration 

David Riley, Associate Dean of Outreach and Extension 

Wendy Way, Associate Dean of Academic Affairs 

Bruce Hellmich, Assistant Dean of Human Resources and 

Grants Administration 

Julie Anderson, Administrative Assistant 

Jonie Bonfield, Administrative Assistant, Facilities 

Dan Cottam, Financial Specialist 

Doris Green, University Relations Specialist 

Cathryn Pierce, Executive Assistant 

Bonniejean Zitske, Associate Administrative Program Specialist 

Linda Zwicker, Development Program Manager 

Business Office 

Barbara Henn, Accountant 

Ethel Herbrand, Payroll/Benefits Specialist 

Gloria McCord, Financial Specialist 

Instructional Technology 

John Hilgers, Director of Academic Technology 

Student Academic Affairs, Minority and Disadvantaged Programs 

Michele Mickelson, Assistant Dean of Student Academic Affairs, 

Anna Bahavla, Internship Coordinator 

Sara Boggs, Student Services Coordinator 

Mary Braucht, Associate Student Services Coordinator and Internship 

Coordinator 

Colleen Foley, Student Services Coordinator 

Kate Lindemann, Student Services Coordinator 


Overview 

2007–2008 Expenditures by Category 

In recent years, gifts and endowments have played an increasingly 

important role in the future excellence of Human Ecology. Together, 

they comprised more than 21 percent of the School’s budget in the 

2007–2008 fiscal year, compared to just 9 percent in 1999–2000. 

Meanwhile, the proportion of expenditures covered by Wisconsin 

General Program Revenues has declined to less than 50 percent, 

compared to 66 percent in 1999–2000. 

Expenditures 

General Program Operations $5,646,047 48.0% 

Extension and Other State Funds $1,219,296 10.4% 

Auxiliaries (including Preschool) $1,182,963 10.1% 

Federal $1,142,403 9.7% 

Gifts and Endowments $2,575,315 21.8% 

TOTAL $11,766,024 100.0% 

Facilities 

2007–2008 Expenditures by Category 

■ General Program Operations 

■ Extension and Other State Funds 

■ Auxiliaries 

■ Federal 

■ Gifts and Endowments 

Source: 2008 Annual Expenditure Report 

published by the UW-Madison Office of 

Budget, Planning and Analysis 


Overview 

Human Ecology is headquartered in a historic building designed by 

Paul Philippe Cret on Linden Drive. Immediately to the west, the 

Department of Human Development and Family Studies has offices in 

the former Home Management House. Just beyond is the Linden site 

of the Preschool Laboratories; a second Preschool site is located at 

Mineral Point Road on Madison’s near west side. 

While these facilities served the School well in the past, they no 

longer meet current standards for research, education, technological 

capability and accessibility. A master plan consolidates the three 

campus buildings through an expansion of the historic Human 

Ecology Building and charts major improvements: 

• A unified School with programs clustered around a new main 

entrance and commons space. 

• A modern research preschool facility, doubling student capacity. 

• Much-needed graduate student office and studio space, student 

organization space, student gallery space, media-rich learning 

areas and wireless study areas. 

• Accessible space for the School’s Design Gallery, Textile and 

Library collections, enhancing scholarly and public use. 

• Significant increase in the current number of parking spaces 

in central campus. 


Students 

Students 

Undergraduate Student Profile 

In 2000–2001, Human Ecology’s undergraduate programs were increasingly 

popular, reaching a total enrollment of 1,019 in 2002 — a 70 percent 

increase over the previous six years. As a result, students began to 

experience a lack of access to classes and other services. Recognizing 

that students are assets, departments sought to provide a welcoming 

environment for every Human Ecology student and established enrollment 

management plans. All undergraduate programs now have in 

place an application process for admittance to majors, and the School’s 

current undergraduate enrollment numbers 1,004. The largest numbers 

of students are enrolled in Human Development and Family Studies, 

Consumer Science, Retailing, and Interior Design. 

Number of Undergraduate Students by Degree Major — Fall 2008 

• Consumer Science 329 

• Family and Consumer Journalism 3 

• Family, Consumer and Community Education 64 

• Human Development and Family Studies 212 

• Interior Design 140 

• Retailing 160 

• Textile and Apparel Design 96 

Total 1,004 

Graduate Student Profile 

The School enrolled a total 67 graduate students in the fall of 2008, 

with 19 focusing their Human Ecology degree in the area of Consumer 

Behavior and Family Economics — 16 pursuing Design Studies, 31 

concentrating on Human Development and Family Studies. In addition, 

one graduate student is pursuing a Continuing and Vocational 

Education program. 


Students 

2008 Enrollment in Undergraduate Majors 


Family and Consumer Journalism 

Family and Consumer Education 


Interior Design 

Retailing 

Textile and Apparel Design 

0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350 

Source: UW-Madison Office of the Registrar (figures as of the end of the sixth 

week of classes) 

2008 Graduate Program Enrollment 

Consumer Behavior and Family Economics 



Continuing and Vocational Education 

0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 

Source: UW-Madison Office of the Registrar (figures as of the end of the sixth 

week of classes) 


Students 

Tuition and Fees 

Undergraduate students spend approximately $6,650 annually on 

room and board in campus residence halls, in addition to the following 

tuition and fees: 

Human Ecology Undergraduate Tuition and Fees per Semester, 

2007–2008, 12–18 Credits 

• Wisconsin Resident: $3,594 

• Non-Resident: $10,719 

Source: Office of the Registrar 

Graduate Student Tuition and Fees per Semester, 2007–2008, 

8+ Credits 

• Wisconsin Resident: $4,821 

• Non-Resident: $12,456 

Source: Office of the Registrar 

Financial Aid 

The UW-Madison Office of Student Financial Services assists students 

whose personal and family resources are inadequate to cover the cost 

of attending the university. The office offers counseling to students to 

help them manage their money effectively, apply for university and 

other scholarships and gain on- and off-campus employment. The 

office also provides small, short-term loans for emergencies. Financial 

aid available through the Office of Student Financial Services consists 

of loans, grants and work-study assistance. Funds for these aid programs 

come from the federal and state governments and the university. 

Financial counseling is also provided by student volunteers in 

the Financial Occupations Club for University Students (FOCUS) in 

the Consumer Science Department. Students with credit questions or 

challenges can receive confidential counseling from FOCUS members, 

many of whom are enrolled in the School’s personal finance program. 

Graduate fellowships and scholarships are offered to incoming 

students based on academic merit. Teaching, research and project 

assistantships are available to qualified students on a competitive basis. 

Advanced Opportunity Fellowships are available for students of color 

and educationally disadvantaged non-minority students at any stage of 


Students 

graduate study. University fellowship holders and assistantship holders 

also receive tuition remission and comprehensive insurance coverage. 

Scores of undergraduate and graduate students receive Human 

Ecology scholarships and awards each year. Each fall, “A Celebration 

of Excellence Reception” brings together graduate and undergraduate 

award recipients, family members, friends, scholarship donors and 

faculty and staff members. Many of these awards have more than one 

recipient and all have been funded through contributions from alumni 

and friends of the School. Awards made in 2008: 

• Gertrude A. Anthony Research Award 

• Viola Jorgenson Baker Research Scholarship 

• Mildred Murdoch Becker Scholarship 

• Norma A. Brooks Scholarship 

• Barbara M. Hanson Brown Community Service Award 

• Nellie M. Butt Scholarship 

• Mary Josephine Cochran Scholarship 

• Gladys Emerson Cook Scholarship 

• Albert W. Ebling Scholarship 

• Genevieve Hicks Frost Scholarship 

• Jon D. Goldstein Leadership Award 

• Frankie T. Graber Memorial Scholarship 

• Ione Quinby Griggs Journalism Scholarship 

• Sadie Agatha McNulty Scholarship 

• Frances J. Minch Scholarship 

• Dr. William and Luella S. Mortenson Scholarship 

• Rosalie Amlie Morton Award 

• Meyerhoff Undergraduate Excellence Award 

• Jean Alford Myers Travel Award 

• Oertel Scholarship 

• Marie Ovitz Memorial Scholarship 

• Hazel B. Paschall Scholarship 

• Hazel B. F.I.T. Paschall Scholarship 

• Bernadine H. Peterson Scholarship 

• William H. Peterson Scholarship 

• Phi Omega Pi Scholarship 

• Phi Upsilon Omicron Scholarship 

• Madison Area Phi Upsilon Omicron Alumni Scholarship 


Students 

• Bob Richards Consumer Advocacy Internship Award 

• Marian Baldwin Schlicher Memorial Scholarship 

• Christine Steenbock Scholarship 

• Dorothy Earleywine Sullivan Scholarship 

• James A. Schwertfeger Scholarship 

• University League/Phyllis Young Scholarship 

• UW Human Ecology General Scholarship 

• UW Returning Adult Student Scholarship 

• Elizabeth Vergeront Vandenberg Scholarship 

• Albert W. and Christina M. Weeks Scholarship 

• Lorna Smithyman Will Scholarship 

• Jacqueline Wirth Scholarship 

• Louise A. Young Doctoral Fellowship 

• Kathryn Zillman Scholarship 

• Frances Zuill Scholarship 

Student Clubs 

Human Ecology students have a number of organizations to choose 

from: 

• The American Association of Textile Chemists and Colorists 

(AATCC) is a national organization of dyers and chemists in the 

textile industry and is designed to promote increased knowledge 

of the application of dyes and chemicals, encourage research 

work on chemical processes and materials and establish channels 

to interchange professional knowledge among members. 

Web site: http//:www.aatcc.org/ 

• The American Society of Interior Design (ASID) contributes 

to the understanding of the part this profession plays in the field 

of design, our culture and our economy, as well as the satisfaction 

it offers as a profession. Officers include president, Krista Bollig; 

vice president, Megan Fliegel; secretary, Lauren Scherer; and 

treasurer, Erin Meyers. 

• The Consumer Science Student Association/Society of 

Consumer Affairs Professionals (CSSA/SOCAP) is open to all 

students interested in careers that serve consumer interests in 

business, government and the nonprofit sector. Current president 

is Katie Kurtz. 


Students 

• The Financial Occupations Club for University Students 

(FOCUS) operates the Peer Financial Counseling Service, which 

provides counseling on credit, debt and other issues. Members 

also assist South Madison residents in preparing their income tax 

returns. President: Jon Ylinen. 

• The HDFS Graduate Student Organization (GSO) advocates 

for graduate student interests, provides mentoring for new 

Human Development and Family Studies graduate students, 

nominates students for departmental and school committees 

and aids the department in recruiting and retaining dedicated 

and diverse students. Co-chairs are Kahaema Byer and Katie 

Muldowney. 

• The HDFS Students for Families and Children organization 

(undergraduate) focuses on various outreach and services projects. 

Co-Presidents are Lauren Fahey and Jenna Reetz. 

• Phi Upsilon Omicron is a national honorary professional 

organization that recognizes and promotes the development of 

scholarship and leadership, advances and promotes home economics, 

and establishes and strengthens friendships. Current 

officers include president, Kayla Montgomery; vice president 

Nicole LeBelle; secretary, Rebekah Spidle; and treasurer, Kathryn 

Abrams. 

• The Retail Club seeks to promote and investigate the diversity 

of retail career options through campus events featuring industry 

professionals. Members learn how internships help to advance 

professional development even before graduation and permanent 

placement. Current officers are president, Brittney Bielenberg; 

vice president, Carissa Kozelek; secretary, Sarah Ackerman; treasurer, 

Dan Mendelsohn; and marketing chair, Alexa Siker. 

• Students for the Advancement of Non-Profits is a collegiate 

chapter of the international organization Association of 

Fundraising Professionals. Its mission is to work with local nonprofit 

organizations to help them maximize their effectiveness 

and expose current students to meaningful work in the sector. 


Students 

Officers: president, Amanda Graff; vice president, Dan Fuchs; 

and treasurer, Lindsay Freeman. 

