Linda Ahlers (BS Retailing 1972) is the retired president of Marshall Field’s, a division of Target Corporation. After the May Company purchased Target Corporation in 2005, Ahlers retired and has since been living in Honolulu, Hawaii.

Ahlers serves on the School’s Retail Program Assessment Committee, which serves as a bridge between the industry and the academic program. Specifically, it is exploring what students need to know in order to succeed and identifying key elements of the best academic programs.

She was motivated to contribute to the 100 Women Campaign through Dean Robin A. Douthitt’s passion for the School and a building tour. The facility is in need of investment, according to Ahlers.

Ahlers encourages other alums to think about how they might get involved in today’s life of the School, whether that’s by talking to students about their experiences or supporting in a financial way. “Alums [can] pool their resources to make big things happen.”

After earning her bachelor’s degree from Iowa State University in 1939, Katherine Annin accepted an appointment to the Bureau of Home Economics in the U.S. Department of Agriculture. She married in 1942 during World War II, but her husband was missing in action a year later. Following the war, Katherine accepted a position as regional home economist with the U.S. Rural Electrification Administration, with territory covering six states, and earned her master’s degree from The Ohio State University in 1954.

In 1955, Katherine joined the faculty of the University of Wisconsin-Madison College of Agriculture and Home Economics as a professor and UW-Extension home management specialist. “Kate was quite assertive and that helped her get things done,” colleague Jane Graff remembered. When she retired in 1968, following her marriage to Gerald Annin, her involvement in volunteer activities grew. She supported causes she believed in, crocheted gifts for friends and volunteered at organizations such as the Grace Episcopal Church Altar Guild. Graf noted, “She always got into things to help others.”

Paul Berge, University of Wisconsin-Madison alumnus, has chosen to honor his wife, Mary Kunz Berge (B.S. Home Economics ‘61), through the 100 Women Campaign. “This is a way to recognize Mary for her loyalty and dedication to the School of Human Ecology and her efforts on behalf of the Helen Louise Allen Textile Collection,” he said. “She was a student of Helen Louise Allen and retained her notes from those classes. She takes great pride and is very appreciative of her education and always felt that it’s important to give back to the School and the university.”

Mary is also a longtime member of the School’s Board of Visitors, Paul Berge noted. “She feels very strongly as the rest of the board does about the need for the expansion and new facilities,” he added. “The existing facilities are inadequate and it’s time for the School of Human Ecology to have new facilities. The financial support is a way for our family to recognize her and also assist in a small way in the completion of the building project.”

After graduation, Nancy Meng Bruce (BS’54 Early Childhood Development) taught at the preschool level for several years in Milwaukee. Later, she married Robert Bruce and the couple raised five children. Nancy actively volunteers in several affiliations that are related to her love of textiles. Nancy’s particular interest is antique American quilts, and several of the quilts she has given to the Helen Louise Allen Textile Collection (HLATC) were featured in an exhibit held at the Chazen Museum.

Bruce has made donations to support the digitization of the collection’s archival images, establish the Design Gallery in 1990, furnish the School’s first infant care teaching and research facility, and renovate the Dean’s office. Following the announcement of her 1990 Design Gallery gift, Human Ecology alumni around the country contacted her to express their delight. “It got others thinking about giving,” she said. Through her 100 Women gift, Nancy is particularly excited about the impact of new facilities – the gallery, HLATC and the preschool. “I am thankful to help in some way,” she said. “The students in the future will benefit.”

Sylvia Thompson Graf (BS’ 49 Textiles, MS ’74 Continuing and Vocational Education) is “a wonderful person who has put others first throughout her life… and is an all-around superb human being,” said husband Truman Graf. The couple has made a deferred gift in Sylvia’s name that honors her 22-year career at Madison Area Technical College, establishing an endowment to support design program areas. It pays homage not only to her important role of raising three children, but also to her extensive professional and community leadership.

Graf served on the Market Development Council of the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection, in addition to volunteering in leadership positions with nine other associations. Wherever she goes, Graf lives the mission of the School of Human Ecology: reaching out to improve the quality of human life.

