Distinguished Alumni Award
The Distinguished Alumni Award is Wisconsin Alumni Association’s highest honor and most high-profile and long-standing award. It celebrates prestigious graduates of UW–Madison for their professional achievements, contributions to society, and support of the university over the course of their career or lifetime. Past recipients include fashion icon Iris Apfel ’43, former Wisconsin senator Herb Kohl ’56, actor André De Shields ’70, and brain researcher Ann McKee ’75 (see past winners below).
Distinguished Alumni Award 2023 Recipients
Rajiv Batra MS’83
UW Major: Computer Sciences
Cofounder of Palo Alto Networks, Inc.
Steve Bornstein ’74
UW Major: Communication Arts
President of North America at Genius Sports
William Campbell MS’54, PhD’57
UW Major: Veterinary Science
Merck Research Scientist, Nobel Laureate
Past Distinguished Alumni Award Recipients
Please note: the titles listed here represent the positions the honorees held at the time they received their awards. Many later went on to fill other prestigious roles.
WAA Stories
Ada Deer returned to UW–Madison in 1977 as a lecturer in the American Indian Studies program and the School of Social Work, and in 1992, she became...