• The Textile and Apparel Student Association (TAD) 

welcomes students interested in pursuing a career in this field. 

President is Maggie Barber. 

• The Wisconsin Association for Family and Consumer 

Sciences (WAFCS) is the state arm of the American Association 

of Family and Consumer Sciences (AAFCS), one of the oldest 

professional societies in the United States. Founded in 1909, its 

purpose is to improve the quality and standards of individual and 

family life through programs that educate, influence public policy, 

disseminate information and publish research findings. The 

student chapter echoes these themes in preparing students to 

enter the retail field. Officers include: president, Maggie Barber, 

and vice president, Sara Platner. 


Academics 

Academics 

Undergraduate Symposium 

The annual UW-Madison Undergraduate Symposium showcases student 

work, including research in the sciences, arts and humanities. In 

2008, 24 students from three Human Ecology departments presented 

oral and poster presentations: 

• Suzanne Scott, faculty associate in the Department of Design, 

mentored a student group who designed a rehabilitation room 

for the UW-Madison Occupational Therapy Program. 

• Hannah McDougall and Gao Yang worked with doctoral student 

A.J. Schwichtenberg to study “Maternal Depression and Sleep 

Consistency in Preterm and Low Birth-weight Infants,” a project 

related to the scholarship of Professor Julie Poehlmann. The students’ 

findings suggested that early intervention and screenings 

may benefit both mothers and infants. 

• Three students worked on individual studies related to the 

scholarship of Professor Lynet Uttal, using data from Formando 

Lazos, a research and parent and community education project 

in Madison. This project provides facilitated workshops (called 

pláticas), in which Latino immigrants discuss their concerns 

about raising their children in the United States. 

• Omar Arreola identified what Latino/a parents deemed important 

from their own culture to pass down to their children and 

what aspects of U.S. culture to instill in their children. 

• Estephany Escobar focused on the contrasting views of 

Latino immigrant parents and those of their children. 

• Alexis Guzman used interviews with pláticas organizers to 

explore how the workshops empowered Latinos. 

• Four student teams worked with their mentor, David Lambert 

(PhD’00, Child and Family Studies), to study stress in young 

adults. Lambert, a psychology professor at Edgewood College in 

Madison, teaches a class on research methods at the School. 

• Tammi Albrecht, Leah Bretl, Stephanie Maas and Jaime 

Porter examined whether social support buffered the negative 

effects of college-related stress. 

• Anna Clauson, Jena Hopper, Lauren Miller and Sarah Tyree- 

Francis examined whether offspring from high conflict or 

divorced homes have less secure and higher conflict intimate 

relationships. 


Academics 

• Kathryn Connors, Mallory Huber, Sasha Williams and Amie 

Ziegel examined whether personality and temperament are 

associated with students’ choice of living arrangement: residence 

halls, efficiencies or one-bedroom apartments, multiple-bedroom 

apartments and fraternities/sororities/co-ops. 

• Aviva Levi, Valerie Schmidt, Anne Thurow and Nicole Witt 

studied “The Link Between Parental Support, Stress Levels, 

Coping Mechanisms and Psychological Adjustment,” surveying 

about 150 freshmen and sophomores living on campus. 

Majors 

The School offers a selection of undergraduate majors: 

• Consumer Science (with program options in Personal Finance 

and Consumer Affairs) 

• Family, Consumer and Community Education (with program 

options in Community Leadership and in Family and Consumer 

Education Certification) 

• Human Development and Family Studies (with program options 

in Child Development and in Family Studies) 

• Interior Design 

• Retailing 

• Textile and Apparel Design 

Graduate Degrees Awarded 

During the 2007–2008 academic year, Human Ecology awarded graduate 

degrees to the following outstanding students completing coursework, 

dissertations, exhibitions and other program requirements: 

MFA Degrees 

• Brooke Aliceson Godfrey (Advisor: Mark Nelson), Exhibition: 

“Trailer Parks and Moon Pies” 

• Katherine Margaret Troyer (Advisor: Jennifer Angus), Exhibition: 

“Biggest Slice of the Cake” 

MS Degrees 

• Diane Mae Al Shihabi (Advisor: Virginia Boyd), Thesis: “The 

American Beaux-Arts Interiors Design System as Evidenced 

Through Furniture Types in Three State Capitols” 

• Kylene Mae Anttila (Advisor: Michael Hunt), Thesis: “Using 

the Engaging Environment Model to Guide a Pre-Construction 


Academics 

Evaluation and Proposed Post-Occupancy Evaluation of the 

American Family Children’s Hospital” 

• Kahaema Byer (Advisor: Jeffrey Lewis), Thesis: “Building Bridges 

Through Narratives: An Exploration of Youth Empowerment and 

Development in Spoken Word” 

• Dong Han, (Advisor: Karen Holden), Thesis “The Influence of 

Family Shock on College Attendance” 

• Christine Ellis (Advisor: Kerry Bolger), Thesis: “Parenting Goals 

of Mothers in a Universal Access Home Visitation Program: 

Maintaining Parenting Across Generations” 

• Emily Elizabeth Carpenter (Advisor: Wei Dong), Thesis: 

“Natatoriums with a Sense of Place: Design Guidelines to 

Enhance the Experience of Spectators and Athletes” 

• Amy Hilgendorf (Advisor: Jeffrey Lewis), Thesis: “Student, 

Parent and Teacher Perspectives of African American Boys’ 

School-Related Support 

• Isadora Gabrielle Leidenfrost (Advisor: Beverly Gordon), 

Thesis: “Creating Buddhas: The Making and Meaning of Fabric 

Thangka” 

• Travis Mountain, (Advisor: Karen Holden), Thesis “Dual 

Retirement: Wealth and Life Insurance Adequacy” 

• Margarete Ann Ordon (Advisor: Beverly Gordon), Thesis: 

“Making Sense of Dress: Multi-Sensory and Embodied Elements 

in Fashion Exhibits” 

• Jennifer Skolaski, (Advisor: Cynthia Jasper), Thesis “Recruiting 

for Charity: An Exploration of College Student Interest in 

Nonprofit Careers” 

• Clare Lauren Vogel (Advisor: Michael Hunt), Thesis: “Identifying 

Classroom Architecture Performance Standards for Populations 

with Autism” 

PhD Degrees 

• Angel Gullon-Rivera (Advisor: Inge Bretherton), Dissertation: 

“Puerto Rican Preschool Narrative about the Self” 

• Maureen Ittig (Advisor: Karen Bogenschneider), Dissertation: 

“The Political Construction of Family: Mapping the Connection 

Between Constituents, Government, Advocacy, and Family Policy 

Regarding Same-Sex Marriage” 


Academics 

• Andrea M. Kolasinski Marcinkus (Advisor: Beverly Gordon), 

Dissertation: “Nature Fancywork: Women’s Discourse with 

Nature through Craft in Late Nineteenth-Century America” 

• Amy Jo Schwichtenberg (Advisor: Judy Poehlmann), Dissertation: 

“Sleep Patterns in Preterm and Low Birthweight Infants” 

List of Faculty by Department 


Roberta Riportella, Professor, Chair 

Judi Bartfeld, Associate Professor 

Sean Cash, Faculty Associate 

J. Michael Collins, Assistant Professor 

Karen Holden, Professor, Associate Dean 

Ann Hoyt, Professor 

Cynthia Jasper, Professor 

Max Schmeiser, Assistant Professor 

Nancy Wong, Associate Professor 

Lydia Zepeda, Professor 

Michael Jacob, Outreach Specialist 

Liv Lindenberg, Department Administrator 


Diane Sheehan, Professor, Chair 

Jennifer Angus, Associate Professor 

Virginia (Terry) Boyd, Professor 

Preeti Chopra, Assistant Professor 

Wei Dong, Professor 

Beverly Gordon, Professor 

Mary Hark, Assistant Professor 

Michael Hunt, Professor 

Carolyn Kallenborn, Assistant Professor 

Mark Nelson, Associate Professor 

Roberto Rengel, Associate Professor 

Majid Sarmadi, Professor 

Suzanne Scott, Faculty Associate 

Jung-Hye Shin, Assistant Professor 

Lori Ushman, Department Administrator 


Academics 

Marian Lichtenwalner, Fashion Institute Student Services 

Coordinator 

Jody Clowes, Design Gallery Curator 

Maya Lea, Helen Louise Allen Textile Collection Curator 

Diana Zlatanovski, Helen Louise Allen Textile Collection 

Associate Academic Curator 


Linda Roberts, Professor, Chair 

Karen Bogenschneider, Professor 

Janean Dilworth-Bart, Assistant Professor 

Jeffrey Lewis, Assistant Professor 

Nadine Marks, Professor 

Lauren Papp, Assistant Professor 

Julie Poehlmann, Associate Professor 

David Riley, Professor, Associate Dean 

Stephen Small, Professor 

Lynet Uttal, Associate Professor 

Shepherd Zeldin, Associate Professor 

Kristy Ashleman, Lecturer 

Linda Camino, Scientist 

Gay Eastman, Researcher 

Robert San Juan, Associate Outreach Specialist 

Jill Steinberg, Faculty Associate 

Jane Weier, Department Administrator 


Cynthia Jasper, Professor, Chair 

Wendy Way, Professor, Associate Dean 

Marla Handy, Lecturer 

Stan Woodard, Outreach Coordinator 

Allison Murray, Department Administrator 

Human Ecology Committees 

General Faculty Committee 

Executive Committee 

Chairs Administration Committee 

Academic Planning Council 

Graduate Program Council 


Academics 

Undergraduate Program Council 

Outreach Planning Council 

Faculty and Staff Diversity, Equity and Environment Committee 

Student Academic Affairs and Awards Committee 

Committee on Academic Staff Issues 

Preschool Laboratories 

Human Ecology operates the UW-Madison Preschool Laboratories as 

part of its educational and research program. The two locations have a 

combined annual budget of approximately $1.1 million and offer programming 

for children up to age 5 during the school year, as well as 

programming for children age 6–9 during the summer. 

The campus facility near the School of Human Ecology’s main 

building is licensed for 50 students, age 2–9 years. The near west side 

location is on Mineral Point Road and licensed for 67 children, age 6 

weeks to 9 years. 

Campus (Linden Street) Site Staff 

Jacquelyn Leckwee, Manager 

Jillian Clemens, Associate Instructional Specialist 

Katie Frey, Associate Instructional Specialist 

Kristin Krystofiak, Senior Instructional Specialist 

Mollie Lamers, Instructional Specialist 

Patricia Moeser, Senior Instructional Specialist 

Mary Ellen Post, Associate Instructional Specialist 

Terri Strother, Instructional Specialist 

Off-Campus (Mineral Point Road) Staff 

Jill Riley, Manager 

Kathleen Dahl, Senior Instructional Specialist 

Cassandra Feist, Instructional Specialist 

Laura Feist, Associate Instructional Specialist 

Malika Guend, Instructional Specialist 

Victoria Karlov, Instructional Specialist 

Joann Laufenberg, Instructional Specialist 

Jenny Lee, Instructional Specialist 

Maria Lenerz, Instructional Specialist 

Doreen McDonald, Instructional Specialist 

Mary Pierick, Senior Instructional Specialist 

Lisa Stenner, Associate Instructional Specialist 


Academics 

Campus Centers Based at Human Ecology 

The Center for Excellence in Family Studies promotes the development 

and well-being of children, youth and families by generating, 

translating, sharing and applying knowledge. Grounded in the 

Wisconsin Idea that the boundaries of the campus are the borders 

of the state (and beyond), our initiatives are driven by the needs of 

Wisconsin’s families and the professionals and policymakers who serve 

them. The Center acts as a catalyst for bringing together scholars from 

multiple disciplines and policy makers, funders and practitioners from 

outside the university to identify emerging issues, develop new partnerships, 

design relevant research and inform policies, practices and 

programs that promote the well-being and development of children 

and families of Wisconsin and the world. 

