The December 2013 recipient of the Outstanding Student Award as selected by the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay Alumni Association is Andrea M. Reisenauer. She will also serve as the graduating class speaker during UW-Green Bay commencement ceremonies at the Weidner Center at 11:30 a.m. Saturday, Dec. 14.
Reisenauer, of Sheboygan, is receiving her bachelor’s degree with summa cum laude, or highest, honors, and distinction in the major. She completed double majors in English and Spanish, a minor in Humanistic Studies, and an emphasis in linguistics and Teaching English as a Second Language.
She was nominated and selected for each of the two honors — Outstanding Student and class speaker — from among about 435 graduating seniors in the December class.
Reisenauer will accept the Outstanding Student Award at a student awards ceremony Friday night, Dec. 13. The UW-Green Bay Alumni Association has been soliciting nominations and designating a single Outstanding Student Award recipient for each graduating class since 1976.
Reisenauer compiled a near-perfect gradepoint average over her college career and was a recipient of the University’s Gallagher, Gage, Crandall and Trampe scholarships, as well as a Founders Association Merit Scholarship and the Alumni Association Scholarship. She received the Award for Academic Excellence in Spanish from the UW-Green Bay Modern Languages program.
Reisenauer worked on campus as a tutor for the Writing Center, where she assisted students with English grammar, language and writing on a daily basis, and for the academic program in Spanish. As an instructor for the Adult Literacy Center of Green Bay, she taught basic English language skills to a class of new Somali immigrants.
A president of the student Spanish Club who studied abroad in Spain, she was also active in supporting the student International Club at UW-Green Bay and the exchange network AIESEC International.
Reisenauer’s poetry has been accepted for publication in the literary journals Cicada, Black Heart Magazine, Rock River Review and UW-Green Bay’s Sheepshead Review. Last spring, her essay “The Power of the Educated People” was one of two selected to represent UW-Green Bay in the annual Liberal Arts Essay Scholarship Competition sponsored by a UW System advisory group promoting the value of the liberal arts.
Chad Bianchi ’12, an Economics and Public Administration major, works at Associated Banc-Corp as a senior financial analyst in the corporate treasury department. His contributions to the community include serving on the board of directors for Mosaic Arts Inc. and the UWGB Alumni Association. He serves as a guest lecturer to current UW-Green Bay students. He is pursuing a master’s in business administration from UW- Oshkosh.
Shelly Karnz ’98, Humanistic Studies, began with Literacy Green Bay as a volunteer in 1999, and was hired by the agency in 2007. The current program manager of adult tutoring worked as a family literacy assistant and a workplace instructor. In 2012, she received the Evie Jensen Spirit Award by the Literacy Green Bay board of directors. Through her work, she has helped more than 40 families with literacy challenges, while supporting more than 400 volunteers and adult learners. Outside of work she volunteers at her children’s school and is a troop leader with Girl Scouts of the Northwestern Great Lakes.
Kelly Ruh ’01, Accounting and Business Administration, is a controller for PDQ Manufacturing. Ruh volunteers for the annual Junior Achievement Business Marathon by coaching area students and serves on a sub-committee focused on marketing and community awareness for the Brown County Trust for Historic Preservation. She spent eight years on the UWGB alumni executive committee, serving as treasurer, vice president and president. She is pursuing a master’s degree in international business.
Darin Schumacher ’96, Communication Processes, was hired in 2011 as Dental Associates’ first marketing manager. He helped create a public relations strategy to bring awareness to the importance of oral health in children, addressing the extended school-time lost annually because of dental-related conditions. Schumacher is a spokesperson and advocate for the National Kidney Foundation of Wisconsin (NKFWi) and is encouraged that in the past five years the number of registered organ donors in Brown county has increased from 52 to 58 percent. This personal passion was spurred when he personally became the recipient of a kidney transplant in 2000. He is a former Leadership Green Bay participant and serves on the organization’s marketing committee.
Hope Voigt ’04, Accounting and Business Administration, is an operations manager at Tweet/Garot Mechanical Inc. She and the eight-person team she supervises is responsible for growth opportunities. She also serves as a member of the Twee/Garot Mechanical executive team. Voigt
uwgb360stories 