Jean N. Manchester completed one of the first 100 Women Campaign gifts — not to ensure her own recognition, though she will receive a lasting honor, but because she believes in the work of Human Ecology. “This is my school. It gave me much when I was in college and I want to support it,” she said. She also aims “to stimulate giving and to publicize that there is this opportunity to give.” Jean encouraged alumni to give to projects they believe in. “Women need to give to reflect their values and to ensure that these values continue.” If they are married, “their husbands must also realize this.”

Jean Alford Myers’ (MS’47 Home Economics) husband, Phil Myers, and the couple’s five children have joined in a gift to honor Jean through the 100 Women Campaign. The couple previously established an endowment enabling Human Ecology graduate students to attend professional conferences.

Now, the 100 Women gift is one that will be long remembered. While raising her children, Jean hosted many holiday parties for her husband’s graduate students, many of them international students unfamiliar with U.S. traditions. These students have become extended family and Jean is still in contact with many of them around the globe. She also dedicated much effort to community needs, training to become an emergency medical technician and volunteering for years with the Shorewood Hills Emergency Medical Service. She organized the office of the Shorewood Hills Police Department, made costumes for the Madison Ballet Company and helped start the First United Methodist Church food pantry. Wherever Jean Alford Myers saw a need, she participated wholeheartedly in a solution.

B. Ann Neviaser (MS Consumer Science 1985) has served on the School’s Board of Visitors since 1996. She is president of Neviaser Investments, Inc., which owns and manages hotels and commercial real estate. She is vice chairman of the Wisconsin Higher Education Aids Board, secretary of the Edgewood College Board of Trustees and a member of the Madison Rotary Foundation.

Neviaser is a former member of the Wisconsin Psychology Examining Board, a former public member and chair of the Wisconsin Medical Examining Board, and a current member of the Board of Trustees of Edgewood College. She served over eight years on the Dane County Board and was the first woman to chair its Finance Committee.

Speaking about her 100 Women Campaign gift, Neviaser noted that the new Human Ecology building should include space for research in areas that may not even have been discovered yet, as well as for ongoing programs.

A UW-Madison Bascom Hill Society member, Neviaser previously provided philanthropic leadership for the Dean’s Office renovation and supported publication of the book, The Challenge of Constantly Changing Times: From Home Economics to Human Ecology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, 1903 – 2003, by Consumer Science Professor Rima Apple.

The estate gift of Hazel Paschall (1907-2002) is a fitting legacy for this dedicated Human Ecology educator. In her twenty years as a Clothing and Textiles professor at UW, Hazel Paschall succeeded in bringing together academic learning and practical training in apparel design.

She received her BS in Sociology at Southwest Missouri State, followed by a Masters at Columbia in 1940. Paschall was appointed to UW in 1952, where she taught courses such as "Clothing Economics," "Textiles in Merchandising" and "Advanced Apparel Dress Design." After researching the job market for designers in Milwaukee and Dallas, she organized a program for apparel design students to spend their junior year at the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York. Paschall also worked with the School of Business to develop the retailing major and co-authored two circulars on textile legislation with Lenore Landry. In 1968 she was recognized for her dedication to students with a nomination for "Outstanding Teacher Award" in the College of Agricultural and Life Sciences.

Judy Pyle has served on the School of Human Ecology Board of Visitors since 1996. She suggested the idea of the 100 Women Campaign to Dean Robin A. Douthitt as a way to encourage the involvement of many women in philanthropy and in the support of the School’s building campaign. After all, she notes, “that’s what the School is about.” Women have always created and cared for it. “This is a gem of a school.”

The president of Judith Dion Pyle & Associates, a financial services and investment company in Middleton, Wis., Pyle serves on several other boards including Alliant Energy Corporation, Uniek, Inc., Children's Theatre of Madison and Trails Media Group, Inc. Prior to assuming her current position in 2003, she served as vice chair of The Pyle Group, a financial services company. She previously served as vice chair and senior vice president of corporate marketing of Rayovac Corporation, in Madison, Wis.