The Center for Financial Security at the School of Human Ecology 

is exploring the feasibility, viability, and mission of what is tentatively 

being called a Center for Financial Security. The Center would be an 

intellectual hub for research and outreach on consumer financial issues 

and would aim to bring the School’s and Campus’ considerable knowledge 

about consumer behavior to understanding consumer financial 

decisions and the policies of the financial agents and institutions that 

interact with consumers. 

The Center for Nonprofits obtained its official UW charter in May 

2008 and continues to make progress in developing academic degree 

programs and professional credentialing initiatives along with other 

outreach efforts. The mission of the Center is to strengthen the sector 

by raising awareness about the sector, preparing the leaders and scholars 

of the future and bringing leaders together around the core themes 

of civil society, environmental health and health access. The Center 

receives private support from The Oscar Rennebohm Foundation, 

Madison, Wis.; the Bender Family Foundation, Washington, D.C.; 

the International Association of Employee Benefits Plans, Brookfield, 

Wis.; the Bonner Foundation, Princeton, N.J.; The Alliant Energy 

Foundation, Madison, Wis.,and WIPFLI, national accounting consultants. 

Jeanan Yasiri (MS’85, Consumer Science) serves as the Center’s 

director. Professor Shepherd Zeldin serves as faculty director. In tandem, 

they work to develop programming, engage cross-campus faculty, 

staff and student affiliates, and develop an endowment. 


Academics 

The Kohl’s Department Stores Center for Retail Excellence 

advances research and creates and nurtures collaboration between 

the retail industry and the world-class faculty, staff, and students at 

UW-Madison. It also serves as a resource for faculty and retailing students 

and provides support for scholarships and student activities, such 

as the Retail Club and the annual Retail Lecture Series. During the 

past year, the Center was selected as one of only six U.S. retail centers 

to participate in the National Retail Federation Conference. In addition, 

six students participated in a case study competition sponsored by 

the National Retail Federation and American Express. The Center also 

hosts a weekly symposium that highlights a retail company. Company 

leaders present a variety of topics, for example, retail sourcing, health 

services retail, developing a niche catalog and networking. An annual 

Board of Advisors meeting brings together industry leaders from a 

range of businesses to learn about campus services and research in 

consumer behavior. 

The emerging Center for Textile Studies will provide an intellectual 

hub, staff and programming related to the broad topic of textiles. It 

will create multi-directional communications and bridges between the 

campus, business and public communities through diverse activities 

and programs. It will also enhance collaborative and interdisciplinary 

scholarship, education and outreach. The Center will bring together the 

resources of the Helen Louise Allen Textile Collection, Ruth Ketterer 

Harris Library, the annual Ruth Harris Memorial Lecture, Design 

Gallery and undergraduate and graduate programs in Design Studies. 

It will provide a foundation for collaborative scholarship and creative 

projects of Design Studies and campus faculty and graduate students in 

the area of textiles. 

Helen Louise Allen Textile Collection 

The Helen Louise Allen Textile Collection is an integral part of the 

School’s academic program. It features more than 13,000 textiles and 

costumes valued at approximately $3.1 million. The Collection represents 

a wide range of cultures and techniques, making it one of the 

most important university textile collections in the United States. The 

size and scope of the Helen Louise Allen Textile Collection, along with 

its related programs, make it an outstanding resource for scholars, 

designers, students and members of the community. 


Academics 

2008 Ruth Ketterer Harris Memorial Lecture 

Blenda Femenias presented the 2008 Ruth Ketterer Harris Memorial 

Lecture: The Embroidered Landscape of the Andes: Creating Textiles as a 

Way of Life on April 10 at the Chazen Museum of Art, UW-Madison. 

Blenda Femenias, former Helen Louise Allen Textile Collection curator 

and author of Gender and the Boundaries of Dress in Contemporary 

Peru, is a specialist in the area of Latin American textiles and culture. 

Drawing on interviews with artists for whom creativity is a way of life, 

Femenias emphasized the gendered dimensions of producing and 

using clothes, as men and women alike create beautiful things within a 

harsh world that is riddled with poverty and unrest. 

Ruth Ketterer Harris Library 

Named for the first curator of the Helen Louise Allen Textile 

Collection, the Ruth Ketterer Harris Library contains more than 

4,000 books, pamphlets and journals. The library is catalogued in the 

UW-Madison’s electronic library system. 


The Design Gallery showcased the following powerful exhibitions, 

in addition to the annual juried student show: 

• Maura Schaffer: Bon Appetit presented the artist’s multimedia 

sculpture, using the familiar trappings of domestic life to convey 

aspects of the human condition. Made with fabric and wire, her 

anthropomorphic chairs, tables, windows and doors danced, 

argued, and shared angst-ridden meals in poetic and often painfully 

funny tableaux. Schaffer was a Brittingham Visiting Scholar 

in the Design Studies Department. 

• Crafting Kimono featured pieces from the Helen Louise Allen 

Textile Collection, examining style differences in kimono, the 

national dress of Japan, depending on gender, age, marital status, 

season, occasion and other factors. 

• Trailer Parks and Moon Pies, Brooke Godfrey’s MFA exhibition, 

invited visitors to step into an oversized tale of acerbic reality, 

presented graphically through engaging drawings and digital 

prints. Godfrey’s exceptional draftsmanship and technical abilities 

supported rich, comprehensive narratives in the unexpected 

context of architectural illustration. 


Academics 

• Biggest Slice of Cake was Kate Troyer’s MFA exhibition. She combined 

the techniques of digital animation and hand silk-screening 

on felt to create a strange dreamlike narrative. Her work 

celebrated the imagination through visual delight, unexpected 

imagery, and nostalgia for childhood memories and dreams. 

• Harue Shimomoto is the name of both a UW-Madison 

Department of Art MFA candidate and her glass installation. Her 

faculty advisor was Design Studies Professor Diane Sheehan. 

Shimomoto manipulates glass into sculptural tapestries, examining 

the aesthetic possibilities in fusing methods and concepts 

from the mediums of glass and fiber. For this installation, she 

created pathways through a complex network of glass rods, 

transforming the gallery’s space into a meditative journey. 

• Mary Hark: Seam presented recent paintings of the Design 

Studies professor. This exhibition combined handmade flax and 

kozo papers and cloth, creating an intricate ground, stitched 

together with thread and built up into a complex stratigraphy 

with paint, wax, textile dyes, inks, and pencil marks. Hark’s 

mixed-media work featured layered surfaces that invoke the 

patina of time: the slow, subtle erosion of a well-thumbed page, 

the careless beauty of mended clothing, the evocative fissures in 

an old painted wall. 

• Ofrendas: Carolyn Kallenborn showcased the Design Studies 

professor’s engagement with textures and surfaces. Inspired by 

her involvement with a community of artists and teachers in 

Oaxaca, Mexico, Kallenborn’s series of ofrendas, or altars, were 

infused with her anguish about political strife, economic injustice, 

and the barriers to cultural understanding. This exhibition also 

included Ausencia, an installation about the deep sense of loss 

felt by Mexican families whose children have crossed the border 

to the United States. 


Academics 

Wisconsin Child Welfare Training System 

The Wisconsin Child Welfare Training System (http://wcwts. 

wisc.edu) provides centralized administrative structure of child welfare 

training for the Wisconsin Department of Children and Families. 

This includes linking university child welfare training partnerships at 

UW-Madison, UW-Milwaukee, UW-River Falls and UW-Green Bay. 

This administrative structure is responsible for the consistent delivery 

of new worker training to over 2,000 public and tribal child welfare 

workers throughout Wisconsin, as well as the development and delivery 

of e-learning opportunities for that workforce. 

The Southern Child Welfare Training Partnership (http://southernpartnership.wisc.edu/), 

one of five university-based child welfare 

training partnerships in Wisconsin, began offering professional development 

opportunities to employees of public child welfare and foster 

caregivers in 1999 to 21 counties in southern Wisconsin. These 

in-service trainings include topics on legal issues in child protective 

services, child safety, development of interviewing skills for child welfare, 

and skill development in the utilization of natural supports to 

families. Funding for the Wisconsin Child Welfare Training System and 

the Southern Child Welfare Training Partnership comes from a combination 

of Federal Title IV-E funding, as well as a State GPR allocation. 

The Wisconsin Child Welfare Training System and the Southern Child 

Welfare Training Partnership are housed at University Research Park in 

the UW Partnership Training Center. The space includes private offices 

for Partnership and Training System staff, areas dedicated to preparing 

training materials, a lobby, a small kitchen, and expanded classroom 

space. The total Partnership facilities comprise about 4,000 square feet 

and include a large multifunction room with videoconferencing, conference 

rooms, and a business center where instructors can check their 

e-mail or finalize their presentations. 


Recent Faculty Scholarship, Creative Endeavors and Outreach 

Recent Faculty Scholarship, Creative Endeavors 

and Outreach 

Faculty research, creative endeavors and outreach annually benefit 

many students, families and communities across Wisconsin. In this 

section, individual faculty members report on their most significant 

accomplishments in 2007–2008. 


Ann Hoyt was chair of the University Committee of the UW-Madison 

Faculty Senate. In that role she chaired or served on several other university-wide 

committees. She also chaired the Steering Committee for 

the Faculty-Staff Great People Scholarship campaign. A component of 

the University of Wisconsin Foundation’s “Great People. Great Place.” 

campaign, the faculty-staff effort is raising funds for need-based scholarships 

for undergraduates. Professor Hoyt is a long-time director of 

the University of Wisconsin Credit Union and the National Cooperative 

Business Association. 

Judith Bartfeld studies food security, school meal programs and child 

support policy. Current work includes studies of local factors linked 

to household food security; research on determinants of participation 

in school breakfast programs; impacts of school breakfast programs 

on food security and meal patterns; and the relationship between 

shared placement and post-divorce economic well-being of mothers 

and fathers. She serves on the steering committee of the Wisconsin 

Food Security Consortium and co-directs the Wisconsin Food Security 

Project, which involves development of an interactive Web site to provide 

local information about economic and food security in Wisconsin. 

Sean Cash studies how food and nutrition policies affect consumers 

— examining, for example, the use of food price interventions to 

address public health concerns, the role of agricultural policies on 

nutrition, and the relationship between food security and obesity. 

He also conducts research in environmental regulation and resource 

conservation. Professor Cash received several awards and grants during 

his previous appointment with the University of Alberta, Canada. 

He is widely published, with recent articles including “Taxing Food 

to Improve Health: Economic Evidence and Arguments,” (with Ryan 

Lacanilao) Agricultural and Resource Economics Review; and “Border 



Enforcement and Firm Response in the Management of Invasive 

Species,” (with Holly A. Ameden and David Zilberman), Journal of 

Agricultural and Applied Economics. Among his 2007–2008 conference 

presentations were “Taxes and Subsidies on Food and Obesity,” at a 

Workshop on Financial Incentives, European Congress on Obesity, 

Geneva, Switzerland; “Sustainable Production and Consumption in 

North America: A Tough Sell,” panel discussion, North American 

Issues: Designing Institutions, Choosing Policies, Network on North 

American Studies in Canada Annual Policy Conference, University of 

British Columbia, Vancouver, BC.; and “On the Border: The Inspection 

and Regulation of Imports, panel discussion, American Agricultural 

Economics Association and American Council on Consumer Interests 

joint annual meeting, Orlando, Florida. 

J. Michael Collins researches consumer responses to foreclosure, the 

role of default counseling on loan repayment behavior, and the effects 

of consumer protection policies on mortgage borrowers. He is working 

with the Annie E. Casey Foundation on financial coaching and asset 

building research, including developing evaluation tools. He is also the 

lead researcher for several low-income tax preparation programs evaluating 

strategies to encourage consumer saving at tax time. Professor 

Collins presented a paper, “State Mortgage Foreclosure Policies and 

Counseling Interventions: Impacts on Borrower Behavior in Default,” 

at the Federal Reserve System’s Conference on Housing and Mortgage 

Markets. In addition, he has given numerous media interviews on 

credit card debt, retirement account options, and other personal 

finance topics. 

