The former chief executive officer of Ministry Health
Care will address University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point graduates and their
families at the winter commencement ceremony on Saturday, Dec. 19.
Nick Desien of Whitefish Bay will speak to more than 700
graduates who have earned associate, bachelor’s and master’s degrees. The
ceremony will be held at 10 a.m. in the UW-Stevens Point Health Enhancement
Center. Guests may park in any campus lot (for free) except Lot F West, which
will be used for handicap access.
The student speaker will be Iris Carufel, a communication
and sociology graduate from Lac du Flambeau. Chancellor Bernie Patterson will
preside over the ceremonies and give the welcome and charge to the graduates.
The new alumni will be welcomed by Donald D. and Judi M. Olson, alumni from
Stevens Point.
Music graduate Katie Anderson of Waupaca will sing the
national anthem and UW-Stevens Point’s alma mater. She will be accompanied by
the UW-Stevens Point Band.
Desien has been the Ascension Health Ministry market leader for
Wisconsin since 2013. He recently received the Wisconsin Hospital Association
2015 Distinguished Service Award and plans to retire at the end of the year.
Desien began his career at Baltimore City Hospital in Maryland and
joined Wisconsin’s Ministry Health Care in 1986 as the company’s first chief
financial officer. He was named executive vice president in 1996, president and
chief operating officer in 1997 and CEO in 1998. In 2013 he led the merger of
Ministry Health Care and the Marian Health System with Ascension.
He holds a bachelor’s degree in business and economics from Towson
State University and a master’s degree in health care administration from
George Washington University.
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