The Impact of Gifts

Gifts to the College of Letters & Science allowed Professor William Aylward to involve students in his archaeological expedition of Troy.

The story of how Tessa Peters ended up snagging one of the nation’s first graduate fellowships in organic plant breeding begins in an unlikely place: the middle of the ocean. After earning a bachelor’s degree in physics, she set out as a geophysicist, mapping the ocean floor aboard a large ship. During her time off, she traveled widely and stumbled upon her new career path.

Academics and a family tradition of attending the University of Wisconsin-Madison drew Katrina Van Dyke to the state’s flagship university. And she arrived with a plan. Finish a genetics major in four years and continue in the graduate program in genetics counseling.

Rachel Glab was in Montserrat on bird business-specifically, researching how to protect the Montserrat oriole, a species facing various threats. International travel would have been beyond her means without funding from the CALS Study Abroad Scholarship Fund.

Attending the University of Wisconsin-Madison was Robert Wiedenhoeft’s first choice since he watched Ron Dayne break the NCAA rushing record at Camp Randall Stadium.Wiedenhoeft, from Franklin, Wisconsin, also knew choosing the UW-Madison was the best way for me to hold onto his Wisconsin roots and be well prepared to become a teacher.

Alexandra Branscombe, a fifth-year senior in LSC, has received the J.W. Watt Agricultural Journalism Memorial Scholarship and the Douglas D. Sorenson Scholarship.

Melanie Zaferos from Wauwatosa, Wisconsin, follows her mother, father and sister to the UW-Madison. She’s pursuing her lifelong dream to become an elementary school teacher and hopes to one day also teach abroad. The Ab and Nancy Nichols Great People Scholarship and Alta T. & Daniel B. Straley Scholarship allow her to continue her higher education.

Kayla Steinhorst from Baraboo, Wisconsin, believes the UW-Madison will allow her to reach her educational potential, and she wrote that she also appreciates Madison’s unique and exciting atmosphere. The Gwen P. Shapiro Rural Nursing Scholarship isn’t just a monetary award for Steinhorst; it’s a recognition of her hard work and her parents’ commitment to help her as much as they can, despite tough economic times.