Karen Holden continued her work on retirement savings and financial 

education. She worked on a project, “Efficacy of Parental Instruction in 

Teaching Financial Concepts to Children Under the Age of Five,” sponsored 

by the Credit Union National Association. Professor Holden also 

continued to study the preparedness of K Annie E. Casey Foundation 

12 teachers to teach financial literacy concepts. In addition, she was 

profiled in the fall 2007 issue of PAA Affairs online newsletter, published 

by the Population Association of America. 

Roberta Riportella continued to serve as project director of the 

Covering Kids and Families-Wisconsin program. CKF is a coalition of 

more than 65 organizations, with UW-Extension and the School of 

Human Ecology sharing lead agency responsibilities. CKF is focused on 



reducing the number of uninsured children and families in Wisconsin 

by making sure those who are eligible for Medicaid and BadgerCare 

know about and can easily enroll in the programs for which they qualify. 

CKF is now in its third year of enhanced outreach work in schools, 

identifying children most at risk for not having health insurance 

through the school lunch programs, which have similar income guidelines 

to BadgerCare. Funding comes from the Wisconsin Partnership 

Fund ($446,185), Healthier Wisconsin Partnership Program ($450,000), 

and federal matching funds through the Department of Health 

and Family Services ($616,000). Additional grants from the Evjue 

Foundation ($14,000) support ongoing CKF work, resulting in over $1.5 

million over a three-year period. 

Max Schmeiser had one article accepted for publication in Health 

Economics and another published in Currents. He reviewed three articles 

for the journal Economics and Human Biology and one article for the 

journal Social Science & Medicine. In addition, he presented a paper 

at the American Society of Health Economists Biennial Conference 

and received two grants: $36,000 through the Cornell University 

Employment Policy Rehabilitation Research and Training Center to 

study the impact of the Americans with Disabilities Act on workplace 

accommodation, and $29,745 from the USDA Research, Innovation, 

and Development Grant in Economics program administered by the 

University of California at Davis. 

Nancy Wong’s current research focuses on the roles of cultural and 

material values on consumer decisions. She has published a leading 

article in the February 2008 issue of Journal of Consumer Research, 

“The Cultural Construction of Risk Understandings Through Illness 

Narratives,” and another leading article in the June 2009 issue of 

Journal of Consumer Research, “The Safety of Objects: Materialism, 

Existential Insecurity, and Brand Connection.” In addition, she has 

two forthcoming book chapters, “God and Mammon: The Influence 

of Religiosity on Brand Connections,” in the The Connected Customers, 

published by Lawrence-Erlbaum, and “Matching Firm Structures 

to Market Environment: Examples from the Logistics Industry in 

the People’s Republic of China,” in the Handbook of Contemporary 

Marketing in China: Theories and Practices, Nova Science Publishers. 

Professor Wong served on the planning committee for the annual 

meeting of the Association of Consumer Research Conference in San 

Francisco and organized a special session, “Self-Enhancement and the 



American Dream: Control, Authenticity and the Pursuit of Happiness,” 

at the annual meeting of Consumer Culture Theory Conference in 

Boston. As faculty director of the Kohl’s Center for Retailing Excellence, 

Professor Wong established a research contract between Hy-Vee, Inc., 

and UW-Madison. 

Lydia Zepeda received the 2008 Letters and Sciences Exceptional 

Service Award for her work with First Year Interest Group (FIG). Her 

research includes producer and consumer attitudes toward genetically 

engineered foods and labeling. She has also investigated producer 

decisions on sustainable farming practices and farm family labor. Her 

current research focuses on consumer attitudes and behaviors toward 

organic and local foods, utilizing quantitative and qualitative methods, 

including photographic food diaries. 


Jennifer Angus was honored with a UW-Madison Romnes Fellowship 

and also received a Wisconsin Arts Board Grant. She installed numerous 

exhibitions, including, Written on the Wall, at the Gallery at the 

Memphis College of Art; Effroyable Beauté (A Terrible Beauty) at the 

Musee d’art de Joliette outside of Montreal, Canada; and Insecta 

Fantasia: A Centennial Commission for the Newark Museum, N.J. Her 

online project with the Textile Museum of Canada, Digital Threads, 

won an Ontario Association of Art Galleries award for Best Web project. 

Her catalogue for the A Terrible Beauty series of exhibitions documented 

three exhibitions, which were held at the Textile Museum of 

Canada, Toronto; the Dennos Museum Center, Traverse City, Mich., 

and the Musee d’art de Joliette in Quebec. 

Virginia (Terry) Boyd’s traveling exhibition, Frank Lloyd Wright 

and the House Beautiful, continued its U.S. tour. When installed at 

the Portland Museum of Art, Portland, Maine, it earned mention in 

Blueprint, a Martha Stewart magazine, as well as a review by senior 

arts editor Grace Glueck in The New York Times. Professor Boyd also 

served on the Olin House Advisory Council, charged with renovating 

the UW-Madison chancellor’s residence in preparation for the arrival 

of new Chancellor Carolyn “Biddy” Martin. In this project, Professor 

Boyd collaborated with a UW-Madison alumnus (Phillip Levy, IIDA), 

a recent Interior Design alumna, and a current Interior Design student 

intern. 



Wei Dong continues his work in design visualization and Asian 

design, the latter involving frequent travel to China, to compare and 

contrast Asian architectural and interior design with Western Design. 

Professor Dong has studied the nearly vanished buildings of the 

Chinese ethnic group and traditional courtyard and cave houses, as 

well as Feng Shui’s application in design. He edited the Chinese film, 

Feng Shui-China, and presented a session, “Web Based and Integrative 

Approach to Teaching the Concepts of Sketch and Rendering for 

Design Communication,” at the 2007 International Conference in 

Open and Distance Learning, held in Athens, Greece. 

Beverly Gordon has signed a contract with Thames and Hudson 

to publish her lavishly illustrated work, The Fiber of Our lives: Why 

Textiles Matter. The stories and images draw from worldwide traditions 

and show how central cloth and fiber are to the human experience. 

Professor Gordon also curated an exhibition for the Design Gallery, A 

Fairyland of Fabrics: The Victorian Crazy Quilt, which will travel to the 

International Quilt Museum in Lincoln, Neb., and she conducted a 

major research consulting project for the Pendleton Company in preparation 

for its 100th anniversary. 

Mary Hark served as a visiting professor at Kwame Nkrumah 

University of Science and Technology in Kumasi, Ghana, where she 

was an artist-in-residence and worked to establish a paper mill to produce 

handmade papers from local materials. Professor Hark installed 

a number of exhibitions last year. Mary Hark’s Seam: Work from 

Before, During and After a Year in Kumasi, Ghana was installed at the 

Macalester College Art Gallery, St. Paul, Minn., and Mary Hark’s Seam: 

appeared in the School’s Design Gallery. INTERSECTION: Textiles 

from Markets and Workshops in Kumasi, Ghana and New Work by Mary 

Hark appeared at the Lake Pepin Art and Design Center. Professor 

Hark also curated an exhibition, Tradition and Innovation: Contemporary 

Textiles in Kumasi, Ghana, at the Metropolitan State University, St. 

Paul, Minn. In addition, the 5th International Book and Paper Triennial 

selected art work from Design Studies her series of fabric and paper 

collages titled SEAM for an exhibition at the Center for Book and 

Paper Arts, Columbia College of Chicago. Professor Hark was invited 

by the Literary Arts Center at St. Johns University, Collegeville, 

Minn., to conduct a workshop, for an event, “Garden Papers: Hand 



Papermaking for Fine Press.” And she presented a paper, “Kumasi 

Junction: Papermaking Adventures at the Kwame Nkrumah University 

of Science and Technology in Kumasi, Ghana,” at the National 

Conference of Hand Papermakers, held in Kona, Hawaii. 

Carolyn Kallenborn continued her collaborations with weaving artists 

in Oaxaca, Mexico. She worked collaboratively with indigenous 

weavers of Mitla, Mexico to create a woven banner installation at the 

Nativity of Mary Catholic Church, Independence, Mo., where she 

also presented a lecture on the project titled “Weaving Connections.” 

Professor Kallenborn installed an exhibition, Ofrenda, in the Design 

Gallery. Inspired by her involvement with a community of artists and 

teachers in Oaxaca, Kallenborn’s series of ofrendas, or altars, were 

interactive pieces infused with her anguish about political strife, economic 

injustice, and the barriers to cultural understanding. This exhibition 

also included Ausencia, an installation about the deep sense of loss 

felt by Mexican families whose children have crossed the border to the 

United States. 

Mark Nelson was one of six U.S. architectural illustrators invited to 

include their work in the Japan Architectural Rendering Association’s 

annual juried traveling exhibition. His work was also included in a 

gallery show titled Body of Art, at the jFERRARI Gallery, located near 

Los Angeles in Atwater Village, Calif. In addition, he had a wall-hung 

sculpture included in the group invitational, Flesh, Metal Ink, show at 

Milwaukee’s Walker’s Point Center for the Arts. With Design Studies 

Professor Wei Dong, he produced a three-minute multimedia collage 

titled “This is IDEC!” It was shown at the Interior Design Educators 

Council conference keynote presentation in Montreal, Quebec. 

Professor Nelson also created the musical soundtrack for this collage. 

Roberto Rengel gave a presentation at the Interior Design Educators 

Council (IDEC) conference in Montreal, Canada, titled “Thinking 

as Designers: Heuristics and Patterns as Vehicles to Insight,” and 

presented “People, Places and Learning: Considerations Related 

to Informal Learning Spaces” as the keynote speaker in the 2009 

Symposium Learning Spaces of the Future: Process and Vision held at 

UW-Madison. He carried out façade studies for the Centro Hispano 

building in Madison and led his students in completing designs for 

the expansion of the Centro Hispano building and a re-design for the 



Digital Outpost of the University Book Store on State Street. Professor 

Rengel lent his expertise to the building committee of the Wisconsin 

Institutes for Discovery project on the UW campus and serves on the 

Human Ecology building project core team. In addition, he is a faculty 

mentor for the Chancellor’s Scholar Program and hosts a show featuring 

Hispanic music and culture on WORT listener-sponsored radio, 

Madison. He continues to serve as an accreditation site visitor for the 

Council for Interior Design Accreditation. His proposal for The Space 

Planning Book was approved by Fairchild Books and he is currently 

engaged in its production. 

Majid Sarmadi widely disseminated his carpet production standards, 

which saved $83 million for the Los Angeles Community College 

District. His work was featured in the UW-Madison’s Wisconsin Week, 

the Wisconsin State Journal, and Madison Magazine. He received a letter 

of praise from the Los Angeles Community College District, and 

the project garnered 16 commendation certificates from the mayor of 

Los Angeles, the California Senate and Assembly, and the U.S. Senate 

and Congress among others. Professor Sarmadi published two refereed 

journal articles, and he chaired a session and presented a paper at the 

“International Conference on Sustainable Textiles” in Wuxi, China. 

In addition, he focused on peace-related outreach, presenting a slide 

show, “Iran: Myth and Reality. What do we know about the country 

we might attack?” at the Unitarian-Universalist Society, 2010 Whenona 

Drive, Madison. 

Suzanne Scott guided students in design of a new clinical therapy 

gym for the UW-Madison Occupational Therapy Department. The 

project is being used to raise funds for the remodeling project and 

was accepted for the 2008 Undergraduate Research Symposium. Scott 

received a 2007 Alliant Energy Underkofler Excellence in Teaching 

Award, given annually to exceptional teachers across the University of 

Wisconsin System, and the UW-Madison Chancellor’s Hilldale Award 

for Excellence in Teaching. In addition, Scott serves on the Council for 

Interior Design Accreditation (CIDA) Accreditation Commission. In 

2008 she received the first Keith Hooks Excellence Award for volunteer 

service by the CIDA board of directors. 

