With Eyes to the Sky, Honorary Alumni Recipient Terry Fulwiler Kept His Feet Planted Firmly in Northeast Wisconsin

Terry Fulwiler’s heart has always been in his native Algoma, Wis., the charming community nestled on the shores of Lake Michigan.

The retired CEO and Chairman of the Board for WS Packaging Group, could have made his home anywhere in the world, and he could have spent time, talent and treasure these past decades with any non-profit organization. He chose to stay, and over the course of a few decades, adopted the University just 30 miles west of his small town as the focus of his gifts, calling it “a true treasure.”

Fulwiler’s extraordinary contributions were recognized on April 20, 2023 when UW-Green Bay Chancellor Michael Alexander presented him with the University’s Honorary Alumni Award, given to those whose dedication to the University is “equal to any alumnus” and of tremendous value to the institution.

“Terry Fulwiler has been a steadfast advocate for higher education across the region throughout his career,” said Alexander. “His dedication to UW-Green Bay over many years cannot be overstated and inspires us to push as hard as we can to serve the people of Northeast Wisconsin to meet their educational goals.”

“I was surprised an honored,” said the understated Fulwiler of initially hearing about the honor. At the reception honoring alumni award winners, he earned a few chuckles when stated he was probably the only alumnus in the room that has never taken a class at UW-Green Bay.

Receiving the Honorary Alumni Award Terry Fulwiler, retired CEO and Chairmen of the Board of WS Packaging, during the 2023 Alumni Awards Dinner on Thursday, April 20, 2023 in the Phoenix Rooms in the University Union. Terry has worked tirelessly to advocate for UW-Green Bay and has extensive community involvement.

Reflecting on the decisions he made as an 18-year-old to pursue an Aerospace Engineering degree from the University of Michigan, Fulwiler said he very well intended to attend UW-Green Bay. But the University was in its fledgling stage, and Fulwiler had his heart set on an engineering degree—not offered at the University at the time.

While the aerospace industry was booming when he left for the University of Michigan (a place he could affordably attend because of tuition reciprocity), the market was flat when he graduated. “Not one of my classmates ended with a career in Aerospace Engineering,” he said.

Fulwiler returned to Algoma where his parents were starting a label printing company (Wisconsin Label). “My dad said I could work there until I found a real job,” he recalls. In true Fulwiler form, he never left. Instead, he made his permanent home in Algoma, worked his way through leadership roles in the company, and invested in the hard-working people of Northeast Wisconsin, growing with them along the way. The family business with five employees, grew to become an international leader in packaging products, labels, and specialty products, employing 2,200 people in 20-plus locations, while becoming the largest label maker in the U.S. and the second largest in the world by the time Terry retired in 2011.

Terry’s brother Dan, a 1983 UW-Green Bay Science and Environmental Change graduate, was also instrumental in growing the business.

“As it turns out, business was something I could do,” he said. “But I had had no business or finance classes. That was the hard part. I didn’t have the training, but I did know how to put things together, build things to make sense. In retrospect, I realized that business may have been a better major, and had I realized that sooner, I would have ended up being a GB grad. So, it’s special to be getting the honorary alumni award.”

Fulwiler has focused his time and charitable giving on higher education. “I like the idea of enabling people to go from being someone who needs help, to someone who can provide help for others. That’s the sense of it,” he said.

Deeply rooted in the region, Fulwiler said as president and CEO, he used to have a difficult time convincing people to move to Green Bay from bigger cities. But once they were here, the bigger problem, he insisted, was getting them to relocate back to larger communities, when he needed their leadership at other WS Packaging facilities in other parts of the country and world.

“Once people are here, they realize that they can deal with a few cold months, but the quality of life is so great… no traffic, little crime, great place to raise a family… that they didn’t want to leave. That was the case for me, as well.”

Fulwiler serves on more than 10 executive boards, including the Green Bay Packers, but his passion for building vibrant communities through education, means he also lends his time as an advocate for Bellin College of Nursing and Northeast Wisconsin Technical College. At UW-Green Bay, he has served on the Council of Trustees for past Chancellor’s Tom Harden and Gary Miller, interim Chancellor Sheryl VanGruensven and current Chancellor Alexander. “I consider it a privilege to serve with these leaders, as every one of them cared about the students, the community and the culture that higher education can provide,” he said.

While he was appreciative of the applause over his dedication to UW-Green Bay on awards night, Fulwiler is much more comfortable turning the conversation around… putting his hands together for a well-played basketball game at the Kress Center or cheering for the kids who visited campus as a fifth-grader and stick with their dream to attend college someday. Those are the instances that beckon his heart back to his now beloved alma mater, at 2420 Nicolet Drive.

Read more about Fulwiler and the other alumni honorees in the news release.

Story by Sue Bodilly, ’87 and ’04