WAA chapters honor Badgers of the Year

Paula Vandehey ’86 is committed to building safe roads in her community. As director of public works for the city of Appleton, she led the recent reconstruction of Appleton’s College Avenue Bridge, a project that won four state awards and a national award from the American Public Works Association.

Julie Stafford ’52, PhD’82, Chippewa Falls has provided Wisconsin educators with opportunities for growth and learning for more than a decade. As founder and executive director of the Cray Academy and organizer of the Wisconsin Educational Partnership Initiatives, she helped win a five-year, $6 million grant that is helping 400 Wisconsin teachers become leaders in mathematics, science and technology education.

Vandehey and Stafford are just two of the outstanding University of Wisconsin–Madison alumni honored this year as Badgers of the Year by local chapters of the Wisconsin Alumni Association.

Established in 2004, the Badger of the Year awards honor UW–Madison graduates who have made a positive impact on their communities. Recipients are alumni who live in Wisconsin and make a difference as business or community leaders, volunteers, educators, philanthropists or UW–Madison advocates.

“All of the recipients truly are remarkable for the care and commitment they show in their communities,” said Paula Bonner MS’78, WAA’s president and CEO. “The positive impacts they make are evident throughout the state of Wisconsin, and we are so proud to count them as UW–Madison alumni.”

Recipients are selected annually by local alumni chapter leaders. The 2010 Badgers of the Year are:

• Mark Bradley ’73, JD’77, Wausau. Bradley is an attorney at Ruder Ware LLSC, and a member and past president of the University of Wisconsin System Board of Regents. He is active in the Wausau community and has been recognized as a “Best Lawyer in America” by Trust and Estates.
• Clarence Campbell ’69, Ashland. Campbell is an American Family Insurance agent and well known for his 35-year streak of broadcasting local sports on Heartland Communications radio stations in Ashland. He is a board member of the WAA: Chequamegon Bay Chapter.
• Forrest Kubly ’40, Monroe. Kubly is former senior vice president of Swiss Colony and has supported the University of Wisconsin for 70 years. He and his wife established the Forrest & Mildred Kubly UW Scholarship in 1998.
• Russell Lewis ’39, MD’41, Marshfield. Lewis is a retired obstetrician/gynecologist at Marshfield Clinic and a leader in the medical community. He was the founder of Wisconsin’s first health maintenance organization, served as Marshfield Clinic’s first medical director and has a building named in his honor on the UW-Marshfield County campus.
• Paul Liegeois ’72, Green Bay. Liegeois is retired as general manager of marketing/business development of Wisconsin Public Service Corporation. He began the Miracle League of Green Bay, a special baseball league for children with disabilities in his community.
• Fred Pumper ’60, MS’61, PhD’69, Malone. Pumper is a farm business and management instructor at Moraine Park Technical College and has spent 38 years in agricultural education. He serves as secretary of the WAA: Fond du Lac Chapter and has been a member of the board for 10 years.
• Brad Schimel JD’90, Waukesha. Schimel is a Waukesha County district attorney and founding member of the Waukesha County Child Advocacy Center Task Force. The Wisconsin Association of Victim and Witness Professionals named him “Professional of the Year” in 2006 for his commitment to helping sexual assault victims.
• Julie Stafford ’52, PhD’82, Chippewa Falls. In addition to her work as founder and executive director of the Cray Academy, she also created the Wisconsin Academy Staff Development Initiative to improve how Wisconsin educators approach teaching methods.
• Steve Stiloski ’87, MS’89, Jackson. Stiloski is president/owner of Commercial Property Consultants and has worked in real estate for more than a decade. For two decades, he’s been an active leader of the WAA: Washington County Chapter scholarship fund.
• Paula Vandehey ’86, Appleton. Vandehey is the director of public works for the city of Appleton and works to provide strong, well-built highways and roads for Appleton. Her reconstruction of Appleton’s College Avenue Bridge has received statewide and national award recognition.

Badgers of the Year were honored at local chapter events to mark Founders’ Day throughout the spring. Participation and membership in WAA and its chapters are open to all graduates, students and friends of UW–Madison. More information about WAA’s chapters and affiliate groups is available here.