A substantial gift from a couple with careers as executives in professional sports and arena management will help support University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point Athletics through five graduate assistantships.
Dan Hauser, a 1977 alumnus in business education, and his wife, Marilyn, will fund five graduate assistant positions in Pointers Athletics for two years each. The positions are for post-graduate students enrolled in UW-Stevens Point's master of business administration program, beginning in 2021. Chancellor Bernie Patterson, Athletic Director Brad Duckworth and School of Business and Economics Professor and Chair Kevin Neuman first discussed the idea with Dan and Marilyn and helped create this ideal partnership.
"Coming to Stevens Point was a special time in my life," said Dan Hauser, who played football and baseball while attending UW-Stevens Point. "I met a lot of great people and have a lot of good memories of Point. Supporting the university mattered to Marilyn and myself and staying connected made it all possible. We are both happy to be making a difference."
"Dan and Marilyn's vision couldn't be more of a win-win situation," said Duckworth. "As assistant coaches, the graduate assistants will have a tremendous opportunity to learn from their experiences within Athletics and in the MBA program while providing our student-athletes with much needed high-level coaching. This program will significantly change the lives of many Pointers."
The gift further solidifies the relationship between the School of Business and Economics and Athletics, said Neuman.
"By giving students an opportunity to apply what they are learning in the MBA to projects in Athletics, this partnership will not just develop new leaders, it will strengthen our two programs as well," he said. "We love having student-athletes in our classes and look forward to helping them develop professionally for years to come."
A native of Janesville, Hauser spent 34 years with the Detroit Pistons/Palace Sports and Entertainment. While executive vice president, Hauser was responsible for the Partnership division of the Detroit Pistons as well as the company's three Michigan venues, The Palace of Auburn Hills (former home of the Pistons), DTE Energy Music Theatre and The Meadow Brook Music Festival. He also spent four years with the Philadelphia 76ers as senior vice president of corporate partnerships. The couple currently lives in Philadelphia.
Marilyn Hauser spent 25 years at the Palace of Auburn Hills. As Executive Vice President she led programming and marketing for the Palace, DTE Energy Music Theatre, Meadow Brook Amphitheatre and the Detroit Pistons. She also oversaw booking for the Prudential Center (Newark, N.J.) as well as its event marketing, promotion and publicity, and most recently was senior vice president of talent programming for Live Nation. She currently is the senior vice president of programming for Brooklyn's Barclays Center.
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