UPDATE | Alumni News

Alumni Class Notes

1955-1979

Conrad Siegel, MS ’56, was recently featured in two Harrisburg, Pa. publications on the 40th anniversary of his actuarial firm. Conrad M. Siegel Inc. has grown from two employees in 1963, to 83 employees currently.

Clarke Hubbard, BBA ’66, went on to earn his MS in Logistics Management in 1975 and has spent the last 10 years of his career in high-tech testing. Having lived all over the world, he reports he currently is living in his 25th house.

Erv Woller, BBA ’67, received the Distinguished Alumnus Award from the UW-Madison risk management and insurance program. A founding partner of Woller-Anger & Company, LLC, in Elm Grove, Wis., Woller received the award for substantial contributions, notable business accomplishments and generosity in financially supporting the risk management and insurance program.

Jeanne Seidler, BBA ’68, retired in October after 37 years in the information systems industry. Seidler spent the majority of her career in IT at Miller Brewing Company in Milwaukee. She, her husband Neal Seidler, and their two children, Mindy Seidler and Nina Seidler-Wagner, are all UW graduates.

Brad Taylor, BBA ’68, had work published by UW Press in April on the history of rowing at UW-Madison, entitled “Wisconsin Where They Row.”

Jim Weinert, MBA ’69, a prominent entrepreneur and philanthropist, was named to the UW-Madison Entrepreneur Hall of Fame last spring. A successful entrepreneur in the Minneapolis area, he gave support to the School of Business to enable students in the WAVE (Weinert Applied Ventures in Entrepreneurship) program to invest in promising business ventures and provided funds to endow the Weinert Center for Entrepreneurship. He remains active in the program by mentoring student entrepreneurs and serving on the board of several businesses run by former Weinert students.

Douglas Reed, BBA ’72, MS ’74, retired in 2004 after 19 years with UPS. He has relocated to Lake James, outside of Morgantown, N.C.

Jeff Forbes, BA ’76, MBA ’83, is president of Woodcraft Supply Corp., a leading retailer of top-quality woodworking supplies, materials and tools.

George Patterson, BBA ’76, vice president of Robertson/Ryan and Associates, recently set up an Alzheimer’s research fund at UW-Madison in honor of his mother, Doris Patterson. The fund provides research money to study the genetics of Alzheimer’s and possible cures for the disease.

Gerry Widen, MBA ’78, vice president of strategic & financial planning for Rockwell Collins, Inc., has been an executive with the company for 27 years. Widen has been through numerous relocations across the country with many different operating units and corporate assignments. Widen and his wife, who were married during Widen’s time at the UW, have three grown children; the oldest now attends the UW-Madison School of Education graduate program.

1980-1984

Mark E. Yde, BBA ‘80, was recently promoted to president of Poly Hi Solidur, a subsidiary of Wisconsin-based Menasha Corporation.

Timothy Draxler, BBA ’81, president of Klein Insurance Group, is married with three boys and loves that he was able to move back to Madison in 1989.

Steve Kihm, MS ’81, MBA ’89, received the merit award in the humor category by the Midwest Independent Publishers Association for his children’s book, “The Lost Candy Bar.” The book was his first attempt at non-technical writing.

Wade Thoma, BBA ’82, MBA ’85, was promoted to vice president of menu management for McDonald’s USA. In his new role he will lead the team that develops new food and beverage items for more than 13,700 McDonald’s restaurants in the United States.

Steven Braun, BBA ’83, was selected to attend the Northwestern Mutual Forum held in Scottsdale, Ariz. Braun, a financial representative with Northwestern Mutual Financial Network, was invited in recognition of his sales achievements.

Marci Houts, BBA ’84, is currently serving as the president of the Spokane Chapter of CPCU.

1985-1989

William Chiapete, BBA ’87, was appointed deputy district attorney at the Racine County District Attorney’s Office in January. He is also an adjunct professor at Carthage College. He is happily married to his wife Jenni of 13 years. Together they have three children: Anna, Abby and Jack.

Greg Longtime, BBA ’87, is a financial consultant with A.G. Edwards & Sons, Inc. in Owensboro, Ky. He is a certified public accountant and certified financial planner professional. His fee-based business serves clients in 15 states.

