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Robert M. La Follette
School of Public Affairs
1225 Observatory Drive
Madison, WI 53706

Telephone:  608.262.3581
Fax: 608.265.3233


Last updated:
August 18, 2011



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Alumni and Friends: La Follette Notes Spring 2009

Scholarship recognizes Dresang’s dedication to Wisconsin, school

Dennis Dresang

Support the Dresang Fund

Donors who give $500 or more will be recognized on a plaque to be presented to Dennis Dresang. Donations will support a scholarship fund for La Follette School students.

Sustaining Donors
contribute $1,000 or more

Supporting Donors
contribute $500 or more

Bundled Contributions

Alumni and friends who are not in a position to contribute $500 or $1,000 on their own are encouraged to contact classmates or members of another Dresang-based policy cohort and ask them to make small contributions that can be bundled together so the cohort can be recognized on the plaque. Contact the school for more information.

Donate online

Information available online; by telephone, (608) 263-7657; or by email, .

Founding Donors

  • Anthony Earl
  • Mark W. Huddleston
  • Mark Hadley
  • La Follette Institute Alumni Association
  • Ronald S. Luskin &
    M. Therese Ruzicka
  • Northwestern Mutual Foundation
  • Eric and Paul Stanchfield
  • Kathy Sykes
  • Eric Tempelis
  • Melinda Tempelis
  • Peter Tempelis
  • Michael Youngman

More than $13,000 has been raised thus far for a scholarship to honor Dennis Dresang and his role in training public affairs practitioners around the world. The La Follette School will use the funds to help support a master’s degree student in domestic or international public affairs.

Dresang retired in December after 39 years of service to the University of Wisconsin–Madison. He played a pivotal role in the creation of what is now the La Follette School of Public Affairs.

“As founding director, Dennis collaborated with Wisconsin lawmakers 25 years ago to lay out a vision for what has grown into a world-renowned school of public affairs,” says director Carolyn Heinrich. “This scholarship is a marvelous way for alumni and friends of the school to recognize his contributions.”

The La Follette School is seeking donations to the Dennis Dresang Scholarship Fund. Donors who contribute $500 or more will have their names included on a plaque the school will give Dresang. In addition to the Founding Donors, the plaque will recognize Sustaining Donors who contribute $1,000 or more and Supporting Donors who give $500-$999.

Dresang recognition plaque can include bundled donations

One way alumni and friends of the school can help raise money for the scholarship is to engage in a little contribution bundling to represent their graduating class or a section of a course that Dresang taught.

“Many of the students who took the course Gangs and Youth Violence in Wisconsin Communities found it to be a transformative experience as they traveled the state talking with teens and community members,” says La Follette School Outreach Director Terry Shelton. He and Bridget Pirsch organized logistics for the course, which Dresang taught from 1992-2003 until funding cuts forced the school to drop it.

“While a single graduate from 2002 might not be in a position to donate $1,000 on her own, she might be willing to give $50 or $100 and then contact classmates (with the school’s help) and ask them to do the same so their cohort would be represented on the plaque we will give to Dennis,” Shelton says.

People who donate or pledge before June 1, 2010, will be included on the plaque. The La Follette School asks that pledges be paid by the end of 2012, the conclusion of its campaign.

Dresang says he is quite gratified by the response thus far, especially given the economic changes since the end of 2008.

Dresang recovering from fall

Dresang also reports he is recovering nicely from surgery for injuries sustained when he fell from a ladder in early December while trying to clear an ice dam from his roof.

Founding director Dennis Dresang to retire, Fall 2008, La Follette Notes

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Contents of La Follette Notes Spring 2009
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