Great Partnerships

Photo of Dick and Laura Bachhuber

Richard "Dick" Bachhuber and "Billie" Laura Willette Davidson married in 1940. Dick rowed with the crew in his freshman year, earning the numerals on his Wisconsin sweater.

Richard “Rick” A. Bachhuber, Jr. (’65 BS L&S) was born in Ohio and raised in the Chicago suburbs by parents who made it clear his first address after high school would be in Wisconsin, at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Rick’s father, Richard “Dick” Allan Bachhuber, earned a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering at UW-Madison in 1936. Rick is a 1965 graduate of the School of Journalism and Mass Communication. While following family Badger tracks is common, Bachhuber is particularly mindful of the fact that not everyone who is accepted at UW-Madison can afford to attend. His mother, “Billie” Laura Willette Davidson Bachhuber, attended Muskingum College in Ohio for one year in the 1930s before exhausting her resources. When he learned of the Great People Scholarship Campaign effort in 2008, Bachhuber established the Richard Allan Bachhuber Great People Scholarship to honor his late father and provide need-based financial aid for qualified students.

Photo of Richard "Rick" Bachhuber, Jr. and Bettye Beaumont

Richard "Rick" Bachhuber, Jr. and Bettye Beaumont

Bachhuber worked several jobs to help make ends meet while at the University in the 1960s. He secured a teaching assistantship while attending the J-School and benefitted from mentoring by Professor of Commerce and Journalism Harry Wolfe. It was Wolfe who encouraged him to pursue a position after graduation with The Procter & Gamble Company, a leader in marketing and public relations. Bachhuber got that first job with Procter & Gamble and several others over the course of his 34-year career with the company. He retired as vice president and trustee of The P&G Fund, the charitable giving arm of the company.

Bachhuber was selected by current School of Journalism and Mass Communication faculty as one of three alumni to receive the 2010 Distinguished Service Award. Winners were honored at the School’s alumni banquet on April 16.

“I’m forever grateful to my dad,” he said. “He made it possible for me to attend college. I want to honor him by helping someone else.”