David Balistreri, BBA ’88, started with Coca-Cola-Milwaukee after graduation as a route salesman and is now the president/owner of Select Technical Staffing, Inc., specializing in contract employment, in which Balistreri has had 17 years experience. Balistreri and his wife Jean have three boys, Steven (9), Sam (7), and Michael (3) and live in Richfield, Wis. Balistreri feels that his best learning experiences were from his days as the drum major for the UW Marching Band. Luckily, he is able to still support the band, as a season ticket holder for UW football and basketball.

1990-1994

Michael Kupfer, BBA ’92, opened his own company, Black Diamond Technologies, specializing in selling major hardware, software and IT services, and security and storage for mid-sized companies. He and his wife Christine and their 3-year-old son Benjamin, live in Chicago.

Alan Myers, BBA ’92, recently switched his focus to private wealth management after spending more than 10 years on the institutional side of the securities business. He is married to Shelley and has two boys, Evan (4) and Eli (1). They have lived in the “world-class city of Chicago” since moving from Madison and come to Madison for a football game every year.

Dorothy Becher, BBA ’93, graduated in May 2005 with a Masters of Public Health-Epidemiology from Tulane University, New Orleans, La.

Steven Feldman, BBA ’93, moved to Japan for six years following graduation. He started a corporation there, and continues to manage it now from Los Angeles. He lives with his wife of six years and their five-year-old son in Simi Valley, Calif.

Steve Teitlebaum, MBA ‘93, worked in Chicago following graduation. He married Cara Sodos, also a UW graduate, and the couple moved to Coral Gables, Fla., where Teitlebaum is working and raising his two children, Joshua, 7, and Emily Rose, 4. Teitlebaum is a guest speaker on topics such as e-learning, effective web-based communication strategy and “promoting UW-Madison to top applicants.”

1995-1999

Andy Cantwell, BBA ’95, welcomed a new addition to his family this year. Ella Grace Cantwell was born, July 10. “Mom and sister are doing great.“

Jonathan L. Schuster, BBA ‘95, MBA ’98, JD ’01, has joined the Business Law Practice Group at the Axley Brynelson law firm in Madison, Wis.

Jeremy B. Graff, BBA ’97, was named director of financial planning for Touchstone Investment Consultants, an independent investment-consulting firm in Minneapolis, where he is also a principal at the firm.

Dan Newman, MBA ’97, was recently promoted at Best Buy to vice president, demand planning. He and his wife Amy, MBA ’98, make their home in Plymouth, Minn., with their sons Jacob (7), Zachary (5) and Gabriel (1). They look for any excuse to visit Madison.

2000-2005

Joshua Blumenfeld, BBA ’01, started an internet marketing business, CoverClicks LLC, immediately after graduating from UW-Madison. His business is based upon a business plan he created in his last semester as a student. Currently, CoverClicks has more than 20 employees, and opened a new headquarters in Manhattan.

Nassar Kutkut, MBA ’01, started PowerDesigners in 1999, offering industrial battery charging and monitoring equipment. Since it began, the company has grown to 18 employees and established a foothold in the material-handling industry. He is married with one child. His wife, Lara Khansa, is currently back at the School of Business. working toward a Ph.D. in information systems.

Brian McLaughlin, BBA ’01, went straight to law school at DePaul University after graduating from UW-Madison. He has been working as an attorney with the federal government for more than a year.

Troy Filipek, BBA ’02, was recently named an actuary at Milliman, a management-consulting firm in Milwaukee where he has worked since graduation. He also recently earned his Fellowship in Society of Actuaries in prescription drugs.

Tony McGrath, BBA ’02, graduated with honors from the UW-Madison Law School in May. He is now practicing commercial litigation with Foley & Lardner LLP in Madison, Wis.

Amanda Bush, BBA ’03, works for Stockamp and Associates based out of Chicago, but travels Monday through Thursday to Albuquerque. She says living out of a suitcase “definitely has its perks—such as the fast accumulation of frequent flier miles and the chance to try a lot of green chili in New Mexico!”

Ryan Douglas, MBA ’03, has recently been promoted at Grant Thornton to senior associate. He and his wife now have two sons (Cal and Luc) with their newest addition to the family, Luc, born this past year the day after the UW/Penn State football game.

M. Faisal Siddiqui, MBA ’03, is now a business manager with the Department of Radiology, managing the CT business unit that is responsible for providing CT scans to patients of UW Hospitals and Clinics in Madison, Wis.

Eric Kenney, MBA ’05, has accepted a position at Microsoft. He will be working as project manager on a new version of Windows, “Windows Vista.” He is the first Information Systems MBA from the UW-Madison School of Business to be hired by Microsoft.