Alumni news

Recent grads form Young Alumni Chapter
Recent graduates from across the country have formed the Young Alumni affinity chapter through the UW-Superior Alumni Association. The Young Alumni Chapter is aimed at current students and alumni who have graduated within the past 10 years. The chapter will focus its efforts on providing professional networking and mentoring opportunities. It may also implement a lecture series that brings UW-Superior alumni back to campus to advise students on career matters and encourage mentoring. Read more and find out how you can be part of the new chapter!

Governor picks 1996 UW-Superior criminal justice grad to be sheriff of Barron County
Gov. Jim Doyle has chosen Chris Fitzgerald, a 1996 graduate of UW-Superior's criminal justice program, to serve as sheriff of Wisconsin's Barron County. Chris previously was a member of the Rice Lake, Wis., police department. Read more.

Social work, Spanish study abroad students featured after their summer in Costa Rica
Each year, several UW-Superior students majoring in social work or minoring in Spanish spend time studying and working in Costa Rica through the Institute of Central American Development Studies. This summer's recent returnees are featured in a local newspaper article. Read more.

Former Yellowjacket named head instructor for Ottawa Senators Hockey Programs
Derek Miller, who spent four years playing for the Yellowjackets, has been named head instructor for the Ottawa Senators Hockey Programs. Read more.

'05 grad starts her own publishing company in Duluth; will publish '04 grad's first book
Lindsy O'Brien, Class of 2005, has started her own publishing company called Red Step Press. She is publishing the first book of Aaron Brown, Class of 2001, MA 2004, titled "Overburden: Modern Life on the Iron Range." The book comes out in October, with a release party scheduled from 5 to 7 p.m. Oct. 16 in the Howard Street Booksellers in Hibbing, Minn. Aaron's book is a collection of essays and his columns previously published in the Hibbing Daily Tribune. Aaron writes a political blog at www.minnesotabrown.com.

Alumnus Fritz Scholder's work to be subject of exhibits at the National Museum of the American Indian
Artwork by the late Fritz Scholder, who attended UW-Superior as a freshman in 1956-1957 before his family moved to the Southwest, will be the subject of a comprehensive exhibit by the National Museum of the American Indian in Washington, D.C., and its George Gustav Heye Center in New York. More than 135 pieces from his 40-year career will be featured. In its news release, the NMAI described Scholder as "one of the most transformative artists of the last half century." Scholder took basic art courses at UW-Superior and recalled in his online biography studying with Art Kruk, Jim Grittner and Richard Gorski. In 1993, the university presented Scholder with an honorary doctor of humane letters degree in recognition of his career achievements. Both NMAI exhibitions begin Nov. 1, ending May 17, 2009, in New York and Aug. 16, 2009, in Washington. Learn more on the NAIM website.

Artist's sculpture chosen to celebrate U.S.-Thailand relationship and to call attention to women's issues
Katherine Sandnas, MA '02, received a Beecroft Grant at UW-Superior in 2002 to travel to Japan to work as an artist in residence. That opportunity eventually led her to an exhibition in Thailand and her decision to donate one of her sculptures to the U.S. Embassy in Thailand, which arranged for it to be presented last winter to a Buddhist women's shelter in Bangkok. The gift by Katherine and the Embassy celebrated the 175th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the United States and Thailand, and called attention to women's issues. Katherine says she is grateful to UW-Superior, the Visual Arts Department and retired Professor Jim Grittner for her education and the support that enabled her to make that trip to Japan. You can read more about Katherine, who teaches art at Hibbing Community College, in the Fall Edition of Superior Alumni. Meanwhile, you can visit the U.S. Embassy in Thailand's website to see photos of the ceremony at which Katherine's sculpture was presented to the shelter. Be sure to enter the photo gallery to see all the photos of the ceremony.

IMPACT: UW-Superior is wealth generator in local economy
The University of Wisconsin-Superior generates approximately $41.2 million in spending and income for Superior and Douglas County, and is responsible for sustaining about 785 full- and part-time jobs for the local economy, according to a new economic impact study commissioned by the UW-Superior Foundation with technical assistance from the UW-Superior Alumni Association. Read the news story and full study.

 

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Would you like to get in touch with your friends from college? Here's how we can help:

• Contact the Alumni Office and we'll try to find contact information through the Alumni Directory.
  
  
• Post a message on the Alumni Forum.
  
  
• Attend an alumni event on campus or in your region. You can see details and make reservations by selecting the Alumni Events and Activities link.
  
  
• Organize an alumni reunion or reception for your campus organization. Contact the Alumni Office for more information.
  
  
  

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We're gathering alumni news for the fall edition of Superior Alumni. Please send us updates about yourself that we can share with your friends -- weddings, births, new jobs or promotions, new degrees, military service, community or church work, travels -- you name it. If you've moved in the past 12 months, please send us your new postal address so you don't miss the next issue. Be sure to include your email address so you also receive Buzzword, your electronic newsletter. Just fill out the convenient Update Your Alumni Information form.