For the Press Times
GREEN BAY – The University of Wisconsin (UW)-Green Bay will recognize a number of outstanding alumni and one honorary alumnus at the 2023 Alumni Awards Dinner on Thursday, April 20, in the Phoenix Rooms in the University Union.
“One of our strongest assets as a university is our alumni,” said UW-Green Bay Chancellor Michael Alexander. “UW-Green Bay graduates make a difference every day in communities across our region, state, nation, and the world. We need their insights and experience to help UW-Green Bay continue to grow and influence the next generation of graduates. We are honored to recognize these alumni for their career achievements and the impact they have made in our community and throughout the world.”
The Alumni Awards highlight UW-Green Bay graduates and other individuals who have made special contributions to UW-Green Bay, their communities and professions.
“The true strength of UW-Green Bay lies in the collective accomplishments of all of our graduates,” said UW-Green Bay Alumni Relations Director Brian Rammer. “These recipients are examples of all those that have been able to use their talents and share their expertise to have an extraordinary impact on their profession and community. We are proud to be able to recognize these individuals for their achievements.”
Distinguished Alumni Awards
Neil Jacobstein
Jacobstein is a 1976 graduate in environmental sciences and is the chair of the Artificial Intelligence and Robotics Track at Singularity University.
He is a founding Singularity Expert, and past President of Singularity.
Jacobstein was a MediaX Distinguished Visiting Scholar at Stanford University from 2007-22, where his work focused on augmented decision systems.
He was CEO of Teknowledge Corp, a pioneering AI company that did successful AI application work but was too early for the mass adoption seen today.
Jacobstein received his B.S. in Environmental Science, Summa Cum Laude in 1976 at the UW-Green Bay Environmental Campus.
He earned his M.S. in Human Ecology, under a U.S. Public Health Service Scholarship, the University of Texas School of Public Health and the NASA Johnson Space Center, Environmental Physiology Simulation Program.
He spent four years doing environmental systems research as a Research Associate at the Center for the Biology of Natural Systems at Washington University and the Research Foundation of the City University of New York. He completed the Stanford University Advanced Management College Executive Program and the Aspen Institute Crown Fellows Program.
Laurie Lindborg Parsons
Lindborg Parsons is a 1980 graduate in environmental sciences/chemistry and is the U.S. Water Resources Division Lead with Ramboll.
Her career began with the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources in water quality planning and policy development prior to attaining her master’s degree.
After receiving her M.S., she launched her consulting career at Warzyn Engineering, Inc where she worked both in water resources and environmental engineering capacities.
After seven years, Lindborg Parsons was offered an opportunity to establish engineering services for then-startup company Natural Resource Technology, Inc.
Thirteen years later, she took on an ownership role with partners and led NRT as president and CEO, doubling the size of the firm, expanding services and adding offices in Illinois and Michigan.
As a recipient of the Milwaukee area “STEM Forward Engineer of the Year” award for 2015, that was endorsed by the American Society of Civil Engineers,
Lindborg Parsons is committed to public service, including her regular participation in events that expose young people to careers in science, technology, engineering and math.
Lindborg Parsons graduated from UW-Green Bay with a B.S. in Environmental Science/Chemistry in 1980 and received her M.S. in Civil and Environmental Engineering from UW-Madison in 1987.
Eric Lund
Lund is a 1989 graduate in psychology/human development and is chief clinical officer at Caravel Autism Health.
Dr. Lund leads their team of expert clinician and is a licensed psychologist who has specialized in the diagnosis and therapy of childhood disorders for nearly three decades and has focused on autism spectrum disabilities for the last 20 years.
Lund is passionate about setting the standard for quality clinical outcomes and building Caravel’s proprietary outcomes platform.
He has a doctorate in clinical psychology and a post-doctoral master’s degree in clinical psychopharmacology.
He is board certified by the Behavior Analyst Certification Board (BCBA-D) and the American Board of Professional Psychology (ABPP). Dr. Lund founded Caravel in 2009 with Chris Van Dyke.
He graduated from UW-Green Bay with a B.S. in Psychology with a minor in Human Development in 1989, a Psy.D. degree in Clinical Psychology from Forest Institute of Professional Psychology in 1993 and M.S. degree in Clinical Psychopharmacology from Fairleigh Dickinson University in 2006.
Rita Owino
Owino is a 1997 graduate in human biology and is a healthcare executive with more than a decade of leadership experience and is currently a healthcare consultant.
In this capacity, she collaborates with a variety of clients, from startups to multinationals, to implement transformation initiatives by leveraging innovation to design new care delivery and business models aimed at improving access, quality of care, and outcomes for health systems and patients in emerging markets.
Owino’s professional career spans 20 plus years and is marked by roles of progressively increasing scope and responsibility with Fortune 100 companies in the United States and Africa.
Her background is in medical and digital technologies at GE Healthcare, “big four” management consulting at KPMG, and managed care at UnitedHealth Group.
At GE Healthcare she worked with the global health community to design and implement innovative primary healthcare delivery models that improved access to care and health outcomes for patients in Africa, Asia, and the Middle East.
