UW-Green Bay Alumni Rise to the Distinction of Distinguished and Outstanding
The University’s 2021 and 2022 best of the best to be recognized in April; ceremony includes ‘honorary alumnus’ recognition to Dr. Rai
Green Bay, Wis.—While the pandemic put on hold a celebration of UW-Green Bay’s distinguished alumni in 2021, the alumni themselves continued to inspire, and will be recognized on Thursday, April 21, 2022 with a Recognition Dinner along with the 2022 recipients.
The event takes place in the Phoenix Rooms in the University Union and begins with a reception at 5 p.m. and is followed by dinner at 6 p.m. The program will begin at approximately 6:40 p.m. Tickets are $50 and can be purchased at UW-Green Bay Alumni Awards. Questions can be directed to alumni@uwgb.edu.
The 2022 Distinguished honorees are Gregory Neuschafer, a decorated researcher for the U.S. Navy, and Susan Dreyfus, who until her recent retirement, had a long and impressive career in health and human services. Receiving Outstanding Recent Alumni Awards for 2022 will be sisters Starrlene Grossman, who has dedicated her time and talent to public health, mostly in the Sheboygan, Wis. area and Corrissa Frank, executive director of the Family Resource Center of Sheboygan County. Community leader Rick Beverstein, who has worked tirelessly to advocate for UW-Green Bay through his work as a senior vice president at Aon Risk Solutions and his extensive community involvement, will receive an Honorary Alumni Award.
The 2021 honorees, announced a year ago but celebrated this April, are Outstanding Recent Alumni Award Recipient Nikki Schingick ’12 and ’14, Distinguished Alumni Award Recipient Mary Gallagher ’90, and Honorary Alumni Award Recipient Dr. Ashok Rai. (See below for bios).
Receiving 2022 Distinguished Alumni Awards
Gregory Neuschafer ‘73 (Environmental Science) is a retired US Navy Captain Oceanographer. He followed his bachelor’s degree with a MS in Marine Geology through a combined program at UW-Milwaukee and Duke University Marine Laboratory. After graduate school he was commissioned an Ensign and designated an oceanographer in the US Navy. His Navy career began as an Ocean Survey Officer aboard Oceanographic Unit 5 conducting nearshore hydrographic surveys to update navigation charts in the Caribbean. His next assignment was as executive officer of Oceanographic Unit 1 conducting integrated bathymetric, geomagnetic and gravity surveys in the Davis Strait between Canada and Greenland. He enjoyed 30 years of adventure rotating between operational and research and development assignments aboard ships and aircraft, commanding several units. Since retirement, he has worked as a consultant to a mid-water-depth oyster farm experiment in the Chesapeake Bay. Last year, he delivered to UW-Green Bay, a real-time searchable electronic library composed of 28,000 plus pages of literature, video and audio files of court cases, government and civilian activities related to the Fox River – Green Bay PCB cleanup. He has created and sponsors a water forensics laboratory at his high school, and has helped UWGB’s Lower Fox River Watershed Monitoring Program.
Susan Dreyfus ’80 (Business Administration) is a national strategy consultant in Health and Human Services. Until her retirement, she had been the chief executive officer of the national Alliance for Strong Families and Communities and prior to that, served as secretary of the Washington State Department of Social and Health Services (DSHS). She has worked at the local, state, and national levels. In addition to her career roles, she has served on national advisory boards and served as a director on the Chapin Hall Center for Children Board of Directors at the University of Chicago and the American Public Human Services Association (APHSA) Board of Directors. In 2019, Dreyfus was named to The NonProfit Times’ Power and Influence Top 50 list of nonprofit leaders who have “distinguished themselves as initiators of concepts that will have legs and are already having impact.” She also was included in the Power and Influence Top 50 list in 2018, 2017, and 2015. The American Public Human Services Association awarded Dreyfus its Lifetime Achievement Award in 2016 for her contributions to the field of health and human services in both the public and private sectors. In 2018, Dreyfus was recognized with a Women of Influence Award by the Milwaukee Business Journal.
2022 Outstanding Recent Alumni Award
Starrlene Grossman ’13 (Nursing) is the acting health officer and division manager for the Sheboygan County Division of Public Health. In this position she oversees all public health programming and leads the work of facilitating a cross-sector response to the pandemic within Sheboygan County. She started her position at Sheboygan County Division of Public Health in 2013. In 2019 she graduated from the University of Minnesota with her Master’s in Public Health practice and in March of 2020, was promoted into the health officer position just as the pandemic was becoming a reality for Wisconsin residents. Over the last two years, she has dedicated much of her life to supporting the pandemic response efforts within her community. She continues to work in collaboration with community leaders, elected officials, and healthcare providers to organize access to testing, educational resources, masks and vaccinations for community members. Grossman was named the 2021 Outstanding Essential Worker of the Year through United Way’s, Spirit of Sheboygan County Awards and the Best Under 40 Top Young Professional of 2021 through the Sheboygan County Chamber.
