Notable Alumni of UW-Stevens Point
The UW-Stevens Point
Alumni Association is more than 81,000 strong, leaving a Pointer legacy of success across the world. They are leaders and innovators in science, the arts, education, political science, natural resources, business and much more. Here are just some of our notable alumni, listed by profession, some of which are
Distinguished Alumnus Award winners:
Art Pejsa, '47
Arthur Pejsa, B.S. mathematics 1947, helped design control systems for all three Apollo space vehicles and was head of the system analysis and design group for the Thor Missile while working for NASA in the 50s and 60s. During World War II, he was a U.S. Army Air Corps B-29 Superfortress pilot. He also served as assistant professor of math and physics at the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis. In 1970 he was named for Who's Who in American Men of Science and received the Distinguished Alumnus Award in 1979. The Arthur J. Pejsa Observatory on campus was named for him in 2013.
Terry Porter, '85
Terry Porter, communication 1985, attended UW-Stevens Point from 1981-1985 before being drafted into the NBA. While attending, he played for the Pointers basketball team and was named an National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics First-Team All-American his junior and senior year. His NBA career included playing for the Minnesota Timberwolves, Miami Heat and the San Antonio Spurs before retiring in 2001. He then was an assistant coach for the Sacramento Kings and head coach for the Milwaukee Bucks, Minnesota Timberwolves and the University of Portland. In 1993 Porter returned to Stevens Point to finish his degree in communication. He also established the Milwaukee Scholars Fund at UW-Stevens Point and was won the Distinguished Alumnus Award in 1999.
Jordan Zimmermann, '07
Jordan Zimmermann, business administration 2007, is a pitcher for the Detroit Tigers and formerly for the Washington Nationals. In 2014, he was the first Nationals pitcher to throw a no-hitter, and in April 2016 he was the American League Pitcher of the month. In February 2019, Jordan and his wife, Mandy, '07,
donated $500,000 to UW-Stevens Point's baseball program to replace the baseball scoreboard, add a new backstop and double batting cage area and make other field improvements. The field will be renamed in their honor. Learn more about Jordan Zimmermann's major league career
here.
John List, '92
John List, B.S. economics 1992, is the
Kenneth C. Griffin Distinguished Service Professor in Economics at the University of Chicago and was the department chair for five years. He is also a member of the American Academy of Arts and Science and editor of the Journal of Political Economy. Previously he was the senior economist on the President's Council of Economic Advisors under President George W. Bush. He is a research associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research, and created the List Fellowship at UW-Stevens Point to give economics students research experience. In 2008 he won the Distinguished Alumnus Award. Learn more about John List in this
Alumnus article and in this
video.
Mike Roman, '80
Mike Roman, attended 1979-80, has worked for the $32 billion science-based 3M for 30 years, serving also as its chief operating officer, executive vice president, leader of Industrial (3M's largest business group), chief strategist and senior designer. He has lived and led businesses around the world. Roman also worked for the Hughes Aircraft Company. Mike Roman was the speaker at the
2018 Winter Commencement ceremony.
Alexa Posny, '74
Alexa Posny, B.S. sociology and psychology 1974, served as assistant secretary of the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services in the U.S. Department of Education and as senior vice president of state and federal programs for Renaissance Learning. She also served many state and regional special education roles in the Kansas and on several national special education board of directors, including the National Council for Learning Disabilities. She is now an education consultant in Washington, D.C.
Watch this video to learn more about Alexa Posny.
Dale Klapmeier, '83
Dale Klapmeier, B.S. business 1983, founded Cirrus Design Corporation with his brother Allen. Cirrus manufactures single-engine, piston powered aircraft. He and his brother have earned the 2007 Dr. Godfrey Cabot Award, the Experimental Aviation Association (EAA) 2007 Freedom of Flight Award, the EAA August Raspet, Air Safety Foundation 2005 Admiral de Florez Award. They were named "Living Legends" Aviation Entrepreneurs of the Year by Airport Journal and the 2004 Ernst and Young Entrepreneurs of the Year. He also won a 2009 Distinguished Alumnus Award. Watch this video to learn more about Dale Klapmeier.
