Move over Jane Pettit. Milwaukee’s latest philanthropist is Stan Stojkovic, dean of UWM’s Helen Bader School of Social Welfare. Stojkovic already promised $1 million to UWM, but he’s recently willed an additional $1 million to UW-Platteville, his undergraduate alma mater. His gift is the largest ever by a sitting UWM dean, and according to the American Journal of Philanthropy,may be the largest such gift in the U.S. outside of law and medical schools. He must be very thrifty.
Someone has a wandering eye. Joseph Ketner, Milwaukee Art Museum’s chief curator, was a finalist for the job of director and chief curator at Amherst College’s Mead Art Museum, but didn’t get it. And he thought we’d never find out.
Milwaukee’s Central Library was named as one of the nation’s 10 best libraries by Nancy Pearl, author and NPR book commentator, in a list compiled for USA Today. Shhhhh, don’t applaud too loudly.
Max Weinberg, longtime drummer of Bruce Springsteen’s E Street Band, won’t be “dancing in the dark” anymore after buying light fixtures while on tour in Milwaukee. They’re for his Middletown, N.J., home, which was built with materials he picked up on tour.
Vermouth, olives, martini glass. All that’s missing is Milwaukee’s own Double Gold Medal-winning Rehorst Premium Milwaukee Gin. Made by local distiller Great Lakes Distillery,the gin took top honors at the San Francisco World Spirits Competition earlier this year. We prefer ours shaken, not stirred.
Menomonee Falls native John W. Schilling tells all about his experience as a whistleblower in the new book Undercover: How I Went from Company Man to FBI Spy – and Exposed the Worst Healthcare Fraud in U.S. History. And author Jennifer Fox, a Shorewood native, recently published Your Child’s Strengths: Discover Them, Develop Them, Use Them. Also, local author Cherie Burbach’s book of poetry, Father’s Eyes, won the 2008 Allbooks Review Editor’s Choice Award for poetry. The poems talk about Burbach’s struggles with an alcoholic father.
Marquette University theology prof Daniel C. Maguire has called on the ultimate authority – God – in leading his department’s faculty to adopt a resolution imploring Marquette to do the moral thing and provide health insurance for adjunct instructors. The Rev. John Laurance, theology department chair, has written to the other department chairs asking them to join in their demands
Local chef and restaurateur Sandy D’Amato got a shout-out in The Wall Street Journal’s “Chefs At Home” column. The article includes two of D’Amato’s recipes featuring “Wisconsin’s best homegrown products: beer and cheese.” Thanks, Wall Street Journal, for reinforcing that Wisconsin stereotype.
Some Milwaukee jewelers have a great thing for bling. Steven Kistner, owner of Steven Paul Designs in Delafield, placed first in the 2008 Jewelers of America Affiliate Design Competition. And at The Jewelry Mechanic Inc. in Oconomowoc, owner Mike Goralski and intern Amy Malsch recently took home top awards: Goralski in the Wisconsin Jewelers Association design competition and Malsch in the “Emerging Artist” category at the Saul Bell Design Awards.
A camping trip just doesn’t cut it for Wisconsin natives Dr. Daniel DeBehnke and Dr. M. Chris Decker. In February, the duo won the team competition in the Frozen Otter Race. They trekked 42 miles in just over 16 hours in subzero temps. The pair also entered Primal Quest 2008 in Montana, a race covering 500 miles of swimming, biking, mountaineering and kayaking that kicked off June 21.
Polish up those resumes, because southeastern Wisconsin is home to three of Fortune magazine’s top 50 employers to work for. At No. 27, Racine’s S.C. Johnson & Son made the list for its unusually high employee retention. Johnson Financial Group, another Racine company with tons of employee perks, secured the No. 37 spot. Also making the list was Milwaukee’s wealth management company, Robert W. Baird Co., recognized at No. 39 for its “no asshole” hiring policy. Now that’s an innovation.
Celebrity Sightings
The Capital Grille is Milwaukee’s latest place to see and be seen. Recent diners include R&B superstar Ne-Yo and crew, legendary violinist Yo-Yo Ma, the Miami Heat’s Alonzo Mourning and the entire San Francisco Giants team. Also spotted were new Bucks coach Scott Skiles and GM John Hammond, hopefully figuring out how the team can rebound from a terrible year.
Flashback 25 Years
In our July 1983 issue, writer Perry Lamek visited Nick’s Nicabob on State Street: “The milieu is make-believe Nashville, with brass-colored ceiling fans, red flocked wallpaper, heavy velvet-like draperies, imitation stained-glass panels, plastic foliage and plenty of wagon wheel appointments. The resulting décor is a cross between a western-style saloon and a Victorian bordello.” After a fire in the mid-1980s, Nick’s moved to 34th and Forest Home, where it remained one of the area’s top country music bars until closing a few years ago.