Diane Sheehan currently serves as chair of the Design Studies 

Department. She is also participating in a Technology Enhanced Learning 



project, which will involve developing an online visual repository within 

the UW Library system. In addition, she serves on the advisory board for 

one of the 12 semifinal Wisconsin Institute of Discovery research themes. 

Professor Sheehan also serves as faculty director for the Helen Louise 

Allen Textile Collection and the Ruth Ketterer Harris Library 


Karen Bogenschneider received the 2008 Board of Human Sciences 

Engagement Award from the National Association of State Universities 

and Land Grant Colleges. This award names one recipient for exceptional 

creativity and scholarship in outreach, extension and public 

service programs. Professor Bogenschneider also received the Spitze 

Land Grant Faculty Excellence Award for her record of exemplifying 

the mission of land-grant colleges and universities to serve the 

larger society. This annual award is given to a single faculty member 

from the UW-Madison College of Agriculture and Human Sciences 

or the School of Human Ecology. These awards recognize not only 

Bogenschneider’s scholarship, but also the societal impact of her 

work. Since 1993, she and her team have conducted 26 Family Impact 

Seminars that bring objective, high-quality research to Wisconsin policymakers 

on family issues. Through a national institute that she directs, 

Bogenschneider and her staff are providing technical assistance to 29 

states that are planning or conducting Family Impact Seminars in their 

state capitals. 

Janean Dilworth-Bart investigates the associations between the early 

development context and the emergence of key neurocognitive skills 

that are important for academic success and socially appropriate behavior. 

In the past year, she began a project, “Home Time to School Time” 

(HTST). With the assistance of a 15-member graduate and undergraduate 

student research team, Professor Dilworth-Bart is studying the 

ways that parenting, mothers’ characteristics and the home environment 

impact preschoolers’ early development. In addition, she continued 

her collaborative research with Professor Julie Poehlmann in the 

Parent-Infant Interaction Lab. This research, the “Maternal Scaffolding 

Project,” examines child characteristics and parenting behaviors that 

intervene between neonatal and sociodemograhic risks and neurocognitive 

outcomes in a sample of toddlers born preterm or with low 

birth weights. Data from the Maternal Scaffolding Project were presented 

at the 2008 annual convention of the American Psychological 



Association and submitted for publication in the Journal of Pediatric 

Psychology. Professor Dilworth-Bart’s research is funded by grants from 

the National Institutes of Health and the Wisconsin Alumni Research 

Foundation. 

Jeffrey Lewis continued his research on school-related support for 

African-American boys, especially boys from low-income families. He 

has examined how they develop academic identity and social behaviors 

that lead to classroom success. He is currently working with a middle 

school and an elementary school in Beloit to use the study’s data to 

help the schools develop more effective approaches to working with 

African American boys. Recent support includes a $4,000 grant from 

the University of Wisconsin System’s Institute on Race and Ethnicity to 

assist with data analysis and dissemination of his research findings. 

Nadine Marks continued her scholarship exploring social inequalities, 

psychosocial factors, and health. Her publications this year included a 

chapter, with Jieun Song (PhD’05, Human Ecology), describing demographic 

variation in compassionate acts and compassionate attitudes 

in The Science of Compassionate Love: Research, Theory and Application; 

an article, with Heejeong Choi (PhD’05, Human Ecology), examining 

how greater marital disagreement can lead to greater functional limitations 

and depressive symptoms among midlife and older adults in the 

Journal of Marriage and Family; and an article with several recent PhD 

graduates, describing how numerous psychosocial factors influence the 

mental and physical health impact of caregiving for a parent in Research 

on Aging. Marks, with several current and former PhD students, also 

made four presentations at the 2008 Gerontological Society of America 

annual meeting in National Harbor, Md. — describing research linking 

caregiving, marital factors, and problems with adult children to healthrelated 

biomarker factors (e.g., blood pressure, cholesterol, cortisol, 

inflammatory markers), as well as linking childhood family violence 

with adult functional impairment. 

Lauren Papp investigates close relationship quality as a key context 

for individuals’ development and well-being. Her current research 

examines these questions in two separate samples, including a national 

study of more than 1,300 families and a dating study of 100 Madisonbased 

couples. Her research is funded by the National Institute 

of Child Health and Human Development and the UW-Madison 



Graduate School. In the past year, Professor Papp’s research has been 

accepted for publication in the Handbook of Human Relationships, Journal 

of Family Psychology, Personal Relationships and Family Relations. She 

has been invited to serve as a consulting editor of the Journal of Family 

Psychology, a publication of the American Psychological Association. 

Julie Poehlmann is principal investigator on a $1.4 million National 

Institutes of Health grant investigating individual and family predictors 

of emerging self-regulation in preterm infants. The study follows 

infants until they are 3 years of age, beginning at the neonatal intensive 

care units at Meriter and St. Mary’s Hospitals in Madison and St. 

Joseph Hospital in Milwaukee. Professor Poehlmann also is the supervisor 

of the UW-Madison Jumpstart program. Jumpstart for Young 

Children is an Americorps program that pairs college students with 

economically disadvantage preschoolers to help them build literacy and 

other school readiness skills. 

Dave Riley’s parenting education program, Parenting the First Year, 

was delivered to almost half of all new parents in Wisconsin last 

year. The project has been active long enough that 10 percent of all 

Wisconsin citizens have now been raised by parents who received 

this program, which is a collaborative effort of the School of Human 

Ecology, UW-Extension, 77 hospitals, 22 health departments and 145 

Kiwanis Clubs in the state. Riley also published a new book, Intellectual 

Development: Connecting Science and Practice in Early Childhood Settings. 

This is a companion volume to his book on social-emotional development 

published last year. 

Linda Roberts chairs the Department of Human Development and 

Family Studies and is a visiting state extension specialist leading the 

Family Living Programs Healthy Relationships Team (HeaRT). Last 

year she received a program innovation grant from the UW-Extension 

and UW Colleges to develop a Web site for the WIRE project, 

Wisconsin Intimate Relationships: Learning for Life and Love. The 

Web site (eWIRE) and associated programming provides evidenceinformed 

intimate relationship information and resources to UW 

Colleges students around the state. Professor Roberts received additional 

funding for the WIRE project from the National Campaign to 

Prevent Teen and Unwanted Pregnancies. She also serves as a coinvestigator 

of a National Cancer Institute Grant, “Natural History of 



Smoking and Quitting: Long-Term Outcomes,” and as associate director 

of a National Institutes of Health Institutional Training Grant. 

Stephen Small completed a book chapter with graduate student 

Siobhan Cooney; “Youth Policy and Politics in the United States: 

Toward an Increased Focus on Prevention” will appear in the Handbook 

of Youth Prevention. He published an article with Siobhan Cooney 

and Cailin O’Connor, “Girls in the Juvenile Justice System: Toward 

Effective Gender-Responsive Programming,” in the UW-Extension’s 

What Works: Wisconsin Research to Practice Series. Professor Small was 

invited to give the keynote presentation at the annual PROSPER conference 

sponsored by the Partnerships in Prevention Science Institute 

at Iowa State University in Ames. The title of his presentation was 

“Toward More Effective Youth Prevention Programs: Past, Present 

and Future.” He also participated in the National Council on Family 

Relations president’s symposium on “Evidence-Based Practice: Linking 

Research and Practice.” 

Lynet Uttal became the Director for the Asian American Studies 

Program at UW-Madison 2008. She continues to contribute to community 

development efforts for Latino immigrant families in Dane 

County and is currently working on a book manuscript about how 

Latino immigrant parents develop bicultural parenting awareness 

in the United States. She also presented at two international 

conferences: (1) “Building Community Here: Latino Immigrant 

Parents and Childrearing in the U.S.” at the third On New Shores: 

International Forum on Issues on Immigrant and Refugee Children, 

Youth, and Families from around the World 2008, held in Guelph, 

Canada; and (2) “Latino Immigrant Family Childcare Providers and 

Bicultural Childrearing in the U.S.” at the Colloque International 

Interdisciplinaire, Université de Fribourg, Switzerland. In addition, 

Professor Uttal wrote a chapter, “(Re)Visioning Family Ties 

to Communities and Context,” to be included in the forthcoming 

Handbook of Feminist Family Studies. 




Cynthia Jasper Vaughan Bascom Professor of Women and 

Philanthropy, is currently chairing the Department of Interdisciplinary 

Studies. She is also a professor in the Consumer Science department. 

She is working on a project that focuses on Family Businesses and 

Public Policy funded by the Agricultural Experiment Station, U.S. 

Department of Agriculture. She was elected to serve on the University 

Library Committee. In addition, she was elected to serve as treasurer 

on the American Council on Consumer Interests (ACCI) board. 

She has also served as a faculty advisor for the Entrepreneurship 

Learning Community at Sellery Residential Hall which was supported 

by a Kaufman Grant that was awarded to the University of 

Wisconsin-Madison. In this role she lectured in a course entitled, 

“Entrepreneurship in Business, the Arts, and Nonprofits.” Her lectures 

in this course focused on philanthropy and social entrepreneurship. 

Wendy Way is the principal investigator of a study examining the 

financial issues and personal finance teacher education needs of preservice 

and in-service educators. The study is funded in the amount of 

$104,807 by the National Endowment for Financial Education (NEFE). 

She is co-investigator of another NEFE study, funded at $112,552, 

examining the financial management practices of college students 

from states with varying financial education mandates. Additionally, 

Professor Way serves as co-director of a UW-Madison technology 

enhanced learning grant focused on developing a system to expand 

the identification, creation, and use of electronic teaching and learning 

resources at UW-Madison. The project is funded at $125,000. 

Shepherd Zeldin’s scholarship explores the ways that youth partner 

with adults to strengthen the nonprofit sector and build a civil society 

within their communities. His research was published and widely disseminated 

this year by Cornell University’s Center for Excellence, the 

Forum for Youth Investment, and the Superior Institute for Applied 

Psychology in Lisbon, Portugal. As faculty director for the Center for 

Nonprofits, Zeldin has led the School’s new initiative to create an 

interdisciplinary graduate program focused on nonprofit and 

community leadership. 



Outreach from the School of Human Ecology 

While the School of Human Ecology is a small part of the UW-Madison 

campus, it has an outsized impact on campus outreach. 

• We consulted with over 500 agencies and organizations last year 

to help them serve families better. 

• We taught workshops to over 5,000 individuals, and 36,000 

households purchased one of the 101 newsletters or fact sheets 

that we make available to the public. On average we had about 

28 face-to-face teaching contacts per work day, across the whole 

year, with non-students off campus. 

• We raised over $3 million to support our outreach efforts (about 

$75,000 per faculty member). 

• Last year, about one in every eight Human Ecology courses 

included Service Learning experiences as part of the curriculum, 

representing a greater commitment to this experiential learning 

method than any other unit of campus. In these courses, the 

ideas in the books and the experiences in the field are brought 

together, which benefits both the students and the community. 

• Our semester-long Undergraduate Internships, required in every 

academic program of our School, are a powerful form of outreach. 

These are not only central to the students’ learning, but 

also create channels of reciprocal influence between the campus 

and the wider community. Businesses and nonprofits benefit 

from the knowledge and enthusiasm of our students, and the 

School benefits through continuous feedback on how well our 

programs are preparing students for the real world. 

• About one-quarter of our faculty have joint appointments with the 

Cooperative Extension System, which is the premier “knowledge 

dissemination” or “technology transfer” organization in the world. 

By working with the network of county Extension offices, they 

delivered educational programs in every one of Wisconsin’s 72 

counties last year, and in many other states and nations as well. 



Examples of Outreach Projects 

Textile Chemistry Saves Money and the Environment. Professor 

Majid Sarmadi helped a public agency in California write new carpet 

standards that saved them $83 million in public funds in 2008. 

