Oshkosh Area Community Foundation named 2025 Founders’ Day recipient

 

RIPON, Wis. – The Oshkosh Area Community Foundation (OACF) has been named the 2025 recipient of the Ripon College Founders’ Day Award. The formal presentation of the award will occur at the 158th Commencement ceremony May 18.

Bill Wyman, president and chief executive officer of the Oshkosh Area Community Foundation, will accept the award on behalf of the organization.

“The Oshkosh Area Community Foundation has been involved in the Ripon and Green Lake area for about 25 years, and we’ve grown and built good relationships there, but we feel that there’s a lot more opportunity,” Wyman said. “Having this award will help establish even stronger relationships between the communities in your area and in the community foundation. We’re honored and very thankful. We’re looking forward to continuing our relationship.”

The Founders’ Day Award honors an individual or organization in the greater Ripon community who exemplifies the ideals of the founders of Ripon College and who has contributed above and beyond to the mission of the school.

The OACF works to help donors turn their charitable investments into projects that add energy and vitality to communities in the counties of Winnebago, Waushara and Green Lake, as well as the city of Ripon. The Foundation is helping build stronger, more vibrant communities where everyone has the opportunity to thrive, according to the OACF website.

“We are impressed with the impact the Oshkosh Area Community Foundation has in our region and celebrate the investment they make to strengthen our community,” Ripon College President Victoria N. Folse said. “Their mission aligns with our own and we are proud to recognize them with our Founders’ Day Award.”

The OACF has been a strong supporter of The Boys & Girls Club of the Tri-County, which includes Ripon, and of the Green Lake Greenways, a regional network of trails and greenways to preserve the natural beauty and provide safe recreation throughout the Green Lake Region.

Locally, the foundation has also been involved in building endowments for the Green Lake Association and providing scholarships to area high schools, some through the Ripon Education Foundation.

“We’re very proud of the approximately $600,000 to $700,000 of scholarships we give out year after year to high school students in our service area,” Wyman said.

As part of an ongoing upgrade and renovation of the Ripon Public Library, the OACF Board provided a $50,000 grant dedicated to the children’s section of the library and has helped manage the administrative side of fundraising. In October 2024, the city of Ripon received a $1.985 million grant from the state of Wisconsin and renovation plans are underway.

Ripon College was officially founded Jan. 29, 1851. Each year the College celebrates the anniversary of its founding by honoring a community partner with the Founders’ Day Award.

Recent recipients include: The Boys & Girls Club of the Tri-County Area, 2024; Peter E. Stone of Fond du Lac, chairman of the board of National Exchange Bank and Trust (NEBAT) and chairman of the private Stone Family Foundation, 2023; Jeanne Lyke, a Ripon pediatrician, 2022; The Fond du Lac County Health Department, whose employees stepped up significantly during the COVID-19 pandemic, 2021; and Maria Dietrich, then the interim executive and artistic director of the Green Lake Festival of Music and a retired adjunct instructor of piano at Ripon College, 2020.

Visit the Founders’ Day page for a complete list of past recipients.