An Editor’s Farewell

Denison: Getting things done, making things better, giving others a moment to shine. Althea Dotzour

Heads up, readers: you may want to hang on to this issue. It could become a collector’s item. The Fall 2026 On Wisconsin will be the last issue that has a feature article by Niki Denison in her role as coeditor.

This October, Niki will retire after 38 years as an editor here. Her first byline showed up in the November 1989 issue of what was then called Wisconsin Alumni (and was then published six times a year). During her tenure, the magazine changed its name, changed its frequency, and changed its publisher, after the Wisconsin Alumni Association (WAA) merged with the UW Foundation to become WFAA.

A lot of Niki’s efforts over the years have come without her byline. But then a good editor works quietly, helping others do what they do, only better. Still, you can see her influence in this magazine’s long-running excellence. Under her guidance, On Wisconsin has won a lot of awards, including the 2022 gold award for best alumni magazine from the Council for Advancement and Support of Education, our trade group, and 2024’s gold award for best issue of a magazine.

Beyond her professional accomplishments with On Wisconsin, Niki has been a friend and supportive voice, not only to me but to generations of colleagues: she has worked with four coeditors, four heads of WAA, three heads of the UW Foundation, six chancellors, two printers, many staff writers, and I have no idea how many freelance writers, photographers, and illustrators. She had a hand in hiring every writer and editor who works on the magazine right now.

This issue also offers a full-circle coincidence. In March 1990, in her second issue, Niki wrote a feature article about the grads that the alumni association was honoring with that year’s Distinguished Alumni Awards. It was her first byline in what we call the feature well, the middle of the magazine. In the middle of this issue, you’ll find an awards insert with articles about all the alumni that WAA is honoring this year. Niki oversaw development and production for that insert, though she lets others have the spotlight — the bylines go to writer Wendy Hathaway ’04 and WAA executive director Sarah Schutt, while Niki’s name shows up fifth in the staff box. That’s typical of her: getting things done, making things better, giving others a moment to shine.

Congratulations on your retirement, Niki, and thank you for the decades you spent building this magazine into an embodiment of what the UW stands for. Your byline will always be welcome!

Published in the Fall 2026 issue