Category: News

Three Minute Thesis Competition at UW-Green Bay

The Graduate Studies Office at UW-Green Bay will be hosting a 3MT® competition on Tuesday, January 31st at 5:30 p.m. in the University Union Phoenix Rooms B & C. The Three Minute Thesis competition is held annually at more than 900 universities across more than 85 countries worldwide. The competition challenges participants to present their research to a live audience in just 3 minutes in terms understandable to a general audience and allows only one PowerPoint slide. The winner of the UW-Green Bay 3MT® Championship Round will participate in the Midwestern Association of Graduate Schools regional competition, to be held on March 29-31 in Chicago, IL.

Following the competition, we are hosting a networking event for students, alumni and community members. This event will have food and cash bar and allow students within the graduate school to talk about their research/project.

Both competition and networking events are open to the public and we encourage all individuals to come to campus to see all the great work our graduate students are doing! We would love to see our alumni at the event and see what individuals are doing in the programs offered at UW-Green Bay.

October Class Notes

1970s

Daniel Timm ‘77 Majored in Managerial Systems. Currently works as a faculty associate at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

2000s

Rebeca Argiro ’04 Majored in Psychology and minored in Human Development. Is the owner of MIA Counseling LLC.

Kimberly Wozniak ’04 Majored in Elementary Education. Currently works at St. Thomas Aquinas Academy as a 5th grade teacher.

Megan Bruckschen ’07 Majored in Business Administration and minored in Communication Processes. Megan currently works as the Director of Marketing for Felician Village.

2010s

Haley Jensson ’18 Double majored in History and Humanistic Studies. She currently works at Museum at The Portage as museum manager.

September Class Notes

1980s

David Erickson ’84 Majored in Public Administration. Currently works at Astellas Pharma as a senior executive sales rep.

William Gardner ’84 Majored in Human Development. Currently works at York Community High School as a counselor.

1990s

Thomas Rueckl ’90 Majored in Business Administration and minored in Communication Processes. Currently is working as a financial advisor with Merrill Lynch & Co. Foundation.

2000s

Ryan Philippon ’01 Majored in Communication Processes and minored in Communication and the Arts. Currently works at American Express as sr. compliance analyst.

Vicki Quinn ’03 Received a Master’s of Science in Applied Leadership for Teaching & Learning. Currently works with the Howard-Suamico School District as a high school English teacher.

Laura Nighbor ’05 Majored in English and minored in Humanistic Studies and Spanish & Latin American Studies. Currently works at Trek Travel as trip design operations.

Angela Wix ’05 Majored in Art and English and minored in Communication and the Arts. Currently works as the acquisition’s editor with Sounds True.

Stephanie Knoppa ’06 Double majored in History and Human Development. Currently works at Lawrence University as the director of residential education & housing.

Justin Roskopf ’08 Double majored in Environmental Policy & Planning and Political Science. Currently works at the Search Institute as a senior research strategist.

2010s

Cathy Bachhuber ’12 Majored in Interdisciplinary Studies and minored in Business Administration. Currently works for FEMA in the role of Region 8 Tribal Liaison.

Christopher Begley ’12 Majored in Communications and minored in Spanish & Latin American Studies. Currently works at U.S. Cellular as a Retail Wireless Consultant.

Andre Walls ’12 Majored in Interdisciplinary Studies. Currently works at Gundaker Commercial Group as a senior associate.

Kristen Sample ’13 Majored in Democracy and Justice Studies and minored in Political Science. Currently works for the Department of the Public Defender as an assistant trial attorney.

Kimberly Gehrig ‘14 Majored in Nursing. Currently works as a nurse practitioner at Aurora Health Care.

Matthew Honzik ’16 Majored in Business Administration. Currently works as a special education teachers’ aide for the Manitowoc Public School District.

Bailey Koepsel ’16 Majored in Public Administration and minored in Political Science. Currently works with Door County Economic Development Corporation as the director of accounting and operations

Nicholas Sadler ’16 Majored in Business Administration. Currently works at Transamerica as a senior financial analyst.

Dante Pizzuti ’16 Majored in History and minored in Humanistic Studies. Currently works at Northwestern Mutual as chief operations officer.

Sara Wagener ’16 Majored in Spanish & Latin American Studies and minored in Business Administration and International Business. Currently works for Bellin Health as an RN in cardiac surgery.

UW-Green Bay Alumna Wendy Wimmer’s Debut Collection Receives National Attention

UW-Green Bay alumna Wendy Wimmer (English, 1997) has received national attention for her newly published debut short story collection ENTRY LEVEL: STORIES. The collection received a starred Kirkus Review and a favorable feature in Publisher’s Weekly, as well as being lauded by literary news site The Millions as one of the most anticipated releases of the second half of 2022.

Wendy Wimmer Schuchart

Kirkus writes of the collection, “Wimmer is a strong writer and fills the pages with elegant, evocative phrasing (“We said words of respect in our native languages, which between the eight of us totaled fourteen gods and six words meaning ‘grace’ ”). Her tone is often wry (“Evelyn thought of her bed like a trapdoor spider, capturing the interest and monetary resources of her romantic partners”), and even the book’s most sardonic narrators balance their misanthropy with a touch of curiosity. The stories vary in length and format but retain a clear aesthetic sense throughout, making it easy to imagine that the characters from “Flarby” and “Intersomnolence” might someday cross paths. The work educates without being didactic; readers learn about Wisconsin bingo regulations and Waardenburg syndrome in “INGOB” and the properties of sphagnum moss in “The Bog King,” with the bits of trivia blending seamlessly into the tales.”

