Ramirez Takes the Reins

Renee Ramirez

New board chair leads WAA into 150th year.

Renee Ramirez ’83 has been named 2010–11 chair of the national board of directors for the Wisconsin Alumni Association and will serve a one-year term as WAA’s top adviser.

Entering her sixth year of service on the board, Ramirez has been active in promoting public dialogue about higher education through the Alumni for Wisconsin advocacy organization, as well as helping to select the young alumni who receive WAA’s Forward under 40 awards. As WAA heads into its 150th anniversary year in 2011, Ramirez is rooted in its celebration plans.

“This incredible year of events will bring together Badger alumni everywhere who cherish their alma mater and truly make WAA a great organization,” says Ramirez. “We’ll be celebrating a century and a half of UW alumni contributions to Wisconsin and the world. And we’re looking ahead to the next 150 years of connecting alumni to their university and to one another.”

In addition to the anniversary celebration, Ramirez will partner with the association’s executive leadership and staff to drive the organization’s strategic initiatives and focus on WAA’s commitment to make ongoing collaboration among departments on campus an organizational priority.

Outside of WAA, Ramirez is the executive director of the Waukesha County Community Dental Clinic in Waukesha, Wisconsin, and she works in her community to support youth, parents, and public education. She chairs the Waukesha County Community Foundation Advisory Board, is a member of TEMPO International, and participates on community and statewide committees addressing issues related to access to health care for the underserved. Ramirez received Rotary International’s Paul Harris Award in 2006 and was named Badger of the Year by the WAA: Waukesha County Chapter in 2007.

Ramirez succeeds Peter Christianson ’71, JD’77, an attorney at DeWitt, Ross & Stevens S.C., of Madison, as the board’s chair. New members joining the board this year include Shawn Bergemann ’74, MBA’80, retired senior director for global financial shared services, Motorola, La Grange, Illinois; Stephen Jarchow ’74, MS’76, JD’76, chairman, Here Media and Regent Entertainment, Inc., Dallas, Los Angeles, and Madison; Peter S. Kies ’87, MS’89, managing director, Robert W. Baird & Co., Milwaukee; Dale Nitschke ’84, CEO and managing partner, Ovative/Group, Minneapolis; and Kelli Trumble ’79, secretary of tourism for the State of Wisconsin, of Madison and Wisconsin Dells.

Published in the Fall 2010 issue