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Each year, prominent University of Wisconsin Oshkosh alumni who have used their degrees to their potential and beyond are chosen for the Distinguished Alumni and Outstanding Young Alumni awards.

The UW Oshkosh Alumni Association will award four Distinguished Alumni Awards and four Outstanding Young Alumni Awards at the Alumni Awards celebration during Homecoming weekend 2015.

Recipients of the Distinguished Alumni Award are recognized for their exemplary accomplishments and contributions in their careers and in the community.

This year’s Distinguished Alumni are Linnea (Dahl) Baudhuin ’95, of Rochester, Minn.; William Schumann ’71, of Wheaton, Ill.; Juliette Sterkens ’83, of Oshkosh; and Kevin Wehrenberg ’93, of Burbank, Calif.

2014 Alumni Awards Celebration

Recipients of the Outstanding Young Alumni Award also are recognized for their achievements in their careers and communities, as well as the potential they hold for future success.

This year’s Outstanding Young Alumni include Rene Delgado ’05, of Chicago; John Erickson ’09, of West Hollywood, Calif.; Lee Haugen ’04, of Valencia, Calif.; and Kevin Meighan ’09, of Waupaca.

Below describes the successes and accomplishments of the Distinguished Alumni Award winners:

  • Baudhuin earned her bachelor’s in biology in 1995 with a minor in chemistry. She currently works as an associate professor of laboratory medicine and pathology at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn. After she graduated from UWO, Baudhuin pursued her graduate and doctoral degree from Cleveland State University. She is certified in clinical molecular genetics by the American Board of Medical Genetics and Genomics. Besides working as an associate professor, Baudhuin is helping develop and implement electronic decision support for pharmacogenomics data, next generation sequencing and genome analysis technology.
  • After Schumann graduated in 1971 with bachelor’s degrees in history and political science, he worked as a security manager and served in active and reserved duty for the U.S. Army for six years. As an only child, he cared for his parents, who were terminally ill, by handling their investments, taxes and other financial needs. After his parents’ deaths, he passed his stock broker examination and started to design portfolios for people. He went back to school to become a certified financial planner. He currently owns Schumann Financial, where he employs eight full-time people and works with clients in 40 states. Since the beginning of his career, Schumann has prepared more than 41,000 tax returns and managed $360 million of customer money.
  • Sterkens earned her master’s degree in speech and hearing audiology after traveling to UWO from the Netherlands in 1982. After graduation, she opened Oshkosh Hearing Center, later renamed Fox Valley Hearing Center, with her friend Doreen Jensen. For 29 years, Sterkens helped residents by providing audiology and hearing aid services and has worked to bring wireless hearing technology to the Fox Valley. Since 2012, Sterkens has been assisting a nonprofit organization, Hearing Loss Association of America, and travels across the country to educate consumers, audiologists and venue operators about wireless hearing technology.
  • After Wehrenberg earned his bachelor’s degree in radio-TV-film in 1993, he interned for the Television Academy of Arts and Sciences, which took him to NBC studios in Los Angeles the summer following graduation. He then became a production assistant for a number of television shows and was promoted to research engineer with the late-night talk show host Greg Kinnear. Wehrenberg has worked on shows like “It’s a Miracle,” “Fear Factor” and “Wipeout.” He currently works as a co-executive producer for the prime-time TV show “Bullseye” for FOX Network.

Below describes the successes and accomplishments of the Outstanding Young Alumni Award winners:

  • Delgado earned his bachelor’s degree in journalism with emphases in advertising and public relations in 2005 and currently works for Leo Burnett Worldwide as an associate creative director. He was part of Esurance’s campaign, “Sorta You Isn’t You,” which aired during the Super Bowl and featured celebrities Lindsay Lohan and Bryan Cranston. Delgado also has done campaigns for Sealy and McDonald’s and won the Bronze Cannes Lion, an award presented to top creating advertising teams throughout the world.
  • Erickson moved to Claremont, Calif. after he earned his bachelor’s in English from UWO to pursue a graduate degree in women’s studies in religion and applied women’s studies. He also earned his doctorate in American religious history in 2014 from Claremont Graduate University, and currently works for the City of West Hollywood as a community events technician. Since graduation from UWO, Erickson has volunteered through many organizations, such as West Hollywood’s Martin Luther King, Jr. Day of Service for the West Hollywood Elementary School, the UWO volleyball alumni community and serves as president of the LGBTQA+ Alumni Chapter’s board for UWO.
  • Haugen earned his bachelor’s degree in radio-TV-film in 2004 and moved to Valencia, Calif. where he has worked on editing projects including the TV show “Californication” and assisting in editing for Last Comic Standing season 5. He has worked as an editor on other projects for Cartoon Network, Adult Swim, CBS and more. Haugen also won the first U.S. Dramatic Special Jury Award for Excellence in Editing at the 2015 Sundance Film Festival for the film “Dope.”
  • After Meighan earned his bachelor’s degree in nursing, he began work for Riverside Medical Center in Waupaca in the Ambulatory Care/ED wing. He now works for the Waushara County Health Department. Meighan is researching for the National Governor’s Association Policy Academy for prescription drug abuse. He has volunteered in Botswana, Africa, as a nurse and tutored at a free HIV clinic in Maun. Meighan received the 2014 Florence Nightingale Award for nursing excellence throughout northeastern Wisconsin.

For more information about the alumni awards celebration on Oct. 16 during Homecoming 2015, please contact the UW Oshkosh Alumni Relations Office at (920) 424-3449 or send an email to alumni@uwosh.edu.

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