Pyle received her undergraduate and master of fine arts degrees from the University of California-Los Angeles and completed advanced management programs at the University of Virginia and Harvard University.

Human Ecology Board of Visitors member and 100 Women Campaign donors Elizabeth Holloway Schar, BS Family and Consumer Journalism, ’75, has traveled a long way from her roots in the School. Those roots are deep. Both parents graduated from UW-Madison, and Schar’s mom (Jane Davies Holloway BS ‘45) and aunt (Elizabeth Carol Davies BS ‘38) earned degrees from the School.

Her mom was “a thoughtful cook, who prepared nutritious meals, with fruits, vegetables and meats frugally and carefully prepared. I think she must have been the star student in bacteriology,” Schar recalled. “I didn’t realize how different this was until I spent time in the kitchens of other women who were not home economics majors. I was stunned, one evening, to watch a hostess stir the sauce, lick the spoon and return it to the sauce! I almost shouted out, ‘Don’t do that!’ Instead I asked her, ‘What did you study in college?’ “’English,’ the woman replied. “That explains that,” Schar said to herself.

Asked about her college memories, Schar recalled: “There [was] so much to do, so much to absorb…it was just an amazing experience.”

Now a partner with husband Mark Schar in Three Points Solutions, a Palo Alto, Calif., firm, Schar feels the same way about her current environment: “There’s so much to learn and participate in.”

“Three Points Solutions is about developing ideas, products and messages that appeal to consumers,” she explained. This requires a broad look at the environment, focused study of the user’s point of view and rigorous evaluation of results. Schar has worked with such clients as the World Health Organization, U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, hospitals and public health agencies.

“There’s a big opportunity now in learning how to talk to consumers about their health in ways that encourage them to change their behavior,” she said. “Sometimes we are willing to change our behavior for people we love more than for ourselves.” If parents smoke and are concerned about the effect of secondhand smoke on their children, they may start going outside to smoke. “If a behavior becomes more inconvenient or expensive, people are more likely to quit, so clean air laws can be a step toward encouraging smokers to quit.”

Another challenging health issue is the rising incidence of obesity in children. “It’s a tragedy that we’re in this environment where we’re overfeeding ourselves, and we as a society have to figure how to address this,” Schar said. “Giving children nutrition information and physical activity at school is not enough,” she explained. “Significant adults modeling behavior is incredibly powerful. Children do what the adults around them do — not what they’re told to do.”

In addition to Mark, who is senior vice president and chief marketing officer of Intuit, Inc., Elizabeth’s family includes two sons: Tom, a UW-Madison alumnus, and John, a student at the Savannah College of Art and Design.

Julie Bender Silver, BS ’77 Early Child Education, has created a career of leadership. An activist, fundraiser, and philanthropist, Silver has headed since 1995 the Bender Foundation, Inc., which annually contributes to over 70 nonprofit groups, primarily in the Washington, DC metro area.

“Community service and leadership have defined me and filled my life with purpose and meaning,” Silver said. “I embrace and passionately pursue projects and programs that touch my core — causes relating to children, families and women; health; education; the environment; Jewish issues and animals.”

Recently added to this list is the School of Human Ecology. Appointed to the School’s Board of Visitors in 2005, she has also been recognized as a 100 Women honoree. When Dean Robin A. Douthitt shared her vision for an expanded Human Ecology building, Silver thought: “This is the most fabulous idea! I want to be part of it!” Acting on a request from husband David Silver, the Bender Foundation pledged $100,000 to honor Silver through the 100 Women Campaign.

Silver grew up in a caring and giving family environment. “I was taught to use our Jewish values to improve the quality of life for everyone,” she said. “My grandparents began my family’s legacy of tzedakah [giving back] by setting up a family foundation to enable future generations to continue the values they cherished.”

