Alumni Start Literacy Foundation
- Apr. 05, 2022
My wife, Jeanne, and I met in my sophomore year, married in my junior year, and graduated together in 1967 with two sons. Jeanne and I were the first of three generations to be able to read before we went to school, and literacy has been a boon to all three generations. Being aware that according to a national study 30 percent of all high school graduates in America cannot read above the third-grade level, and children in the lowest 40 percent economic level have no books at home, we decided to “pay it forward.” After giving $500 to the Fort Atkinson School District the first year, able to provide over 500 books to kids in summer school, we started a 501(c)3 foundation called Liberty Through Literacy and have partnered with Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library. Now, almost 250 children in the 53538 zip code get a book mailed to them each month from birth to age 5. We also give books to kids in summer school because of reading limitations.
More Alumni Notes
Samuel Bowie Gardiner ’63, a retired U.S. Air Force colonel and expert in war gaming and military strategy, died November 25, 2025, in Roanoke, VA, at the age of 84. Gardiner, influenced by the World War II service of his father at Omaha Beach and...
The Peace History Society has given its inaugural Edited Book Prize to The Oxford Handbook of Peace History, edited by Charles Howlett, Deborah Buffton PhD’87, Christian Peterson, and David Hostetter. Deborah received her PhD in history from UW–Ma...
Aziz Hoodbhoy, Class of 1965, passed away on December 19, 2025. He cherished his time at the University of Wisconsin–Madison and his memories of campus life and Lake Mendota. He talked “fondly” of Wisconsin winters and how his snow sho...
Gerald Keith Erickson, Class of 1964, passed away on November 10, 2025. He had a bachelor of science degree in mechanical engineering.
At its annual meeting in October 2025, the Canadian Society for Exercise Physiology (CSEP) presented the 2025 CSEP Honour Award to Peter WR Lemon PhD’79. This award is designed to honor a CSEP member who has made exceptional contributions to the f...
Glen Zipper ’95, Oscar-winning producer of such documentaries as John Candy: I Like Me and IMAX’s The Blue Angels will be adding scripted projects to his filmography with Sony’s upcoming science fiction film Grand Gear, from Godzilla Minus O...
Alanna Goldman ’20 founded a sports media company, 5wins, based on her own experience growing up a Badger sports fan. As her interest in women’s college sports grew, she realized that understanding athletes as people and the passion of the w...
Samuel Bowie Gardiner ’63, a retired U.S. Air Force colonel and expert in war gaming and military strategy, died November 25, 2025, in Roanoke, VA, at the age of 84. Gardiner, influenced by the World War II service of his father at Omaha Beach and...
The Peace History Society has given its inaugural Edited Book Prize to The Oxford Handbook of Peace History, edited by Charles Howlett, Deborah Buffton PhD’87, Christian Peterson, and David Hostetter. Deborah received her PhD in history from UW–Ma...
Aziz Hoodbhoy, Class of 1965, passed away on December 19, 2025. He cherished his time at the University of Wisconsin–Madison and his memories of campus life and Lake Mendota. He talked “fondly” of Wisconsin winters and how his snow sho...
Gerald Keith Erickson, Class of 1964, passed away on November 10, 2025. He had a bachelor of science degree in mechanical engineering.
At its annual meeting in October 2025, the Canadian Society for Exercise Physiology (CSEP) presented the 2025 CSEP Honour Award to Peter WR Lemon PhD’79. This award is designed to honor a CSEP member who has made exceptional contributions to the f...
Glen Zipper ’95, Oscar-winning producer of such documentaries as John Candy: I Like Me and IMAX’s The Blue Angels will be adding scripted projects to his filmography with Sony’s upcoming science fiction film Grand Gear, from Godzilla Minus O...
Alanna Goldman ’20 founded a sports media company, 5wins, based on her own experience growing up a Badger sports fan. As her interest in women’s college sports grew, she realized that understanding athletes as people and the passion of the w...
Samuel Bowie Gardiner ’63, a retired U.S. Air Force colonel and expert in war gaming and military strategy, died November 25, 2025, in Roanoke, VA, at the age of 84. Gardiner, influenced by the World War II service of his father at Omaha Beach and...
The Peace History Society has given its inaugural Edited Book Prize to The Oxford Handbook of Peace History, edited by Charles Howlett, Deborah Buffton PhD’87, Christian Peterson, and David Hostetter. Deborah received her PhD in history from UW–Ma...
Aziz Hoodbhoy, Class of 1965, passed away on December 19, 2025. He cherished his time at the University of Wisconsin–Madison and his memories of campus life and Lake Mendota. He talked “fondly” of Wisconsin winters and how his snow sho...
Gerald Keith Erickson, Class of 1964, passed away on November 10, 2025. He had a bachelor of science degree in mechanical engineering.
At its annual meeting in October 2025, the Canadian Society for Exercise Physiology (CSEP) presented the 2025 CSEP Honour Award to Peter WR Lemon PhD’79. This award is designed to honor a CSEP member who has made exceptional contributions to the f...
Glen Zipper ’95, Oscar-winning producer of such documentaries as John Candy: I Like Me and IMAX’s The Blue Angels will be adding scripted projects to his filmography with Sony’s upcoming science fiction film Grand Gear, from Godzilla Minus O...
Alanna Goldman ’20 founded a sports media company, 5wins, based on her own experience growing up a Badger sports fan. As her interest in women’s college sports grew, she realized that understanding athletes as people and the passion of the w...


