A UW degree can open doors to a dream career, but for some, cost is too big an obstacle, forcing students to compromise or even give up their ambitions. Barbara and Maurice MS’52 Aegerter hope that future generations of Badgers won’t have to sacrifice as they did.
Barbara and Maurice met and fell in love while studying at the UW. Maurice was attending graduate school, working as a teaching assistant to help cover his tuition costs. He was dedicated to his studies in mathematics, but when funding for teaching assistants was reduced, he had no choice but to drop out until he could obtain the funding he needed.
Barbara grew up in the rural Midwest and had dreams of pursuing music at the university. During her freshman year at the UW, she was steered toward the more “practical” sciences, which she did not find fulfilling, and eventually, she left school to marry Maurice.
Because of these experiences, Barbara and Maurice have committed to paving the way for future Badgers to chase their music and mathematical dreams. “I have chosen to establish a scholarship fund in the Department of Mathematics,” Maurice shares, “and included the UW in my will, to help any student finish their studies undeterred by financial constraints.”
Barbara’s experience, coupled with the challenges she encountered along the way, inspired her to support other UW students’ musical passions so that they might avoid the same setback. “I have established a scholarship fund for students in the Mead Witter School of Music to enable students to follow their passion.”