As a member of the Jewish Community Center Board, Silver led the creation of a parenting center, where parents of all ages, faiths and backgrounds could find support and seek advice from child development experts. Decades ago, extended families lived together or nearby and neighborhood parents learned from each other. Today, with extended families often living in other countries or states, families find information and support at places like the Bender-Dosik Parenting Center.

She helped expand and renovate Discovery Creek, a children’s museum, helping lead a capital campaign and becoming involved with site renovations and area revitalization. She continues to serve on the museum’s honorary board.

Julie Bender Silver has supported many other groups — to name just a few: the Women’s Auxiliary of the Hebrew Home of Washington, Second Genesis (a drug/alcohol drug rehabilitation group), and Hebrew University Vet School. Her skills as a fundraiser have benefited numerous institutions, such as the Suburban Hospital in Bethesda, the Jewish Social Service Agency, the National Children’s Hospital, and the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum.

Her many honors include the Jewish Women International’s 2004 Community Leadership Award and a 2005 Athena nomination by the Women Business Owners of Montgomery County, Maryland.

“My mom died last year and we were trying to think of something to do that would be significant to remember her by,” said Nancy Borghesi, University of Wisconsin-Madison alumna. “This seemed to be the right thing to do and the perfect time to do it.” Borghesi’s mother, Helen Taylor, received a B.S. from the School in 1942. “The idea of singling out 100 women was very appealing,” Borghesi added. “This effort is a really interesting way to focus on a number of individuals. It’s significant, and it’s a visual recognition and reminder of their legacy.”

“I wanted to support the building. I’ve been a loyal supporter of the School since 1939 when I graduated,” said Kay Vaughan, who has given a deferred gift of stock to the School. “We decided that whatever we could do, we should do early on, to give other people the idea that they could do this too, she said.” Vaughan is one of several alums who are giving because they see the need for new facilities and hope their gift is a catalyst for others. Previously, Vaughan endowed the Vaughan Bascom Professorship in Women and Philanthropy, and her philanthropic vision has been an inspiration and encouragement to many.

Louise Young (1910-2005) was honored through her estate gift, supplemented by a gift from Dorothy “Dottie” Luening (MS ’64 Home Economics Cooperative Extension). “She was talented and well respected,” Luening said of Young. After the Second World War, when consumer issues first started receiving national attention, Louise Young was ready to step in and to help out. For over thirty years, as an extension specialist in family and consumer economics, she taught Wisconsin residents to manage their finances and to understand consumer issues. Young developed an early interest in finances from her father, who was an independent oil producer and who sometimes discussed economics with her. Her mother was a teacher, and it became a natural career choice for Young.

After graduating from the University of Illinois with a degree in Home Economics Education in 1932, Young taught for several years in Lawrenceville, Illinois. She then worked as the first home economics extension agent in Christian County, Illinois for four years. After being encouraged by her state leader to pursue a Masters degree, Young accepted an offer from the University of Missouri. While there she took courses in consumer economics and wrote a thesis on the use of consumer credit by farm families. After earning her MA in Family and Consumer Economics in 1941, she stayed on at Missouri as an instructor and supervisor of the home management house.

Young was appointed to the UW in 1945, and for the following three decades she traveled extensively throughout the state teaching people about a wide variety of financial issues. Initially her teaching focused on basic financial and estate planning, but later she expanded into areas such as consumer credit, record-keeping, and life insurance. She published a number of bulletins including "Family Estate Planning," "Our Family Records," "Savings and Investments," "Wise Use of Consumer Credit," and "Problems Facing Consumers."

Young also shared her expertise in financial matters with the people of Wisconsin through her extensive involvement in numerous organizations. In addition to serving in various capacities for the Wisconsin Home Economics Association, the American Home Economics Association, and the American Council on Consumer Interests, she was a charter member of the Wisconsin Consumer League, she was on the board of directors of the University of Wisconsin Credit Union, and she was the first woman member of the board of directors of the Madison Gas and Electric Company. Her service to the university includes her tenure as Acting Associate Dean of the School of Home Economics in 1968-69.