Alumni Park

Alumni Profiles

Gaylord Nelson
Gaylord Nelson LLB1942 led the movement for environmental stewardship and education long before words such as green or sustainable were in fashion. The founder of Earth Day and one of Wisconsin’s most influential citizens, he was also a tireless advocate for social justice and civil rights.

Arthur Hasler
A pioneer in the study of freshwater ecology, Arthur Hasler PhD1937 carried on the University of Wisconsin traditions of curiosity and conservation for four decades, discovering new ways to conduct research and pushing to protect our natural resources.

George Schaller
The world’s top field biologist has spent most of his life in the wild, studying and helping us all fall in love with animals that need protection.

John Curtis
Bring up conservation in Wisconsin and you’ll often hear the name John Curtis MS1935, PhD1937 along with such innovators as Aldo Leopold.

Ben Karlin
Eleven-time Emmy award winner Ben Karlin BA1993 has spent more than two decades making a living off of laughter in print, television, and film, starting with a senior-year job at a Madison comedy institution.

Jake Wood
Jake Wood BBA 2005 once described his time at the University of Wisconsin-Madison as “a stepping stone to an opportunity to impact the world around me and make it a better place for generations to come.”

Anders Holm
Anders Holm BA 2003 is best known for his sharp wit, but he’s dead serious about his love for UW-Madison.

Badger Traditions

Dormsylvania – Dukes of the Dorms
Badgers take silly seriously. Where else would you celebrate spring with a week of crazy campaigns — from mock kidnappings and bed races to ventriloquism — and say it’s in honor of British royalty?

In Residence: The 1967 Music Festival
Over six mostly-sunny summer days in June 1967, the University of Wisconsin campus welcomed the Chicago Symphony Orchestra — and hundreds of students, faculty and staff, and community members — for an innovative music experience like Madison had never seen.

Hoofers – Exploring Wisconsin’s Outdoors
Wisconsin Hoofers is UW–Madison’s oldest and largest student-led organization. More than 2,500 Badgers — students, faculty, staff, and community members — belong to Hoofers’ six clubs, and for nearly a century, recreational adventurers just like them have been climbing mountain peaks and exploring shipwrecks in Wisconsin and across America together.

U-Rah-Rah – Our College Yell
In 1898, a young professor wrote 21 simple, oft-repeated words and set them to an old Latin hymn, crafting one of our most treasured Badger traditions: “Varsity.” We might never know exactly what inspired Henry Dyke Sleeper to compose our alma mater, but we can try to decode its meaning, particularly the origin of the college yell, “U-rah-rah! Wisconsin!”

Bucky Badger
Buckingham U. Badger is no ordinary mascot — he is a renaissance man (er, mustelid). To students, alumni, and fans, the sweatered septuagenarian is the heartbeat of the University of Wisconsin, both friendly and feral depending on your home team allegiance.

Yearbook
For more than a century, the Badger yearbook has played a critical role in preserving University of Wisconsin history by compiling a year-in-the-life snapshot of campus.

Almanac of College Doings
“Betting is a curse from beginning to end, that’s why it improves your vocabulary.” That amusing aphorism is one of just many in the 1909 Almanac of College Doings. The 48-page book — created by three University of Wisconsin students and seemingly a spoof on Poor Richard’s Almanack — paints a year in the life of a Badger in the early 20th century through silly sketches, humorous horoscopes, and satirical proverbs.

Winterama – Wisconsin’s Winter carnival
Winter at the University of Wisconsin is different for every Badger. On campus, it can mean hooking up with Hoofers for a ski or snowboarding trip, or slowly shuffling along the icy sidewalks of Bascom Hill. In-state students are used to the dramatic changing of the seasons; others are shocked (and maybe even delighted) by the deep freeze and even deeper snowdrifts.