The standards eliminated hundreds of dangerous chemicals from the 

manufacture of the carpets, which are now 100 percent recyclable and 

guaranteed to last 30 years. Because this was the largest single carpet 

purchase in history, Sarmadi’s new standards are changing the carpet 

industry, so the whole nation will benefit. 

Preventing Juvenile Delinquency is the aim of the Governor’s 

Juvenile Justice Commission, with whom Professor Stephen Small and 

his students have been working. For both policymakers and the staff of 

community programs, Small’s team has produced a series of readable 

reports describing the kinds of programs that have solid evidence of 

preventing juvenile crime and helping juvenile delinquents avoid recurrent 

problems. 

Helping Solve the Health Care Crisis for Children from Low- 

Income Households: One of the problems in health care coverage 

is that existing programs are not used by many eligible, low-income 

families. Headed by Professor Roberta Riportella and outreach specialist 

Michael Jacob, the Wisconsin Covering Kids and Families project 

creates greater awareness and utilization of existing health care programs. 

The project works primarily through a coalition of more than 

65 organizations that work with low-income families who are likely to 

have family members eligible for Medicaid or BadgerCare. 

The Food Security Project, gathers local food security data to develop 

statewide trend information, provides food security information for 

community planners, and helps identify community characteristics that 

contribute to household food security. 

Age-Paced Parenting Newsletters are monthly, instructional newsletters 

in English and Spanish that are delivered to over 45,000 Wisconsin 

families each year through Extension offices and hospitals. Professor 

Dave Riley and outreach specialist Carol Ostergren have tested the 

effect of the instructional newsletters in a field trial. Parents who 

receive the newsletters, compared to those who don’t, develop parenting 

beliefs and behaviors that are significantly less like those of maltreating 

parents. 



ABC Project: Acting to Build Our Children’s Future helps 

Wisconsin communities carry out comprehensive community planning 

to effectively support young children’s development and school readiness, 

under the leadership of outreach specialist Gay Eastman. 

Design Partnership with Senior Housing: Professor Michael Hunt’s 

interior design class, “Housing Environments for Older People” has a 

continuing relationship with the Oakwood Village retirement community 

in Madison. Students have conducted applied research and design 

work that benefits Oakwood, while receiving real-world experience in 

business consulting. 

The Teen Leadership Project of Professor Shepherd Zeldin teaches 

youth and staff of youth organizations across Wisconsin and the nation 

to rigorously evaluate their own organizations and then develop an 

action plan for needed changes. 

Consumer and Producer Co-ops of North America receive their 

most important training institutes every year from a Human Ecology 

project led by Professor Ann Hoyt. She has also provided training to 

business co-ops in Latin America and Africa. 

Art Outreach to Public Schools: Professor Jennifer Angus uses 

mountings of brightly colored insects as the medium for her artwork, 

which has been exhibited internationally. She has taken her art “on 

the road” to a large number of schools, creating discussions that merge 

natural science curiosity with the question of what is art. 

The Economics of Family Life has been taught to hundreds of local 

groups in every corner of Wisconsin, by Professor Karen Goebel. She 

has just been promoted to Emeritus Professor but continues to work 

in the School and across the state. Popular topics of her outreach talks 

have included family estate planning, marital property reform, identity 

theft and advance directives for health care. 

Bringing University Knowledge to State Policymakers has been 

the goal of Professor Karen Bogenschneider’s Family Impact Seminar 

Series. State legislators from both political parties, as well as agency 

administrators, agree that Bogenschneider’s seminars have helped 

them find common ground for new state policies and programs in such 



areas as corrections system reform, long-term care, Medicaid, and prisoner 

re-entry. The Wisconsin Family Impact Seminars are now in their 

16th year. With Jennifer Seubert, coordinator and publication specialist, 

and the rest of Bogenschneider’s team, 29 other states are planning or 

offering their own seminars for state leaders. Bogenschneider’s book 

on family policy, now in its second edition, is used by 40 percent of the 

U.S. college courses on this topic 

Enhancing Communication about Health Issues has been the theme 

of two projects by Professor Linda Roberts this past year. One project 

connects women with breast cancer into Internet discussion and support 

groups. Another project, the Wisconsin Intimate Relationship 

Education (WIRE) project, has just begun. The initial target audience 

for this educational outreach effort will be students at Wisconsin’s twoyear 

colleges, and it will help them learn about intimate relationships 

during the period of their lives when this topic is most salient, early 

adulthood. 

Child Welfare Workers from around Wisconsin benefit from continuing 

education provided by the Southern Child Welfare Project. Last 

year, the project delivered 162 days of training to 2,437 professionals on 

topics ranging from foster-parent training to psychopharmacology. The 

project is self-funded with grants. 

Improving the School Readiness Skills of Preschoolers considered 

at-risk for academic difficulties in kindergarten has been the focus of 

the Jumpstart Program since 2006. UW-Madison students who become 

part of the Jumpstart program establish one-on-one relationships with 

a young child within a Madison preschool program, through weekly 

sessions that continue for the entire academic year. Working with 

Jumpstart provides students with an opportunity to help a preschool 

child develop language, literacy and social skills, and foster the involvement 

of parents in their child’s preschool experiences. Over the last 

three years, 115 Jumpstart students have developed one-on-one relationships 

with over 100 preschool children from local programs. The 

project is led by Professor Julie Poehlmann and Robert San Juan. 



Awards for Outstanding Outreach 

Last year, UW-Madison awarded Professor Karen Bogenschneider 

the Spitze Land Grant Faculty Excellence Award. This award honors a 

single faculty member from either the College of Agricultural and Life 

Sciences or the School of Human Ecology, whose work best exemplifies 

the mission of the land-grant colleges and universities to serve the 

wider society. The nomination of Professor Bogenschneider focused 

not just on her many accomplishments, but more importantly on the 

societal impacts of her work, in particular her Family Impact Seminars 

with the state legislature. 

Bogenschneider also received the 2008 Outstanding Public 

Engagement Award from the Board of Human Sciences of the Land 

Grant Universities. 

Sue Saeger, director of the Southern Child Welfare Training 

Partnership, has received the annual School of Human Ecology 

Outreach Award, which provides a $500 professional development 

grant. The partnership provides training to all social workers in child 

protective services in 21 southern Wisconsin counties. The award recognizes 

Saeger’s leadership of the partnership and her decade-long 

service on the school’s Outreach Planning Council. 


Alumni and Donor Interests 


Wisconsin Alumni Association 

Since 1861, the Wisconsin Alumni Association has served all the alumni 

of UW-Madison, including those of the Schools of Human Ecology, 

Family Resources and Consumer Science, and Home Economics. WAA 

is an independently financed, nonprofit organization, funded by duespaying 

members from all around the state and the globe. 

More than four-fifths of the School’s living alumni live in just 10 

states, and almost half of the School’s 11,000 alumni reside in Wisconsin. 

Board of Visitors 

The growing roster of the Human Ecology Board of Visitors represents 

an outstanding list of professionals who bring valuable knowledge and 

experience to forward the mission and goals of the School. 

Virginia “Ginny” Baxter (BS’77 Interior Design) is the senior manager 

of workplace dynamics for Herman Miller of Zeeland, Mich. 

Herman Miller, a top manufacturer of commercial office furniture, was 

the first to develop open office modular “cubical” furniture. Following 

graduation from the School, Baxter became the Interiors Manager for 

UW-Stevens Point where she worked with the University Centers, Staff 

Offices and Housing. She joined Herman Miller in Chicago in 1995, 

moving to the company’s Zeeland world headquarters in 1999. While 

in Chicago, she earned an MBA from Lake Forest Graduate School of 

Management. Her focus remains the relationship between the environment 

and human behavior and she is currently enrolled in the School’s 

Design Studies graduate program. 

Mary K. Berge, School of Human Ecology alumna, has been a clothing 

consultant for the Carlisle Collection of Fine Women’s Apparel 

and an active member of the Wisconsin Alumni Association. She is a 

UW-Madison Bascom Hill Society member and has led many charitable 

and development efforts for nonprofit organizations such as the Attic 

Angels Association, Edgewood High School, Madison Art League and 

United Way Head Start program. She and husband Paul co-chaired the 

School’s centennial celebration committee. Mary Berge was one of the 

first to be honored through the School’s 100 Women program. 



Judy Borden runs a California insurance agency with her son. She 

took over the operation of the agency following the death of her husband. 

Previously, she served as the agency’s corporate secretary and 

office manager. She also has been a full-time volunteer, advocating 

for low- and moderate-income housing and for residential board and 

care homes. Other volunteer commitments included Girl Scouts, Boy 

Scouts, American Association of University Women, Mental Health 

Association of Los Angeles County, Valley Interfaith and her church. 

She earned a BS from UW-Madison in less than three years and has 

done post-graduate work at the University of California-Los Angeles. 

Marjorie Briskey graduated with a BS degree from the School in 

1953 and an MS degree in 1962. She taught home economics at West 

Bend for two years and at Madison West High School for five years. 

Subsequently she served as an instructor in the School at two different 

times — once teaching nutrition and once supervising student teachers. 

After her three children were either in or had graduated from the 

university, Marjorie and husband Ernest Briskey began 15 years of 

international work, living one year in Denmark, two years in Thailand, 

and 12 years in Kuwait. In keeping with the interdisciplinary aspect of 

her UW degrees, she worked in business and research in Denmark, 

taught home economics and served as advisor to the International 

Human Assistance Project in Thailand, and taught science, reading 

and social studies in Kuwait. She considers it an honor to serve on the 

Board of Visitors. 

Craig Crawford is a consultant at Burberry, based in London, where 

he is guiding the company’s implementation of design technology 

software. He’s been a fashion consultant with numerous articles on 

fashion, food, and home design to his credit, he is also working on 

L’Olivier Flowering Your Home with Style, a book that celebrates this 

internationally acclaimed floral couturier. His stylist clients include 

Grammy-nominated Imani Winds, Domino, Accent and Menswear 

Retailing magazines, Henri Bendel and AT&T. Crawford also has served 

as a design technology consultant for Tory Burch, Perry Ellis and Greg 

LaGola. In addition, he is the former Chairman of the Computer 

Integrated Textile Design Association (CITDA) and serves on its conference 

planning committee. While the director of design technologies 

for Liz Claiborne, Inc., he led a team responsible for the research, 

development, and implementation of color, textile and apparel tech- 



nology used to design product for Dana Buchman, DKNY Jeans, Ellen 

Tracy, Enyce, J.H. Collectibles, Juicy Couture, Kenneth Cole, Laundry 

by Shelli Segal, Lucky Brand Jeans, Mexx, Sigrid Olsen, and Villager. 

Previously, he was one of six Gap, Inc. product developers who started 

Old Navy, establishing that company’s color and textile technologies. 

Crawford has lectured at the Savannah College of Arts and Design, 

Philadelphia University, Parsons, and Pratt, as well as numerous international 

industry conferences. In addition, he is a guest CAD instructor 

for the School of Human Ecology, UW-Madison, and has served on the 

Fashion Institute of Technology’s faculty advisory committee. Crawford 

is a member of the Fashion Group International, and he devotes his 

spare time to raising funds for First Book-East Harlem. He holds a 

degree from the University of Virginia. 

Sharon Devenish, Human Ecology alumna in Interior Design, is 

president of Devenish Associates, Inc., repeatedly named a Top 50 

U.S. Interior Design Firm. Under Devenish’s leadership, the firm 

has provided interior design and interior architecture to corporate, 

healthcare, hospitality, restaurant and retail clients for over 30 years. 

She is licensed and registered in Wisconsin and Illinois, and certified 

by the National Council of Interior Design Qualifications. A member 

and board member of many professional organizations in design, she 

served as president of the International Interior Design Association and 

the Institute of Business Designers. In addition to working closely with 

the School’s Interior Design program, her firm has provided opportunities 

to student interns for many years. Devenish serves on various 

Boards, Committees and Civic groups and is appointed to the City of 

Monona Community Development Authority, Joint Review Board and 

Plan Commission. 

