Class of 1915: Celebrity chef Long before Julia Child, television talk shows and cooking programs, Jessie Marie DeBoth was a household name across the United States and Canada as a cooking star and home economist. She was born Oct. 20, 1890, in Appleton, Wisconsin, then moved to Green Bay. At Ripon, she majored in English […]
Class of 1877: Alumnus, Trustee, minister The Rev. Dr. David Davies maintained close ties with Ripon College all of his life. He received three degrees, was a longtime Trustee and president of the Alumni Association. Davies was born at Prion, near Denbigh, Wales, in May 1845. He came to America in 1865 and lived with […]
Class of 2001: Communication strategies As a top Republican consultant and a communications advisor, Gail Gitcho now heads The Gitcho Group, a communications and crisis consulting firm that provides services like crisis management, media relations, and executive coaching for corporations, startups, and political campaigns. Gail Nicole Gitcho was born Nov. 15, 1978, and grew up […]
Class of 1902: Bridge engineer An innovative new design for short-span bridges, still widely used today, was developed by Arthur Gunderson Hayden, a consulting civil engineer. He was born Oct. 10, 1874, in Akron, Ohio. His father was Episcopal clergyman and the family came to Ripon when his father was assigned to St. Peter Episcopal […]
Class of 1916: National Park Service Carl Parcher Russell was a historian, ecologist and administrator. He served with the National Park Service for 34 years, from 1923 until his retirement in 1957, and is credited as one of the architects of the National Park Service and with developing most of the museums in the national […]
Class of 1967: Promoted international understanding James Eldin Reed held a wide-ranging career as a scholar, writer, consultant, historian and educator. He was born March 13, 1945, in Walla Walla, Washington. He studied history at Ripon, participated in Sigma Nu and was elected to Phi Beta Kappa. He received a Ph.D. in American and international […]
Class of 1937: Righteous Among the Nations Stanley Nowinski was the son of Polish Catholic immigrants and grew up on a farm near Ripon, but his service during World War II and his humanitarianism led to recognition on the world stage for his assistance to displaced Jews after the war. He was born Oct. 23, […]
Class of 1919 Lane Library was designed by noted architect Roger A. Sutherland of Fond du Lac, Wisconsin. He majored in math and biology at Ripon and earned a master’s degree from the Harvard Radcliffe Institute at Harvard University. Completed in 1931, Lane Library is in the Beaux-Arts classical style and is dominated by a […]
Class of 1872: Founder of Hollywood Rollin Benjamin Lane was a successful banker, real estate investor and philanthropist who helped establish the young communities of Redlands and Hollywood, California. He donated large sums of money for parks, libraries and orphanages. He was born May 28, 1854, in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, and brought up in Pickett, seven […]
Class of 1954: Nobel Prize laureate The 2009 Nobel Prize in economic science went to a Ripon College alumnus, Oliver Eaton Williamson, who was a pioneer of organizational economics. He was born Sept. 27, 1932, in Superior, Wisconsin. He majored in economics at Ripon from 1950 to 1952 on a dual two-year/three-year degree in conjunction […]
Class of 1973: Landscaping with the eye of an artist For nearly half a century, Charlie Marder and Kathleen Foran Marder, both of the Class of 1975, have offered personal artistry in landscaping and in garden shop selections around the northeast United States. He was born April 25, 1953. At Ripon, he studied art. Charlie […]
Class of 1958: International economist Richard Duane Bartel had a 50-year career as an economist with a focus on international economic policy. He was born Jan. 5, 1936, and came from Neenah, Wisconsin. At Ripon, he studied mathematics. He continued graduate studies at the University of Vienna, Austria. That environment, at a time when Austria […]
Class of 1965 and coach Chuck Larson touched every facet of Ripon College athletics over four years as a student and 40 years as a coach and educator. He was standout student athlete in tennis, a coach in tennis, football and swimming, an educator in the exercise science department, chair of the physical education department […]
Winning coach and administrator After a stellar Ripon College coaching career leading both the football and baseball teams to multiple Midwest Conference championships, John Storzer died early at only age 53. He was born John McClain Storzer May 31, 1920, in Mountain, Wisconsin. After serving in the U.S. Navy as a gunnery officer in the […]
English William J. “Bill” Schang was a professor of English for 41 years from 1969 to 2011, and served as dean of faculty from 2002 to 2006. He was born Sept. 25, 1941, in Detroit, Michigan. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Michigan. Schang joined the English faculty at Ripon College in 1969 […]
Economics Widely heralded as one of the most important economists of 20th-century America, Alfred E. Kahn was a political advisor who specialized in regulation and deregulation and is best known as the chief architect and promoter of deregulating the nation’s airlines and public utilities. He began his academic career as an assistant professor at Ripon […]
Scholar, historian, teacher A staunch advocate of historic preservation, George H. Miller was a Ripon College professor of history and the first Ralph Hale Ruppert Distinguished Professor of American History, Principles, and Traditions. He impacted not only the Ripon College Department of History, but also the historic and cultural life of the greater community around […]
Biology George “Skip” H. Wittler, professor emeritus of biology, served Ripon College as a professor for 41 years and continues working with the Ceresco Prairie Conservancy. He was born Jan. 29, 1948, in New York City. He received a bachelor’s degree in biology from Carleton College, his master’s in botany from the University of Montana-Missoula […]
Making physics fun For 37 years, from 1975 to 2012, Mary E. Williams-Norton made it her mission to promote physics and STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) classes, not only to Ripon College students but also to younger students around the state of Wisconsin and the world. “Research showed that if children’s attention isn’t caught […]
Class of 1950: Mr. Basketball Athletics were a part of life for Kermit George “Doc” Weiske ever since grade school in Berlin, Wisconsin. He was born May 18, 1929, in Montello, Wisconsin. After graduating from high school at age 16, Weiske came to Ripon College in 1946, majored in physical education and played football, basketball […]
Rotifer expert Robert Lee Wallace, professor of biology from 1977 until retiring in 2019, has inspired generations of Ripon College students and brought to the world leading research on rotifers: microscopic, aquatic invertebrates. Wallace was born Oct. 12, 1948, in Queens, New York. He received his Bachelor of Science from the University of Rhode Island […]