King, Nick, Potts to receive UW-Green Bay’s highest alumni honor
The University of Wisconsin-Green Bay will recognize a total of five meritorious graduates of the institution at the 2015 Alumni Association Awards Night on Friday evening, Oct. 16. The program is part of the annual, two-day Alumni Days celebration, which this year coincides with UW-Green Bay’s 50th Anniversary.
The list of honorees begins with Mark King, class of 1981, Barbara Nick ’83 and Jack Potts ’71, each receiving the Distinguished Alumni Award. Additionally, Andy Rosendahl, ’07 and Kelly Ruh ’01 will receive the Outstanding Recent Alumni Award. Ronald and Suzy Pfeifer will receive the Honorary Alumni Award.
The annual awards spotlight UW-Green Bay alumni who have made special contributions to the University, their communities and professions.
The ceremony takes place in the Grand Foyer and on stage at the Weidner Center for the Performing Arts on the campus at 2420 Nicolet Drive, Green Bay.
The event is open to the public. It begins with a 5 p.m. social and includes dinner at 6 p.m. followed by the program. The cost is $35 per person. For more information, contact the UW-Green Bay Alumni Office — (920) 465-2226 or e-mail.
Distinguished Alumni Award Recipients
Mark King is a 1981 Business Administration graduate of UW-Green Bay. As President of adidas Group North America, King oversees adidas and Reebok in the U.S. and Canada and is responsible for driving the brand strategy and direction for the worldwide company’s North American operations. King began his current role in June 2014 after 34 years with TaylorMade. King’s celebrity status within the golf industry derived from making TaylorMade the No. 1 brand on the PGA tour and boosting sales from $300 million to $1 billion annually. He was named golf executive of the year within two years of being named president in 1999, at age 40. He has been profiled in PGA Magazine, Fortune and the Harvard Business Review, among others. He was inducted into UW-Green Bay Phoenix Hall of Fame in 2002. In 2011 the UW-Green Bay Foundation Inc. added King to its board of directors.
Barbara A. Nick received her bachelor’s degree in Communication and the Arts in 1983. Since December 2014, she has served as President and CEO of Dairyland Power Cooperative, which provides wholesale electricity to more than 40 member cooperatives and municipalities in Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa and Illinois. Nationwide, she’s one of only a few female chief executives in her industry. Nick joined Wisconsin Public Service Corporation (now Integrys Energy Group) in 1981 as a technical writer. At WPS, she rose through the ranks to become senior VP of energy delivery and customer service. She was president of the Upper Peninsula Power Co. subsidiary, and by 2014, when she concluded her career at Integrys, she was president of its Minnesota Energy Resources and Michigan Gas Utilities corporations. Nick is a graduate of the Harvard Business School’s Advanced Management Program.
Dr. Jack Potts graduated in 1971 with a bachelor’s degree in Humanism and Cultural Change. He received his medical degree in 1979 from the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and has been a practicing psychiatrist for 36 years, primarily in the state of Arizona. Throughout his career, Potts became active in various issues involving forensic psychiatry including working on insanity and competency legislation, human rights activities, and pro bono service to many. He taught both law and social work at Arizona State University, and served for a decade as chief of the Forensic Services Unit for the Superior Court of Arizona in Maricopa County before returning to private practice in 2002. He is a past president of his state’s American Psychiatric Association affiliate.
Outstanding Recent Alumni
Andy Rosendahl graduated in 2007 with a Public Administration degree and began work as a neighborhood development specialist for the City of Green Bay. Since 2013, he has served as the Chief of Staff for Green Bay Mayor Jim Schmitt. Rosendahl has been president of the Astor Neighborhood Association, VP of the Mediation Center of Greater Green Bay and a board member of Greater Green Bay Habitat for Humanity and the Bay Area Community Council, and co-chair of its Self-Sufficiency Committee. In 2014 he received the community’s Inky Meng Resident Leadership Award for volunteer service to others.
Kelly Ruh graduated in 2001 with degrees in Business Administration and Accounting. She is the controller for PDQ Manufacturing Inc., based in De Pere, widely known for its service and industry-leading advances in touchless car wash technology. Ruh started as a staff accountant, spent time as a CFO at a local non-profit, and returned as controller of PDQ at age 32. She recently completed her MBA with a focus on international business. An active volunteer, she serves as an officer of the Brown County Trust for Historic Preservation and the Brown County Republican Party and as a coach for the Junior Achievement Business Marathon. She is a former president of the UW-Green Bay Alumni Association.
Honorary Alumni Award
Ronald and Suzy Pfeifer are longtime friends of, and advocates for, UW-Green Bay. Ron was recently named Associate Chancellor for External Affairs at UW-Green Bay. He came to UWGB from Schneider National Inc., where he worked as Associate General Counsel since 2013 following a 28-year career as an employment-law attorney with Godfrey & Kahn. In 2012, the Pfeifers endowed a Phuture Phoenix Scholarship to help students at Green Bay East High School involved in the Institute for the Fine Arts to attend UW-Green Bay. They are active supporters of Phoenix Athletics. Ron has served on the board of directors for both the Phoenix Fund and the former Fast Break Club, and for the University’s Founders Association philanthropic organization. Suzy Pfeifer, recently retired as Director of Marketing and Fund Development for Encompass Early Education and Care, Inc., was employed by UW-Green Bay as Director of Major Gifts in the early 2000s. She is a past member of the Council of Trustees.
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