Lauranita Taylor Dugas, a UW-Madison alumna, retired in 1989 from 

Chicago Child Care Society as a supervising teacher after 25 years. She 

also worked for The Institute for Juvenile Research and the Head Start 

Program prior to her tenure at Chicago Child Care Society. She served 

as an Educational Consultant for the Child Development Associate 

Training Project at Harold Washington College until June 2007. She is 

a member of the Leadership Advisory Committee of The Art Institute 

of Chicago. 



Chad Frazzell is a vice president of human resources for Kohl’s 

Department Stores. He is responsible for all college recruitment, 

regional and district manager recruitment, and human resources support. 

He has spent 18 years in retail, the first nine years in store management 

positions for Wal-Mart, Target and Kohl’s. The last nine years 

have been in progressive human resources positions including, director 

of human resources for distribution, director of associate relations for 

stores and territory vice president of human resources for the stores 

in the upper Midwest. Frazzell also serves on the Board of Executive 

advisors at Northern Illinois University. He has a passion for developing 

interest for careers in retail and fashion. Frazzell graduated from 

the University of Northern Iowa with a BA in Business Management: 

Administration. 

Jean Towell Gebhard, assistant director of media relations for 

Northwestern Mutual, Milwaukee, develops and manages proactive 

public relations programs that support reputation management for the 

company. She develops media relations strategies and messaging that 

align with corporate initiatives and counsels senior management on 

strategic communications outreach. Prior to joining Northwestern in 

2000, Towell managed her own creative communications consulting 

firm. She has an extensive background in print and broadcast media 

and has worked as a newspaper reporter, radio talk show host and onair 

spokesperson for television. She holds a BS in family and consumer 

journalism from UW-Madison. 

Linda Graebner Smith, School of Human Ecology alumna, is president 

of CoCreate Consulting, Inc., Sussex. In part, CoCreate is an executive 

search firm specializing in all aspects of the built-environment: 

commercial real estate, architecture, construction/design-build, interior 

design and the contract furniture industry. Smith also consults with 

non-profits to grow their organizations and, as a liturgical consultant, 

works with faith-based communities to implement strategic initiatives. 

She achieved NCIDQ certification for professional interior design practice 

in Wisconsin four years after graduation. Initially, she worked as 

commercial interior designer, creating interiors for healthcare, manufacturing, 

retail, commercial and state, municipal and federal agencies. 

In addition, she lived and worked for several years as a missionary with 

the Boran, a tribal group of nomads in the northern deserts of Kenya. 



Prior to leaving the country, she completed the coursework for a master’s 

degree in theology and cross-cultural studies. She has served for 

two years as the president of the Wisconsin Commercial Real Estate 

women networking organization and has been active in Southeast 

Wisconsin economic development organizations, like the Milwaukee7 

and the MMAC. Smith serves on the steering committee for the 

Interfaith Earth Network and as director for the board for Family 

Legacies, and The Women’s Center in Waukesha. 

Roxy Heyse considers herself a “professional volunteer.” She believes 

the purpose of volunteering is to improve the quality of life for all 

ages in health, education, music, art and the environment. She has 

served as president of many organizations in the Milwaukee and 

Mequon areas. She has held many positions for United Way and cochaired 

drives for the United Performing Arts Fund and the Milwaukee 

Symphony Orchestra Annual Fund. As a representative of the 

Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra League, she served on two national 

boards — as vice president of the American Symphony Orchestra 

League Volunteer Council and public relations chair of the Association 

for Major Symphony Orchestras. The Heyses donated the Children’s 

Porch of the Frank. L. Weyenberg Library in Mequon, and they have 

given scholarships and a professorship to the UW-Madison Journalism 

School, as well as scholarships to the School of Human Ecology. The 

couple and their daughters (UW-Madison graduates) all are members 

of the Bascom Hill Society, and Roxy and her husband are former vice 

chairs of the society. Heyse earned her bachelor of science degree in 

merchandising and textiles from Milwaukee Downer College (now 

Lawrence University). 

Gilda Hudson-Winfield, a UW-Madison alumna, is a former Big Ten 

Champion in track and field. She serves on the University’s Athletic 

Board and as chair of the Wisconsin Alumni Association Board of 

Directors. Having earned a Doctor of Judicial Science from Loyola 

University of Chicago, she is a practicing attorney and founder of a 

minority-owned law firm in downtown Chicago. She provides legal 

services in several areas, including family law. 



Tony Landretti earned his baccalaureate in consumer science 

at UW-Madison in 1989. He credits his career success to school 

faculty and his involvement in the Society of Consumer Affairs 

Professionals. This involvement led to his first job out of college in 

consumer affairs at Quaker Oats in Chicago. Since then he has worked 

in supply chain and sales at Quaker Oats, Campbell Soup, and the 

Pinnacle Foods Group, LLC. Currently he is the senior vice president, 

sales, for the Pinnacle Foods Group, LLC. He lives in Greeley, Colo., 

with his wife, Carol, and daughter, Gianna. 

Susan Lubar, a UW-Madison alumna, is first vice president-wealth 

management and financial advisor at Citigroup Smith Barney in 

Madison. She serves on the board of the UW Research Park and the 

Oversight Committee of University Ridge Golf Course. She maintains 

an active membership in Cabinet 99 (Wisconsin Alumni Association), 

Mendota Gridiron Club, Bascom Hill Society, Langer Society, TEMPO- 

Madison, International Women’s Forum-Madison, and Vantage Point. 

Maureen Maddox consults for the Filene Research Institute, a nonprofit 

organization that examines vital issues affecting the future of 

credit unions and consumer finance. Prior to contracting with Filene, 

she held the position of senior business leader, debit product management 

— the Americas for MasterCard Worldwide in Purchase, New 

York. Maddox has substantial experience in consumer financial services 

and has held product development and marketing positions at CUNA 

Mutual Group, Summit Credit Union, and state and national financial 

trade associations. She has also served as director of marketing, 

Wisconsin Union, UW-Madison. Maddox is a member of the National 

Association of Female Executives and the Promotions Marketing 

Association, and she has held numerous volunteer leadership positions. 

As a member of the Human Ecology Board of Visitors, she is working 

to create the Center for Financial Security, a proposed research center 

whose mission is to deepen understanding of human behavior regarding 

money management and how consumers of financial products 

make their decisions. 

B. Ann Neviaser, a School of Human Ecology alumna, is president of 

Neviaser Investments, Inc., which owns and manages hotels and commercial 

real estate. Currently She serves on the Madison Rotary Club 

Foundation Board and Finance Committee, which watches over about 



$8 million used for scholarships, Rotary programs and Madison-area 

good works. She is a former member and consumer advocate on the 

Wisconsin Psychology Examining Board, a former public member and 

chair of the Wisconsin Medical Examining Board, and a former member 

of the Wisconsin Higher Education Aids Board and the Board of 

Trustees of Edgewood College. In addition, Neviaser served over eight 

years on the Dane County Board, highlighted by being the first woman 

to chair the Finance Committee. She has been an active supporter 

of the School and supported the 2003 publication of the book, The 

Challenge of Constantly Changing Times: From Home Economics to Human 

Ecology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, 1903 – 2003. 

Dorothy O’Brien (BS’70, Home Economics Journalism) has worked 

with such corporations as The American Furniture Mart, Charles 

Spencer & Associates, Coopers and Lybrand, and Lazarus in the areas 

of benefits, compensation, human resources and public relations. She 

has held positions in nonprofit organizations including the American 

Dental Association and the Chicago office of the National Organization 

for Women. Dorothy O’Brien has also co-owned a consulting business, 

Women in Process, managing organizational change and personal 

development. She has lived in Chicago, New York City, and Kobe, 

Japan. She currently divides her time between Cincinnati, Ohio and 

Longboat Key, Fla. In Cincinnati she serves on the boards of the Tri- 

State Adoption Coalition and Asian Community Alliance, Inc. She is 

also a member of Impact 100 and the Town and Welcomers clubs. 

Karon Ohm received her bachelor’s degree from the School, majoring 

in consumer science. She recalled, “I was able to get a great business 

background with marketing/communications thrown in.” Ohm used 

this background to purchase and grow a dental practice with her husband. 

This included returning to school to become a registered dental 

hygienist, as well as planning and building an office building to house 

the practice. Immediately after college, she worked as public relations 

secretary and then international coordinator in her father’s company, 

Brady Marketing Group. She had always planned to return to the company 

and did so in 1999, following her father’s death, becoming chairman 

in 2000. Ohm sold her interest in the company in 2007. She is a 

former chair of the School’s Board of Visitors. 



Judy Pyle is president and chief executive officer of Judith Dion Pyle 

& Associates, a financial services and investment company. Pyle serves 

on serves on the Alliant Energy Corporation and Uniek, Inc. Board 

of Directors. She also serves on the National Council for Georgia 

O’Keeffe Museum. She received her undergraduate and master of fine 

arts degrees from the University of California-Los Angeles and completed 

advanced management programs at the University of Virginia 

and Harvard University. 

Sharon Scanlan, 2008 Annie E. Casey Foundation 09 chair of the 

Board of Visitors, retired from Sears after 33 years where she was 

the vice president of Softlines Merchandise Planning and Placement. 

Previously she held many positions at Sears, including regional manager 

in Hawaii and in the Northwest, vice president for apparel sales, 

vice president and general merchandise manager of Product Repair 

Services, and senior region vice president. She currently consults in the 

retail industry, serves as an executive mentor and is past president of 

the Prescott, Ariz., branch of the American Association of University 

Women. Scanlan is a graduate of the School of Human Ecology with a 

retail major. 

Elizabeth Schar received her degree in Family and Consumer 

Communications in 1975. Today, as founder and managing partner of 

Three Points Solutions, Palo Alto, Calif., she is focusing on teen mental 

health and public school education. Working with such clients as the 

World Health Organization, U.S. Center for Disease Control, hospitals 

and public health agencies, Schar helped identify and define effective 

public health messages that convince people not to smoke. She began 

communicating about consumer issues at a Gateway Technical Institute 

radio program, Gateway to Consumers, in Kenosha. From there, Schar 

went to work in consumer affairs and sales at Oscar Mayer and Co. 

(now a subsidiary of Kraft Foods) in Madison and then Cincinnati. 

Next, she moved with her family to Florida, where she accepted a position 

at Disney World, as manager of marketing, planning and research 

for the resorts and theme parks. When her family relocated back 

to Cincinnati, she was hired as vice president and management supervisor 

at Northlich, an advertising agency with $100 million in annual 

billings. She focused on health issues, pharmaceutical products, hospitals 

and women’s heath, and eventually started her own firm to concentrate 

on these areas. When the family moved to Palo Alto, Schar 



took these interests with her. She is now involved with a variety of 

education initiatives in the Bay Area. 

Judy Sidran, UW-Madison alumna, is currently chairing the Helen 

Louise Allen Textile Collection’s Development Committee. She guestcurated 

the exhibition, Tevet to Av: Celebrating Contemporary Judaica, 

a few years ago in the Design Gallery. She presently co-chairs the 

Gates of Heaven Preservation Committee, and serves on the Board of 

Monona Terrace. Judy is a past president of Jewish Social Services of 

Madison and of the Madison Weaver’s Guild and has served on bo th 

the Kanopy Dance and the Tap-It Boards of Directors. Until recently 

Judy served 14 years on the Dane County Airport Commission and cochaired 

the Airport Art Sub-Committee. When she is not volunteering 

in the community or pursuing such artistic pleasures as a weaver and 

knitter, Sidran works as an at-home travel agent for Middleton Travel 

and travels as much as possible. 