Jenna, '10 and Drew Kutcher, '09
Jenna, B.S. communication/business 2010, and Drew Kutcher, B.S. communication 2009, met at UW-Stevens Point. Together they have built a successful social media presence. Jenna founded the Goal Digger podcast for women entrepreneurs as well as jennakutcher.com, and Drew founded The Kutcher Method, a health coaching program. The couple was awarded UW-Stevens Point's 2019 Trailblazer Award. Watch this video to learn more about Jenna and Drew Kutcher.
John, '71 and Patty Noel, '70
Founders of Travel Guard, the Noel Group and Berkshire Hathaway Travel Protection, John and Patty Noel's humanitarian efforts in their community and across the world have transformed lives. In 1993, they created the Make a Mark Foundation to aid development in Kenya and South Africa. They have supported Operation Bootstrap to help Portage County families since 1983 and helped establish the Portage County Boys and Girls Club in 2001. More than 45 minority students have earned degrees through the full tuition, room, board and internships offered through the Noel Compass Scholar Program since 1996. Their substantial gift to the university helped renovate the Noel Fine Arts Center, named in their honor. They received honorary Doctor of Humane Letters from UW-Stevens Point in 2016. Watch this video to learn more about the Noels.
William Bablitch, '60
Former Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice William A. Bablitch, who attended UW-Stevens Point, served as Portage County's District Attorney, a state senator and majority leader. He was elected to the Wisconsin Supreme Court and served as a justice for 20 years. He received the 1981 Distinguished Alumnus Award and in 2004 won the Alumni Association's William C. Hansen Distinguished Service Award for his public work. He was a partner at the law firm of Michael Best & Friedrich in Madison until his death in 2011.
Lawrence Eagleburger, '50
Lawrence Eagleburger attended UW-Stevens Point until 1950. His political career including working as a staff member to the National Security Council, executive assistant to former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, deputy assistant to President Nixon for national security operations, deputy undersecretary of state for management, U.S. ambassador to Yugoslavia and deputy secretary of state. He later went on to work in a Washington D.C., law firm and advise clients on foreign trade and investment.
Jon Greendeer, '04
John Greendeer, B.S. political science 2004, was elected to a term as president of the Ho-Chunk Nation and is now the nation's executive director of Heritage Preservation. He is a board member of the Notah Begay III Foundation and served the Alumni Board of Directors. In 2018 he won a Distinguished Alumnus Award. Watch this video to learn more about Jon Greendeer.
Scott Berrier, '84
Lt. General Scott Berrier, B.S. history 1984, a career Army military intelligence officer, is the Deputy Chief of Staff of U.S. Army Intelligence. Commissioned as an officer through UW-Stevens Point ROTC in 1983, he has served in Afghanistan and Iraq as well as MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa, Fla., Fort Hood in Killeen, Texas, and in South Korea. He also served as the Commanding General at the U.S. Army Intelligence Center of Excellence at Fort Huachuca, Ariz. He earned the UW-Stevens Point 2017 Lifetime Achievement Award. Watch this video to learn more about Scott Berrier.
Paul DeLong, '85
Paul Delong, B.S. forestry 1985, is the first alumnus to head the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources Forestry Division. He won the Conservation Leadership Award from the Nature Conservancy in 2010 and was named the 2011 Conservationist of the Year by the Wisconsin Wildlife Federation. He was appointed to the Wisconsin Council on Forestry in 2012, and served as president of the National Association of State Foresters. In 2016 he became the senior vice president for conservation for the American Forest Foundation. Previously he was a senior program manager for the World Wildlife Fund. Watch this video to learn more about Paul DeLong.
Cheryl Schreier, '79
Cheryl Schreier, B.S. natural resource management, environmental education and biology 1979, worked for the National Park Service for 30 years, ending her career as the first woman to serve as superintendent of Mount Rushmore National Park. While in college, she interned at Jewel Cave National Monument, then went on to work at Death Valley National Park, Yellowstone National Park, Independence National Historical Park, the National Park Service office in Denver and Bryce Canyon National Park. She also was the superintendent of Herbert Hoover National Historic Site and Knife River Indian Villages National Historic Site. She won a 2019 Distinguished Alumnus Award. To learn more about Cheryl Schreier, watch this video and read this Alumnus article.
