Director:

Susan M. Schierstedt is the Director of the Wisconsin Family Business Forum. She has a B.S. in Education from Northwestern University, Illinois, and an M.B.A. from UW Oshkosh, College of Business Administration. From 1984 to 1992 Schierstedt was Associate Director of the Richard W. Koehn Institute for Information Systems and Automation at UW Oshkosh. Prior to joining the Wisconsin Family Business Forum, Schierstedt was Administrative Officer for the Management Institute at UW-Madison's School of Business. Both organizations provided outreach programs and services to businesses, regionally and internationally, respectively.

Schierstedt had early experience with the unique problems of family businesses. She grew up playing alongside her grandfather in a business she expected to take over someday. Having experienced the failure of the business due to the inability of her father and grandfather to agree on long-term strategies, Schierstedt knows the importance of family dynamics and communications for the success of a family business.

Contact Susan Schierstedt via e-mail at schierss@uwosh.edu.

Assistant:

Mary Weddig is the program assistant for the Forum, providing marketing and operational support.  She joined the Forum staff in May, 2005. Mary brings expertise in the area of planning, management, communications, budgeting, and information technology.

Mary is an integral part of the Forum team. She manages program logistics, registrations, and financial reporting. Members have come to know Mary as a customer-focused resource upon whom they can rely for professional, timely and accurate information.

If you would like information about the Forum or any of our programs, please contact Mary Weddig at weddigm@uwosh.edu.

Faculty
Liaison:

Dr. C. Burk Tower is the Forum's faculty liaison and publishes in the area of family business management. Burk is a faculty member in the Management and Human Resources Team in the College of Business Administration at the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh. He focuses on Marketing and Entrepreneurship. He also leads the Young Entrepreneurial Scholars (YES) composed of college students interested in starting their own businesses.

Burk worked closely with Craig Smith from Retained Earnings Company/MassMutual, the Dean, regional family business professionals, and family business owners to design and develop the Forum. Burk serves on the Forum's committees and as an ex officio member of the Board. He works closely with the Director and the Board to ensure that the Forum is a valuable resource for the region.

Contact Dr. Burk Tower at tower@uwosh.edu