Twelve successful University of Wisconsin Oshkosh graduates will earn honors from their alma mater during Homecoming 2018.

The UW Oshkosh Alumni Association will present nine top graduates with the Distinguished Alumni Award for their extraordinary and widely recognized accomplishments in their professional fields; and three with the Outstanding Young Alumni Award for their professional and civic accomplishments within 15 years of receiving their degrees as well as their future promise.

The 2018 award recipients who come from as far away as Tanzania are making an impact on their communities locally, regionally and globally.

Distinguished Alumni Award recipients

Kathleen Abrahamson, of West Lafayette, Indiana, a 1990 sociology major, serves as an associate professor with tenure in the School of Nursing at Purdue University.

Tom Davis, of Sturgeon Bay, a 1972 English and history major, serves as an assistant to the president at the Navajo Technical University.

Jerilyn Jank, of Larkspur, California, a 1967 physical education major, is a retired physical education instructor and successful gymnastics coach.

Cecelia Jensen, of Phoenix, Arizona, a 1985 accounting major, cofounded MedEfficiency Inc., a medical product company focused on wound care products.

Kenneth Mauritz, of Hattiesburg, Mississippi, a 1967 mathematics and physics major, has professor emeritus status with the School of Polymers and High Performance Materials at the University of Southern Mississippi.

Jim Miazga, of Rhinelander, a 1974 physical education major, is the former owner and retired president of Oneida Sales and Service, an Anheuser Busch distributorship serving northern Wisconsin, and has a long history
of community service.

Brian Rettmann, of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, a 1997 international studies and religious studies major, works as a coordinator with the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief at the U.S. State Department to control the HIV epidemic in Tanzania.

Eugene Trochinski, of Winter Park, Florida, a 1974 physical education major, retired in 2014 following
a 40-year career in education, including 25 years as an administrator.

Christopher Turoski, of Saint Paul, Minnesota, a 1994 chemistry major, works as a professor and patent programs director at the University of Minnesota Law School.

Outstanding Young Alumni Award recipients

Paige Bonanno, of Los Angeles, California, a 2015 communication studies major with minors in journalism and radio TV film, is an associate producer at Disney/ABC Television.

Mariah Haberman, of Verona, a 2010 journalism major, serves as a TV host and producer and brand development director for Discover Mediaworks. Katrina Schiedemeyer, of Oshkosh, a 2017 supply chain management major, works in global quality and continuous improvement at Oshkosh Corporation. She is one of the youngest alumni to ever be honored by the Alumni Association.

Look for more in-depth stories on the 2018 award recipients at uwosh.edu/today. The 2018 Alumni Awards Celebration will be held Friday, Oct. 19, at the Alumni Welcome and Conference Center, with a reception at 5 p.m. followed by the dinner and program beginning at 6 p.m. The cost of the event is $30 per person.

For more information, contact UWO’s Alumni Relations Office at (920) 424-3449 or send an email to alumni@uwosh.edu.