Gerald Avery, '08
Gerald Avery, B.A. dance 2008, has danced on Broadway in "Spider-man Turn off the Dark," "Hamilton" and "Motown The Musical." He has also performed with Jennifer Lopez, Mariah Carey and LL Cool J, on the Grammy and Tony Awards and for television including on TBS's "The Detour," Netflix's "Orange is the New Black," NBC's "America's Got Talent" and PBS's Sesame Street. He also teaches dance and won the 2018 UW-Stevens Point Trailblazer Award. Watch this video to learn more about Gerald Avery.
Kathy Kinney, '16
Kathy Kinney, 2016, is a Stevens Point native and 2019 Distinguished Alumnus Award Winner. The comedian, actress and writer is well known for her roles as Mimi in "The Drew Carey Show" and Miss Goddard on "Newhart" as well as for "Whose Line Is It Anyway" and numerous other television roles. As the co-creator of
MrsP.com, she travels and performs to promote children's literacy. She also co-authored three "Queen of Your Own Life" books with fellow Pointer alumna Cindy Ratzlaff. Watch this video to learn more about Kathy Kinney.
Andy Kubitz, '93
Andy Kubitz, communication 1993, is currently the executive vice president of programming strategy at Disney's ABC Entertainment Group. He is responsible for scheduling the network's daytime, primetime and late night programming as well as film acquisition and theatrical inventory. Previously he made his way from a page to senior vice president of program planning and scheduling for CBS Television. He won a 2015 Distinguished Alumnus Award. Watch this video to learn more about Andy Kubitz.
Scott Langteau, '90
Scott Langteau, B.A. theatre 1990, a 2012 Distinguished Alumni Award winner, is a producer, writer, actor and lyricist. He co-founded Spark Unlimited, a video game development company for which he produced the first Call of Duty franchise. He also produced for DreamWorks Interactive and Electronic Arts, helping create and launch several Medal of Honor games. Founder of
Shake the Moon Books, he is the author of three children's books, "Sofa Boy," "The Question," and "Bullied." He is also a lyricist, creating songs for Cars 2 and for a Cars ride at California Adventure. Watch this video to learn more about Scott Langteau.
Peggy Rajski, '75
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014 Distinguished Alumnus Award winner Peggy Rajski, communication 1975, won an Academy Award for direction of the short film, “Trevor.” She also founded
TheTrevor Project, a 24/7 crisis and suicide prevention line for LGBTQ youth. Rajski has produced several films, including “The Grifters” with Martin Scorsese and two films directed by Jodie Foster, “Little Man Tate” and “Home for the Holidays.” She is dean of the Loyola Marymount University School of Film and Television and former Head of Studies for producing at NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts Graduate Film Program. Watch this video to learn more about Peggy Rajski.
Laura Osnes, '05
Two-time Tony Award nominee Laura Osnes, theatre 2005, has performed on Broadway in "Grease," "South Pacific," "Anything Goes," "Bandstand," "Bonnie and Clyde" and "Cinderella," earning Tony nominees for Best Actress for the last two as well as a Drama Desk Award. She has had several television appearances and starred in two Hallmark Channel movies, as well as in numerous theatre productions. She is a 2017 Distinguished Alumnus Award winner. Watch this video to learn more about Laura Osnes.
Patrick Rothfuss, '00
Pat Rothfuss, B.A. English 2000, is a New York Times bestselling author of two fantasy novels in "The Kingkiller Chronicle" series, "The Name of the Wind" and "Wise Man's Fear." The book series has sold more than 10 million copies. He is currently working on the third novel and has written several novellas for the series and adapting his books for television. Rothfuss is also the founder of
Worldbuilders, a geek-centered nonprofit that supports humanitarian efforts worldwide and has raised more than $10.4 million since 2008. Watch this video to learn more about Pat Rothfuss.
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