Letter From the Dean

Photo by Paul L. Newby II

I was asked recently how I would describe the Wisconsin School of Business alumni network. After traveling to five cities on my alumni tour, meeting hundreds of alumni here in Wisconsin, and engaging with scores more in our tele-town hall last month, it was an easy question to answer.

You are a loyal community. You remain curious and eager to learn. You are hard workers who are not afraid to build something from the ground up. You are willing to help each other and this School. And you are committed to doing good. Above all, your pride in the institution carries beyond Camp Randall, Grainger Hall, and Madison to wherever you live and travel. This is what makes WSB unique—and a lifetime commitment.

I’ve been inspired by my interactions with the Business Badger community, as I am when I read the stories in this publication. Our graduates lead across many industries, as illustrated in the stories that follow. You’ll read about alumni running the behind-the-scenes business of sports, as well as those leading in companies with missions as varied as early cancer detection to storytelling through humor. It’s a wonderful mix that captures just a small snapshot of the tremendous impact our alumni community makes on this world.

As we look ahead to next year, we’ll be sharing the outcomes of our strategic planning process, identifying the specific opportunities that have emerged, along with an updated mission, vision, and set of values. I look forward to sharing our direction with the alumni community in January and to setting goals and metrics in the months that follow. Later in the spring, we’ll form action teams that will articulate the concrete steps needed for implementation. I’ll be looking for ways to deepen our connection with the alumni network in different ways, and I hope you will take advantage of opportunities to get involved. I invite you to participate now by contributing to the WSB Fund, which will support the important opportunities we pursue in the years ahead.

To the entire family of WSB alumni and friends, I thank you for the warm welcome you have given me as dean. You have shared your experiences, insights, and hopes for the future of WSB, and I accept with great responsibility the privilege of working with the Business Badger community to lead us there.

Together Forward,