Julie Bender Silver is president of the Bender Foundation, Inc., the 

Washington, D.C. family foundation started by her grandfather that 

annually contributes to over 70 nonprofit groups. Her first real exposure 

to volunteering came when she was invited to join the Service 

Guild of Washington, a group of Jewish women who volunteer their 

time to projects important to the community. In 1986 she became 

Service Guild president. As a member of the Jewish Community Center 

Board, she led the creation of the Bender-Dosik Parenting Center, 

where parents find support, learn about Jewish values, and seek advice 

from child development experts. Silver, who earned a BS in Early 

Childhood Education with honors from the School in 1977, was instrumental 

in launching Discovery Creek, a children’s museum, which has 

educated thousands of students since opening in 1994. She has also 

supported many other groups — to name just a few: the Women’s 

Auxiliary of the Hebrew Home of Washington, Second Genesis (a 

drug/alcohol rehabilitation group), and Hebrew University Vet School. 

Her skills as a fundraiser have benefited numerous institutions, such as 

the Suburban Hospital in Bethesda, the Jewish Social Service Agency, 

the National Children’s Hospital, and the U.S. Holocaust Memorial 

Museum. Her many honors include the Jewish Women International’s 

2004 Community Leadership Award and a 2005 Athena nomination by 

the Women Business Owners of Montgomery County, Md. 



Dean Stadel (BS’66 Economics and postgraduate studies at UW Law 

school) is the president of International Marketing Solutions Inc., a 

consulting company that conducts marketing research and strategic 

planning for the global fashion industry. A professor at Parsons the 

New School for Design in New York City, Stadel also has been a visiting 

professor at Bunka University in Tokyo, Japan. He serves on the 

Board of Governors of the YMA Fashion Scholarship Fund and acts as 

that organization’s scholarship ambassador to the School of Human 

Ecology. He was instrumental in coordinating a successful Human 

Ecology alumni event in conjunction with “Black Style Now,” an 

exhibition at the Museum of the City of New York in 2007. And, he 

has serves as a U.S. fashion adviser to JETRO (Japanese External Trade 

Organization). 

Christopher Tancill is a financial consultant with RBC Wealth 

Management in Madison. Prior to RBC, he spent 14 years playing professional 

hockey — eight years in the United States and six years in 

Switzerland. Tancill still does some traveling. “This job enables me to 

maintain my international ties, but technology enables me to be local,” 

he explained. His children (Tancill and wife Jill have three children) 

now enjoy a stable life in their west side Madison home. Yet they have 

already seen the world. “We feel very lucky,” he said, “to have been 

able to experience that as a family.” Tancill, who earned a degree in 

Consumer Science from the School in 1995, views the financial industry 

as similar to athletics. “Both are competitive, require discipline and 

take a lot of hard work.” 

Carol Vanderpool, Human Ecology alumna, is the chief operating 

officer for OneDisc.com, Inc., St. Paul. Since 1999, OneDisc.com is a 

leading provider of Internet set-up discs for the telecom sector and 

also a unique source of integrated digital marketing CD-ROMs, DVDs 

and innovative, patented packaging and envelopes for the direct marketing 

and promotional industries. Prior to starting OneDisc.com, 

Vanderpool held leadership positions in La Leche League, Minnesota 

Homeschoolers, and chaired the STAR committee for 3M Foreign 

Services Employee Volunteer Group. She is a past member of the 

MainStreet, Inc. board of White Bear Lake, Minn., and a longtime 

member of the Bascom Hill Society. 



Connie Wald is a marketing consultant specializing in products positioned 

to women. She is a former vice president at Neiman Marcus, 

Dallas, Tex., where she led the $3.5-billion company’s marketing 

operations, focused on serving the needs of the luxury market. 

Wald’s route to Neiman Marcus vice president began at Carson Pirie 

Scott in Chicago, Ill. From there, she moved to buyer positions for 

Robinsons in Los Angeles, Calif., and then Gimbels in New York City. 

During the 1980s Wald joined Avon Products as marketing manager 

of their skincare category and later served as senior marketing manager 

of their make-up brands. She joined Hakuhodo Advertising as 

vice president in 1991. At Hakuhodo, Wald developed, positioned 

and promoted high-end skincare brands destined for introduction in 

Japan. Two years later she accepted another advertising position, as 

head of Conair Corporation’s in-house ad agency. In this capacity she 

directed all account and creative functions for Conair, Cuisinart and 

Southwestern Bell retail products. In addition to the Board of Visitors, 

Wald, who earned a Consumer Science degree from the School, volunteers 

her expertise as a member of the Human Ecology Retail Program 

Assessment Committee. 

C. Jean Weidemann is president of Weidemann Foundation, a nonprofit 

organization for alleviating poverty in developing countries. 

From 1986–2000, she was president of Weidemann Associates, Inc., 

an international socio-economic and gender-focused consulting firm 

that she founded. She is a specialist in gender issues, microfinance 

and international development in nations around the globe. She has 

held consultant and staff positions with the World Bank, USAID/State 

Department, United Nations, U.S. Congress, Asian Development Bank, 

Finnish International Development Agency, Ford Foundation, National 

Academy of Sciences, universities, businesses and governments. She 

is the author of more than 40 books and publications, including the 

UNDP Guidebook, Supporting Women’s Livelihoods: Microfinance that 

Works for the Majority, with D. Burjorjee and R. Desphande. She is a 

founder of the Association for Women in Development and has been 

involved in many other organizations and international events, including 

the Beijing Women’s Conference. Weidemann holds master’s and 

doctoral degrees from the School of Human Ecology and was a staff 

member. 



Robert Wynn is president of Akamai, L.L.C., which is a business strategy 

consulting firm. Previous to opening his own business, he was the 

financial education officer for the Wisconsin Department of Financial 

Institutions for five years. In that capacity, he created a number of 

innovative financial education programs and techniques, including 

the statewide network of Money Conferences, the Millionaires Club 

after-school program, and the Intelligent Arts Project. Prior to that 

role, Wynn was the director of minority business development in the 

Wisconsin Department of Commerce. There, he established the Early 

Planning Grant Program, which has provided business planning funding 

for over 100 businesses, and he created the Minority Business 

Development Fund, which has provided over $5 million in financing 

to minority-owned firms. Wynn is a lawyer and registered investment 

advisor. He earned his JD from the University of Michigan and his 

baccalaureate from the University of North Carolina, where he was a 

Morehead Scholar. 

Paula Zanger has more than 15 years of experience in product development, 

encompassing china, glassware, textiles, decorative accessories, 

stationery designing home furnishings and gift products. Her 

strength is in understanding the technical production processes of 

manufacturers to best work with color and create beautiful products. 

Presently working in the world of colored gemstones, she continues 

to broaden her understanding of luxury color with historical references 

that makes for a strong foundation for her upcoming Orange 

HOWELL silver giftware collection. Zanger, a Human Ecology alumna, 

participated in the UW-Madison’s program at the Fashion Institute 

of New York and after graduation stayed in New York City, landing a 

job as a designer for the textile industry. In the mid 1980s, she opened 

SOFA SOMA, fabric boutique that created luxury fabrics for architects 

and interior designers and sold hand-printed pillows to major home 

product retailers. Her licensed surface designs of the 1990s became best 

sellers and can be viewed on her Web site at www.zanger.com. 


Impact of Private Support 

2008 Philanthropy Summary 

Every year, the School of Human Ecology receives generous support 

from alumni and friends. In 2008, the School received 1,591 gifts for a 

total of $1,376,777. Gifts were designated to strategically important initiatives 

and programs as illustrated below. 

Distribution of 2008 Gifts 800,000 

■ Greatest Need 

$88,703 

■ New Center Initiatives 

$265,322 

■ Endowment Funds 

$311,536 

■ Building Fund 

$609,138 

■ Program Support 

$102,078 

700,000 

600,000 

500,000 

400,000 

300,000 

200,000 

100,000 

0 

While gifts continued to be strong in all areas, the greatest benefit to 

the School was the increase in unrestricted gifts. Annual gifts made to 

the Dean’s Development fund support initiatives of greatest need, from 

student projects to faculty recruitment and retention. These discretionary 

gifts nearly doubled in 2008 and their impact directly benefited students 

and faculty. 

The 100 Women campaign continues to inspire major gifts as 

well as collaborative giving. Three new honorees were added to the 

100 Women Wall of Honor in 2008, bringing the list of honorees to 

32 women. Over 100 alums made gifts to the collaborative campaign 

to honor and memorialize Frances Zuill, who served as dean of the 

School of Home Economics from 1939 to 1961. The 100 Women honorees 

are: 

• Linda Paschke Ahlers 

• Katherine B. Annin 

• Florence Fox Below 

• Geraldyn R. McNichol Belzer 



• Wendy L. Benveniste 

• Mary Kunz Berge 

• Nancy Meng Bruce 

• Brooke Goodman Cohen* 

• Ruth Danielson Davis 

• Gracia McKenzie Drew 

• Sally A. Ebenreiter 

• Beverly Below Fetzer* 

• Helen Zepp Flexman 

• Sylvia Thompson Graf 

• Jane Graff 

• Frances M. Lehman 

• Laura L. Linden 

• Jean N. Manchester 

• Lynn Kraemer Mecklenburg 

• Elizabeth Metz 

• Jean Alford Myers 

• Alice Krueger Nelson 

• B. Ann Neviaser 

• Hazel B. Paschall 

• Judith Dion Pyle 

• Sharon Brewer Scanlan 

• Elizabeth Holloway Schar 

• Julie Bender Silver 

• Helen Fuller Taylor 

• Kay Vaughan 

• Louise A. Young 

• Frances Zuill* 

*Recognized as a 100 Women Honoree in 2008 

Human Ecology alumni continue to qualify for membership in the 

Bascom Hill Society, recognition given by the University of Wisconsin 

Foundation to donors who have given lifetime gifts of $25,000 or 

deferred gifts of at least $50,000. The School continues to recognize 

Dean’s Club “membership” for annual gifts of $500 or more. 



Giving Opportunities 

The School’s plans for the future offer many opportunities for alumni 

and friends to invest in students, faculty and program excellence. Just 

as the UW-Madison serves to change the world with the discovery and 

application of new knowledge, so too does it represent a transforming 

place for its alumni. 

Fond memories of the University and gratitude for the education 

and experiences that helped to shape their lives inspire many alumni to 

“give back.” This generosity ensures that our tradition of excellence will 

endure far into the future. Annual gifts provide ongoing support for 

strategically important programs and activities. Deferred gifts represent 

an investment in the School’s future. 

Donors making annual outright gifts of cash or securities may 

choose to support a number of priorities including the following gift 

opportunities: 

• Greatest need: gifts to the School’s development fund provide 

unrestricted funds to be used for the greatest need, from support 

for undergraduate and graduate students to lab equipment to 

seed money for faculty initiatives in teaching, research and outreach. 

• Graduate education: designate gifts to support graduate education 

fund, gifts that can be used to supplement other types of 

support such as research/project assistantships. 

• Program excellence: support specific academic programs or 

related center initiatives by designating gifts to funds for such 

areas as the Center for Retailing Excellence, the Helen Louise 

Allen Textile Collection, the Design Gallery, the UW Lab 

Preschool or the newly established Center for Nonprofits. 

• Building fund: help support the dream for new facilities. 

Fundraising continues even as the design/engineering phase is 

being completed and construction gets underway. The donor 

honor roll for the building campaign will recognize gifts of 

$10,000 and higher with naming opportunities starting at 

$25,000. 



• Need-based scholarships: gifts to the School’s “Great People. 

Great Place.” General Need-based Scholarship Fund will be 

matched by the UW Foundation 50 cents on the dollar. This 

special initiative is intended to offset the rising cost of tuition 

and open opportunities for students who qualify for other needbased 

support as determined by the Office of Student Financial 

Aid. To take full advantage of the UW Foundation matching gift 

program, the School must raise a minimum of $25,000 

Programs to advance support for the School of Human Ecology 

are directed by Bobette Heller, Director of Development with the 

University of Wisconsin Foundation, 1848 University Avenue, 

Madison, WI 53726, (608) 263-0378. 

66 SoHE Almanac 2009

Improving the Quality of Human Life

2008–2009 Almanac - School of Human Ecology - University of ...

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