Corrissa Frank ’13 (Communication) is the executive director of the Family Resource Center of Sheboygan County, responsible for the leadership and management of the Family Resource Center, including financial and personnel management, marketing, community outreach, fund development, oversight of program development, project implementation, growth of partnerships within the community, and is the primary public spokesperson for the organization. After starting her degree path at the Manitowoc Campus, she graduated from UW-Green Bay and continued on for a Master’ Degree in Organizational Leadership in 2018 from Concordia University. Frank is passionate about supporting individuals and families in Sheboygan County through providing education, social connection and support. Prior to her work with the Family Resource Center, she served as the Community Partnership for Children Coordinator and Director of Major Gving for the United Way of Sheboygan County, and served for a time as marketing and development coordinator for the Woodland Dunes Nature Center; and as grant writer at the Florida Gulf Coast University (FGCU).
She continues to invest her time in the community such as being a part of the Advocate Aurora Steering Committee, Building Resilient Communities Committee, and Community Partnership for Children Steering Committee. She is passionate about working collaboratively with other organizations to break down barriers for individuals and families.
2022 Honorary Alumni Award
Rick Beverstein has worked tirelessly to open doors for UW-Green Bay by introducing University leaders to the many people and organizations he’s come to know through his work as a senior vice president at Aon Risk Solutions and his extensive volunteer involvement. Though a graduate of Marquette University, Beverstein is most passionate about advancing UW-Green Bay’s mission and is a remarkable ambassador for the University and its students, having volunteered on numerous University boards and as a key leader in a number of University initiatives. He has been deeply committed to community organizations including The Green Bay Chamber of Commerce, The Green Bay Symphony Orchestra, YMCA, Rotary, Heritage Hill State Park, The American Red Cross, The Foundation for St. Vincent & Saint Mary’s Hospitals, The Friends of Bay Beach, Curative Connections, St. Louis Parish, The Greater Green Bay Community Foundation, ASPIRO, and The United Way.
2021 Award Winners
The 2021 Distinguished Alumni Award will be presented to Mary Gallagher ’90 (Theatre). From thousands of incredibly talented majors that have come out of UW-Green Bay’s Theatre program, Mary Gallagher stands out as having sustained success in professional film, television and commercial acting. Her roles included the lead in an NBC pilot directed by Rob Reiner, as well as television roles on Friends, The West Wing, How I Met Your Mother, Duckman (voice), NCIS, and Grey’s Anatomy. She has been in more than 50 commercials and costarred in movies with Jodie Foster and Reese Witherspoon. As a sketch comedian, she has performed on TV shows including Ellen and The Tonight Show. She hosted a pilot on E!, two seasons of a cult hit show on Game Show Network, and two seasons of a show produced by Kelsey Grammer, as well as costarring on David Spade’s Fameless on TruTV. She is currently on Prank Encounters, a Netflix hidden-camera comedy/horror show. See more about Gallagher.
The 2021 Outstanding Recent Alumni Award will be presented to Nicole Schingick ’12 (Business Administration) and ’14 (Human Biology) who is currently the President of Rennes Group—comprised of Rennes Health & Rehab Centers (skilled nursing facilities), Renaissance Assisted Livings and the Residence by Rennes (memory care)—12 facilities in Northeast/Central Wisconsin. Nicole has a strong passion for providing exceptional care to the senior population, having grown up within the industry. See more about Schingick.
The 2021 UW-Green Bay Honorary Alumnus Award is presented to Dr. Ashok Rai, the president and chief executive officer of Prevea Health—a physician-led, multispecialty health care provider working in partnership with Hospital Sisters Health System (HSHS) hospitals across Wisconsin. Prevea Health was founded in Green Bay, Wis. in 1996, and employs more than 2,000 people, offering high-quality patient care in more than 30 communities in clinic and HSHS hospital settings across Wisconsin, as well as a health insurance plan (Prevea360) with one of the largest coordinated networks across the state. Dr. Rai and Prevea Health have led the way and set standards for high-quality, accessible and innovative COVID-19 education, prevention, testing, treatment and vaccination efforts across Wisconsin—all of which have garnered attention from local, state and national health care leaders and journalists. Dr. Rai and his Prevea Health team worked to open one of the largest COVID-19 vaccination clinics in Wisconsin at the Kress Events Center on the Green Bay Campus in 2021, followed by sites at the Sheboygan and Marinette Campuses, helping the region recover from its most devastating pandemic of modern times. See more about Dr. Rai.
About the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay
Established in 1965, UW-Green Bay is a public institution serving 9,276 undergraduate, graduate and doctoral students and 79,604 continuing education enrollees each year across all campus locations. We educate students from pre-college through retirement and offer 200+ degrees, programs and certificates. UW-Green Bay graduates are resilient, inclusive, sustaining and engaged members of their communities, ready to rise to fearlessly face challenges, solve problems and embrace diverse ideas and people. With four campus locations, the University welcomes students from every corner of the world. In 2020, UW-Green Bay was the fastest growing UW school in Wisconsin. For more information, visit www.uwgb.edu.
