Foundation Board Chair's Message

Thomas R. Kell '71

It's easy to be impressed by the number of donors who support the UW Oshkosh Foundation, or the thousands of dollars they are motivated to contribute. It's exciting to learn how many scholarships are awarded each year, and the grand total of corporate gifts or bequests.

As Foundation Board chair, it makes me proud to read these statistics. But what truly inspires me entails learning more about the past year than simple numbers in a ledger column. The following Honor Roll of donors reminds us of what is really important — people. The Foundation annually prepares this report to acknowledge all of the contributors who have helped strengthen the University and better educate its students. Gifts of all sizes, for a myriad of purposes, each originated with a person who made a conscious choice to support the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh.

We'll never know exactly what inspired all of the 5,828 donors listed here to share their resources with the University. We do, however, have the privilege of discovering the stories behind several new funds established at the Foundation in 2010. I'd like to share a few of them with you:

• Diane Cholewinksi was widowed at a young age and was unable to pursue a nursing career. She later remarried, raised her children and entered the foster parent program, caring for more than two dozen infants and adopting one special needs child as her son before her death from cancer in 2006. Diane's family created the Diane R. Cholewinski Memorial Nursing Scholarship for students with an interest in pediatrics/special needs. Preference will be given to single parents with financial need.

• Thomas and Carole Guyette graduated from UW Oshkosh in 1968. Carole earned a degree in elementary education. Thomas graduated from the College of Business and was honored as an outstanding alumnus by the college in 2008. Thomas and Carole created the Guyette Family Scholarship for business students majoring in finance with an emphasis in investments.

• Dr. Daniel Lynch, a retired College of Education and Human Services professor, and his wife, Dolores, lost a son and daughter to cancer in 2009. To honor their children's memory, they established the Gregory Lynch and Laura (Lynch) Hinze Memorial Scholarship for future educators, counselors and human services students. Gregory Lynch took courses at UW Oshkosh and graduated from Fox Valley Technical College-Oshkosh with an associate degree in hospitality management in 1986. Laura (Lynch) Hinze was born on the day her father started teaching at UW Oshkosh. She graduated from UWO in 1989.

• The Nevin James Debate Fund was established by Annette Blanchette ’60, to keep the spirit of debate alive in our classrooms and communities. Though he spent most of his 44 years at UW Oshkosh teaching English, Annette fondly remembers that James most loved debate and argumentation. The fund will “promote and assist argumentation and debate as an art and craft” to help debate students achieve their personal and professional goals.

The human element in these stories underscores what the Foundation is all about. People create new funds to share their resources, to honor other people who were important in their lives. And the students who ultimately benefit continue their own life stories enriched by the process. I extend my thanks to the donors mentioned above and the 5,800 other contributors who supported the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh Foundation in 2010.