Two well-known Wisconsin personalities have been named distinguished alumni at UWSP and a member of the UWSP Alumni Association Board of Directors has been named the recipient of the Alumni Service Award.

Dick Bennett, former UW-Madison basketball coach, and Fritz Wenzel, retired executive director of the Marshfield Medical Research Foundation, were honored with the Distinguished Alumnus Award. Doris See, Wausau, received the Alumni Service Award. The awards were given at a luncheon recently. Wenzel is currently out of the country and will receive his award at a future date.

In addition, Holly Vander Heiden, Kaukauna, received the Kathrin "Kitty" Saunders Sebold Scholarship, the university�s first full-tuition scholarship at the luncheon.

The Sebold scholarship is intended to reward an outstanding UWSP student who demonstrates high potential for becoming a leader in a chosen field or profession. D. David "Dewey" Sebold, Medford, former president and CEO of Tombstone Pizza, established the award in memory of his wife, Kitty, a social worker and former resident of Wisconsin Rapids. Both Kitty and Dewey graduated from UWSP in 1968.

The Distinguished Alumnus Award was created in 1969 as part of UWSP�s 75th Anniversary Diamond Jubilee Celebration, when awards for distinguished achievement and university service were presented to seven outstanding Pointer alumni, including former university president William C. Hansen and renowned faculty members Elizabeth Pfiffner Debot, Norman Knutzen and May Roach. Only 80 of more than 60,000 alumni have been granted the "distinguished" designation.

In 1997, the Alumni Relations Office created an award to recognize volunteers and UWSP staff who work consistently for the alumni association. The recognition is a way to thank volunteers in a meaningful and public way.

See received a bachelor�s degree in 1948. She has been a member of the alumni association board since 1995 and is a stalwart supporter of its programs.

Bennett received a master�s degree at UWSP in 1979. He retired in November after 24 years of coaching in the UW System, the last six as head coach of the UW-Madison Badgers. He capped his career by reaching the 2000 Final Four, leading the Big Ten in scoring defense each of the last four seasons.

Bennett�s last two Badger squads have each won a school record 22 games. No Wisconsin club had ever won more than 20 games before Bennett�s tenure. A coach for 35 years, he also taught English and coached high school basketball at five different high schools including West Bend and Eau Claire compiling an impressive 168-60 record.

He coached UWSP men�s basketball from 1979 to1985, then went to UW-Green Bay. Under his leadership, the Pointers compiled a 174-79 record and became one of the strongest National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics programs in the nation.

Wenzel, a native of Marshfield and 1956 graduate of UWSP, was executive director of the Marshfield Medical Research Foundation and was associated with Marshfield Clinic for more than 40 years. During his tenure, he and now retired clinic physician Dean Emanuel did extensive research in farmer�s lung disease and maple bark disease that brought international attention to the clinic.

"Fritz led the clinic in directions that no one had thought of before," Emanuel said. "He took the whole organization a huge leap forward, not only from the standpoint of research, but in organizing and shaping the greater organization."

Wenzel oversaw development of the regional locations that now comprise half of the clinic�s system. He established the clinic�s health maintenance organization and helped plan the Melvin R. Laird research facility. After retiring from the foundation, Wenzel began a second career as executive vice president and chief executive officer for the Medical Group Management Association (MGMA), the MGMA Center for Research and the American College of Medical Practice Executives. He has settled into a third career as a professor at the University of Saint Thomas in Minneapolis.

His service to Marshfield Clinic continues as adviser to the president and as a member of the clinic�s National Advisory Council. Wenzel has published papers in numerous professional journals on a broad range of topics including heart disease, snowmobile accidents and prepaid health insurance. He has made hundreds of presentations to professional organizations and universities on topics including management training, distance education and physician leadership. He has served as a consultant to medical organizations and clinics across the country.

An avid mountain climber, Wenzel has scaled 14 mountains over 14,000 feet on three continents, including the 19,000 foot Mt. Kilimanjaro. He was on a climb to Mt. Everest base camp in April and will tackle Mt. Elbrus, Europe�s highest mountain, in August to bring his total to five continents.

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