Owino is currently pursuing her MBA at Boston University’s Questrom School of Business.
Peres Owino
Owino is a 1999 graduate in social change and development/theater and is an award-winning Kenyan-American storyteller who came onto the scene with her directorial debut, “BOUND: Africans vs African-Americans,” which played in over two dozen festivals around the world winning the Women In Film- Lena Sharpe Award at the Seattle International Film Festival, the Audience Award for Best Documentary at the Pan African Film Festival in Los Angeles, and the Best Film Directed by a Woman of Color Award at the African Diaspora Film Festival in New York.
Her latest film projects include the short films “Stray”, produced by 20th Century Fox Digital as part of Hulu’s Best of Huluween, and “Glimpse.”
Peres’ feature credits include her original screenplay, “The Basket Weaver”; winner of the NYWIFT Writer’s Lab supported by Meryl Streep, “Seasons of Love”, produced by Taraji P. Henson, nominated for an NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Writing of a Television Movie; and “Once Upon A Time in Africa”, currently in pre-production. Her original works for the stage include her one act play,“Cut,” which premiered at The Walt Disney Concert Hall – REDCAT and her one-woman show “Beauty For Ashes”.
The show “African Queens,” which she co-wrote for Netflix, Westbrook and Nutopia premiered on Feb. 15.
She is currently developing various TV projects for Warner Brothers, Berlanti, Hartbeat, TinkerToy Productions and Gaumont.
David Owino
Owino is a 2003 in business administration and is the vice president of business development at Forbes Marketplace.
His role involves generating new business for the company, innovating the monetization funnel and maintaining partnerships across the world.
At Marketplace he has been instrumental in leading the teams that secured brand partnerships for the award-winning performance media brands – Forbes Advisor, Forbes Health, Forbes Home and Forbes Wheels.
This UW-Green Bay Econ alum began his postgraduate journey at Schneider Logistics, managing the Northeast Market for all General Motors deliveries.
He then took the position of Affiliate Manager at a small digital marketing startup in Florida to escape Wisconsin’s brutal winters.
Learning the ins and outs of the digital marketing space, Owino led a team that built the Flexoffers Affiliate Network, which was later sold to Bankrate to power their partnership network. This network currently generates over $50 million annual revenue.
A two-time “Affiliate Manager of the Year” nominee, Dave recruited, on-boarded and launched the affiliate programs for several big brands, including Nerdwallet.com, Thepointsguy.com, USnews.com, CNBCSelect.com and Comparecards.com.
2023 Outstanding Recent Alumni Award
Sarah Beckman
Beckman is a 2008 graduate in social work and started in a new role as executive director with Achieve Brown County (ABC) in January of 2022.
ABC is part of the StriveTogether network and one of over 70 organizations in the United States that focuses on collaboration and community led collective impact to ensure that every child from cradle to career succeeds regardless of race, income or ZIP code.
Beckman has always wanted to be in non-profit administration.
For most of her career, she worked in nonprofit fundraising.
With each nonprofit she worked for, she gained more experience and more responsibility.
In 2017, she decided to go back to school to pursue her MBA as she looked to take the next step towards a career goal of moving into a nonprofit executive director role.
Halfway through her schooling, she achieved this goal when she was selected as the executive director for Habitat for Humanity Lakeside in Sheboygan.
A major achievement since moving into this role has been her efforts in working with the Habitat for Humanity Lakeside’s Board of Directors to create and launch a five-year strategic plan for the organization.
Beckman graduated from UW-Green Bay with a bachelor of social work with emphasis in child welfare in 2008 and received her MBA. from St. Norbert College in 2019.
2023 Honorary Alumni Award
Terry Fulwiler
Fulwiler currently serves on the UW-Green Bay Council of Trustees.
Terry and his wife, Kris, have supported UW-Green Bay by establishing the Terry and Kris Fulwiler Phuture Phoenix Scholarship.
He is currently on the board of directors for the following corporations: Bellin Gunderson Health Systems, the Green Bay Packers, East Shore Industries, Bellin College, Northeast Technical College and On-Site Productions. He is also a strong supporter of the Boys & Girls Club of Green Bay, Bellin Foundation, Unity Hospice, and the Meyer Theater.
Fulwiler is the former CEO and chairman of the board of the WS Packaging Group of Companies.
He was selected “Converter of the Year” for 2000 by the Tag & Label Institute, which is the Trade Organization for the Tag & Label Industry.
He also was selected as the 2010 winner of the Stanton Avery Lifetime Achievement Award, which is presented to the person that has made a lasting mark on the label printing industry.
In 2011, Fulwiler was selected as the Green Bay Free Enterprise Award recipient which is presented by the Rotary Club of Green Bay to the person that has made an outstanding contribution to both business and the community.
Fulwiler is a native of Algoma and graduated from the University of Michigan in 1972 with a degree in Aerospace Engineering.
For more information on the awards event, contact the UW-Green Bay Alumni Office at (920) 465-2074 or [email protected].