UWGB alumni recognition includes area business owners | Insight
The University of Wisconsin-Green Bay will recognize outstanding alumni and two honorary alumni at the 2025 Alumni Awards dinner March 2.
The event is open to the public. For more information, contact the UW-Green Bay Alumni Office at 920-465-2074 or alumni@uwgb.edu.
The 2025 Distinguished honorees are Randy Charles, 1987 and Wendy Wimmer, 1997. Receiving the Outstanding Recent Alumni Awards for 2025 will be April Garza-Leon, 2014 and Jose L. Villa, 2016. Larry and Kathy Treankler, active community leaders who have tirelessly supported UW-Green Bay through their respective businesses and the Green Bay Athletics programs, will receive an Honorary Alumni Award.
- Charles co-founded Port City Bakery in 1989. Best known by its trade name AK Pizza Crust, he became president of the company in 1991 and CEO in 2011. He attended Preble High School and graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay in 1987 with a bachelor of science degree in Business administration. He serves on the advisory boards of The Altrusa House, Boys & Girls Club of Greater Green Bay, Cofrin School of Business at UW-Green Bay, and Greater Green Bay Chamber Economic Development.
- Wimmer graduated from UW-Green Bay with a bachelor of arts in English. She went on to receive a master of arts degree in English from UW-Milwaukee and a Ph.D. in English Language and Literature/Letters from the University of Nevada-Las Vegas in 2020. She is a technology journalist, a speaker, moderator, creative writer and adjunct instructor. She was an honoree in the Informa Tech awards as a Bright Star, and named Editor of the Year in 2013. Wimmer earned four ASBPE awards for editorial reporting at the national level. In addition, Wimmer is an award-winning creative writer. Her debut short story collection “Entry Level: Stories” received the 2021 Autumn House Fiction Prize, positive reviews including one from Publisher’s Weekly, and a starred Kirkus review.
- Garza-Leon received her bachelor of science in nursing from UW-Green Bay and her master of science in nursing from UW Oshkosh. She is the Manager of Nursing Education at Aurora BayCare Medical Center and Co-Chair of the North Wisconsin Area Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Council for Advocate Aurora Health. She serves as a Board Member for CASA Alba Melanie, the Green Bay Hispanic Resource Center, and is a member of the Spanish Health Navigator Advisory Committee and Co-Chair of the Development Committee. Additionally, she is a founding member of the Latino Professional Association of Northeast Wisconsin and a member of the Greater Green Bay Chamber.
- Villa graduated from UW-Green Bay with his bachelor of science in Business Administration in 2016. He went on to earn his MBA from St. Norbert College in 2024. Villa is currently Vice President of Commercial Lending with Fox Communities Credit Union. He was named a Future15 Young Professional by Current Young Professionals and the Greater Green Bay Chamber, received a 40 Under 40 award from Insight Publication and was recognized by Fox Communities Credit Union as a Jackie Johnson Living It award winner in summer 2023. Villa serves as treasurer on the Board of Directors for the Green Bay Botanical Garden and is President of the Board for Casa ALBA Melanie in Green Bay. He is an active member of Latino Professionals Association of Northeast Wisconsin.
- The Treanklers are active community leaders and UW-Green Bay supporters. Larry is chairman of the Villages Companies, headquartered in Pulaski, which is comprised of Skee-Ball, Bay Tek Entertainment, MCL Industries, Dimensional Branding Group and Maverick Hunting. Kathy is the CEO of Trinks, Inc., an industrial equipment supplier in De Pere that specializes in the design and building of hydraulic presses. Together, they have owned the Green Bay Blizzard, a professional indoor football team, since 2013. Their charitable efforts are focused on children, cancer and community with a Christian bias. In addition, they assist Green Bay Athletics with leadership training and offer business expertise via the Green Bay Blizzard. They have supported recent projects including the new Aldo Santaga Stadium, the King Park softball stadium renovation as well as the renovated women’s basketball locker room. They have also been active in a student-athlete leadership program called the “Phoenix Leadership Initiative” which includes help with internship placements, company tours, leadership panels and more. The Treankler’s were also the earliest supporters of the engineering and engineering technology programs within the Richard J. Resch School of Engineering.