The Washington Post featured Wimmer’s collection in it’s feature “10 Award-Winning Short Story Collections Worth Reading” on October 17, 2022. It said, “If punchy first sentences are to your taste, Wendy Wimmer’s “Entry Level” (Autumn House Fiction Prize) is the book for you. “When Mary Ellen’s left breast grew back on its own during our Saturday dinner break, we had confirmation that something weird was happening.” Many intros seem designed to startle; several stories enter fantastical terrain. In the delightful “Texts from Beyond,” a company purportedly helps people send messages to deceased relatives. Equally affecting are stories more rooted in the real, where Wimmer gets closer to character and emotion, such as “Billet-Doux,” told via unsent letters addressed to celebrities, random people, inanimate objects, a recurring guy on the BART and the protagonist herself.”

The collection was also featured in the October 24 issue of People Magazine as a Best New Books selection, next to Colleen Hoover’s IT STARTS WITH US. Of Wimmer’s book, the reviewers stated “This gleefully subversive debut presents 15 weird, wild and wonderful stories of everyday folk surviving in a world gone haywire… ENTRY LEVEL, like its title story, is strange magic indeed.”

After launching the book at Green Bay’s own The Lion’s Mouth Bookstore on October 6th, Wimmer embarked on a West Coast book tour, including stops in Denver, Salt Lake City, the San Francisco Bay Area, and Las Vegas, with future events in Milwaukee, Pittsburgh, New York, Seattle and Kenosha.

BY KRISTIN BOUCHARD · NOVEMBER 1, 2022

August Class Notes

1990s

David Hermanson ’97 Majored in Business Administration and minored in Political Science. David currently works at VinFast US as senior manager of purchasing.

2000s

Heather Egan ’05 Majored in Psychology and minored in Business Administration and Human Development. Heather currently works at Marian University as a clinical placement coordinator.

Sarah Jungwirth ’05 Majored in Social Work and minored in Human Development. Sarah currently works as a Foster Care and Adoption Social Worker at the Children’s Bureau.

Adam Hopfensperger ’09 Majored in Humanistic Studies. Adam currently works at Agency Technology as a software engineer.

2010s

Michael Schlader ’12 Majored in Business Administration. Michael currently works at Nature’s Way as a financial analyst.

AJ Spackman ’12 Double majored in Accounting and Business Administration. AJ currently works at Bank First National as vice president-retail loan operations officer.

Kristie Walker ’13 Double majored in Human Development and Psychology. Kristie currently works at Rocky Mountain Cancer Center as an oncology social worker.

Natalie Weeks ’13 Majored in Biology and minored in Secondary Education. Natalie currently works at Random Lake High School as a biology teacher.

Dana Schmidt ’14 Majored in Human Biology. Dana currently works as a microbiologist with the Wisconsin State Lab of Hygiene.

Hillary Sosinski ’15 Majored in Communications and minored in Business Administration.

2020s

Amber Perez ’20 Majored in Human Biology. Amber currently works as a funeral director at Newcomer Cremations, Funerals and Receptions.

July Class Notes

1980s

Christopher Molzahn ’84 Majored in Business Administration. Christopher currently works with Wisconsin Public Service as a substation technician.

2000s

Rachel Martin ’05 Majored in Social Work. Rachel currently works with Bellin Health as a social work case manager.

Jalen Karenke ’07 Majored in Urban and Regional Studies. Jalen is currently working as an at-risk student support specialist with the Howard-Suamico School District.

Lacey Cochart ’08 Double majored in Environmental Science and Public Administration. Lacey currently works for the City of Green Bay as deputy city attorney.

2010s

Barry Grossmn ’10 Double majored in Philosophy and English and minored in Humanistic Studies. Barry currently works at Lakeshore Technical College as a communications instructor.

Kyle Blechner ’15 Majored in Elementary Education and minored in German. Kyle is currently working for the Oregon School District as an administrative intern.

Mariah Pursley ’16 Double majored in Democracy and Justice Studies and History and minored in Women and Gender Studies. Mariah is currently a program coordinator at the University of Colorado – Colorado Springs.

Paige Konitzer ’16 Majored in Humanistic Studies and double minored in Human Development and Spanish and Latin American Studies. Paige currently works at Western Illinois University as an academic advisor.

Mairin MacTavish ’16 Majored in Integrative Leadership Studies. Mairin currently runs her own business, Valkyrie Protective Services, LLC.

Nicholas Sadler ’16 Majored in Business Administration. Nicholas currently works at Aegon Asset Management as a property tax analyst.

Brekken Gonzales ’18 Majored in Business Administration and minored in Spanish and Latin American Studies. Brekken currently works at Treehouse Foods as a customer service and fulfillment specialist.

June Class Notes

1980s

Jolene Sheil ’86 Double majored in Political Science and Public & Environmental Administration. Jolene is currently the Director of Focus on Energy Programs with the Public Service Commission of Wisconsin.

2000s

Christine Stunyo ’00 Business Administration major and Communication minor. Christine is currently the Chief Human Resources Officer with Ingevity Corporation.