Dr. Thomas E. Wirkus, 35 year member of the Department of Speech Communication (presently Communication Studies) and “voice” of the UW-L “Marching Chiefs” and “Screaming Eagles” for twenty-five years (1979-1994). Dr. Wirkus passed away in August 2017. Mrs. Lois...

UWL established the major in theatre arts in 1980. Dr. Richard Tinapp and Dr. Robert Joyce took their initial offering and trained many theatre students, practitioners, and lovers of the art. Their blood, sweat, and passion laid the groundwork for what has become a...

Professor Thomas Breiter joined the UWL Department of Mathematics in the fall of 1966 to teach math courses in the area of analysis at the freshman and sophomore levels. Dr. Breiter did his undergraduate work at Mankato State University, and graduate work at Ohio...

I attended UWL in the 70’s. My brother received his undergraduate degree about the same time. My father attended UWL much later in his life. He was an artist and enjoyed taking classes during his later years but, unfortunately, he passed away before getting his...

Tom & Lindsay Marriott established this scholarship in 2018. Lindsey graduated with a B.S. in Physical Education from UWL and Tom graduated from Carleton College with a B.A. in chemistry. Lindsey taught physical education to 7th-9th-grade students for five years...

The Tony and Rick Palmer scholarship was set up for an individual who views physical therapy as a “calling,” not a job; one who sees physical therapy as a wide ranging and versatile physical improvement process, not a medical procedure.This individual would seek and...

Vitaliano Figueroa joined UWL in 2018, assuming the role of Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs. During that same year, he established a scholarship to support graduate students pursuing a career in student affairs administration. Vitaliano is originally from the...

Established by UWL Distinguished Alumni, TED Speaker, Healthcare Administrative Leader and President of Rochester Branch NAACP, Sulaimon Adewale Elegbede, (’Wale") and his wife, Dr. Audrey Elegbede, former UWL Professor of Ethnic and Racial Studies, this scholarship...

Warta Krueger was born on April 23, 1913, in Genoa. Her parents moved the family to La Crosse where her father worked at the Rubber Mills. Warta was interviewed for the UWL Oral History project in 1997 and she shared many stories about growing up on the north side of...

Wayne Jacobson holds three degrees from UW-L. Graduating in ’67 with a teaching degree in social studies; in ’68 with a degree in history; and again in ’93 with an M.S. degree in college student personnel. Wayne worked at UW-L and retired from UW-L Student Support...

Alumni couple pass on their dedication to teaching children an active lifestyle through gift In 2018, Peter and Mary Werner biked the 180-mile stretch of the C &O Canal from Cumberland, Maryland, to Washington, D.C. When they are not biking, the UWL alumni couple is...

Bill Schmidt retired from UWL in 1989. Upon that occasion, he established the William & Georgene Schmidt Scholarship Fund in Education to honor his and his wife’s education careers for students majoring in elementary education and secondary education. Bill passed...

Professor Willie Nieckarz is credited as the founder of the UWL Nuclear Medicine Technology Program. The William J. Nieckarz Scholarship in Nuclear Medicine Technology was established in 1999 by UWL alumni of the NMT program, as well as colleagues and friends of Dr....

William Laux made history ‘come alive." Wisdom is the principal thing; there­fore. get wisdom.’’ To William H. Laux, long-time history professor and first director of the division of letters and science at UW-La Crosse, those words were the founda­tion of...