School of Education Board of Visitors

The School of Education Board of Visitors serves as an external advisory body to the Dean. Members of the Board have attained prominence in their field and are chosen because of their value in providing sound advice and counsel. Board membership includes graduates, emeritus faculty and staff, and friends of the School of Education.

The current members of the SOE Board are:

John Burl Artis

John Burl Artis received his bachelor’s degree in history from Eastern Illinois University, a master’s in history from DePaul University in Chicago and a PhD in Educational Administration, Curriculum & Instruction from UW-Madison. Dr. Artis has worked in several areas of education for 43 years. His professional experience includes time as a high school teacher, a high school principal, a central office administrator and a superintendent of schools. He also served as an adjunct professor at UW-Madison, Ohio State University, University of Michigan-Dearborn, Eastern Michigan University and several community colleges. Dr. Artis and his wife Julie currently operate an education and organizational consulting firm, Artis Communications.

Alan Daniel

Alan Daniel grew up in the Bronx, New York, and was educated at Amherst College and Harvard Medical School.  He completed a residency in internal medicine at Philadelphia General Hospital, served for two years as an officer in the U.S. Army Medical Corps, completed a cardiology fellowship at Strong Memorial Hospital in Rochester, NY, and then accepted an NIH research fellowship accompanied by a junior faculty position at the University of Rochester Medical School.  In 1977, he and his wife, Hedy, moved to Wisconsin, where he practiced internal medicine and cardiology until he retired in 2003.  He is especially proud of having created the first Cardiac Rehabilitation Program in the state of Wisconsin.  During most of his career, he taught cardiology to medical students and residents at what was then Mt. Sinai Hospital.  While his children were in school, he was active on advisory committees to the principal at both Bayside Middle School and Nicolet High School. 

His wife, Hedy, studied education at the UW and received a master’s degree in special education from the University of Michigan.  She taught in her field until she redirected her energies to raising their three children, two of whom graduated from UW−Madison and one of whom is now a UW−Madison undergraduate.  Once the children were grown, Hedy returned to teaching on a part-time basis.  She is also active in organizations that provide support to women with breast cancer.

Jessica Doyle received a BS in Education from UW-Madison in 1967 and a Masters in Educational Administration in 1976.  As first lady, she spent the past eight years visiting Wisconsin schools and classes at all levels, preschool though college. She was struck by the extraordinary work of our educators and the educational excellence throughout.  As an educator for over 35 years, she became even prouder of her profession and its mission to provide pathways to success to all students. Such experiences reaffirmed her lifelong commitment to literacy, equity, and teacher quality. She and her husband Jim live in Madison.

Karen Falk

Karen Falk completed her bachelor's degree in education at UW−Madison with an emphasis in special education. After graduation, she taught for several years at the middle school and high school levels as well as teaching independent living skills to young adults with special needs. Following that, she transitioned her skills to the business environment where she designed and implemented computer and network training programs. While raising her son Michael (currently a student at Marquette University), she continued to satisfy her passion to teach as a volunteer with underprivileged children in her community and church. She currently teaches a women's Bible Study. Karen and her husband, Tom, live in Dallas, Texas.

Robert A. Frahm

Robert A. Frahm is a freelance journalist who has written about education for more than 40 years. He is a regular contributor to the Connecticut Mirror, an online news service where he worked fulltime from 2009 to 2010. Before joining the Mirror, he covered the education beat for newspapers in Wisconsin and Connecticut for 36 years. Frahm was the Hartford Courant’s chief education writer for 23 years, writing about a range of topics such as testing, teacher quality and school reform. He wrote extensively about school desegregation, including Connecticut’s long-running Sheff vs. O’Neill lawsuit. A former high school English teacher, he worked as a reporter for the Racine, Wis., Journal-Times before coming to the Courant in 1984. He was a board member of the national Education Writers Association for 11 years and was EWA’s president from 1995 to 1997. His numerous writing awards include the nation’s top prize for education reporting from EWA in 1983 and 1996 and the 1996 Master Reporter Award from the New England Society of Newspaper Editors. In 1994-95, he was a fellow in the Michigan Journalism Fellows program at the University of Michigan.  Frahm, a 1968 graduate of the University of Wisconsin, lives in Connecticut with his wife, Gail.

Cynthia Romaker Fullmer

Cynthia Romaker Fullmer completed a bachelor's degree in Secondary Education and French while she was at UW-Madison.  After teaching French for several years in the Madison area, she lived in Venezuela for seven years, where she embarked upon a 25-year career in marketing, focused primarily on the publishing industry.  During that time, she was a principal in the direct marketing consulting firm Phoenix Marketing Group in Wilton, CT. 

Cynthia moved from the East coast to southern California in 2001 and received her M.A. in Clinical Mental Health Counseling in 2010 from the University of San Diego.  She has provided counseling service to The Elizabeth Hospice and the San Diego Cancer Center.  She is an active member of the Solana Beach Presbyterian Church and has been deeply involved in supporting her son's various schools for the past fifteen years.  Her interests include reading, fitness, and travel; she is fluent in French, Spanish, and Italian.  She resides in Rancho Santa Fe, Calif. with her husband John, and their son.

Marlene Hartzman

Marlene Hartzman is a program analyst for the MetLife Foundation-National Association of Secondary School Principals’ Breakthrough Schools Project that identifies, validates and publicizes high performing high poverty secondary schools.  In addition, she is an education management consultant with school districts in the metropolitan Washington, D.C. area.  Previously she was a secondary school principal and the Director of Educational Accountability for the Montgomery County (Maryland) Public Schools.  Her expertise includes high school reform, testing and assessment, and research and program evaluation. She is a recipient of the National Association of Secondary School Principals’ Distinguished Service Award.

Dr. Hartzman has a B.S. in English and Oral Communication (1970) from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and an Ed.D. from Virginia Tech (1986).  Over the years, she has actively participated in Wisconsin Alumni Association activities and is currently a member of the University of Wisconsin Foundation’s Women’s Philanthropy Council and the Bascom Hill Society.  For the last 15 years she has volunteered as a transplant courier for the National Marrow Donor Program.  She is most proud that her husband and son hold multiple degrees from the UW-Madison and are big Bucky supporters.

Noel Hefty

Noel Hefty received her dance education degree from UW−Madison and her accounting degree from Stephens College.  This combination has enabled her to work in the creative and administrative sides of many organizations. While living in Steamboat Springs, Colorado, she was a founding member of the Steamboat Dance Theatre.  For 10 years she served as the producer/artistic director as well as choreographed for the annual concerts.  She has served as staff member and/or board member for numerous organizations.  Ms. Hefty’s background in accounting has been instrumental in the development of comprehensive financial management systems for non-profit arts organizations in Colorado.  Additionally, she has served on the panel for the Colorado Council on the Arts - Grants to Artists & Organizations, Westaff Grants panel and as the representative for northwest Colorado Arts Councils to the Colorado Council of the Arts. She also served on the advisory board of the Departments of Theatre and Dance at the University of Colorado-Boulder and was a past president of the UW−Madison School of Education Board of Visitors.

Ms. Hefty is currently serving on the Board of Stories on Stage (a theatrical organization) and is working for Perry Mansfield’s summer intensive in theatre and dance in PR and recruitment.  She was extremely honored to receive the Alumni Achievement Award from the UW School of Education in the spring of 2008.

David Marsh

David D. Marsh is the Associate Dean for Academic Programs in the Rossier School of Education at the University of Southern California.  As associate dean, he is responsible for strategic planning, program operation, student services, recruiting and admission, and quality enhancement for all the academic programs in the school.   He also has been professor and the Robert A. Naslund Chair of Curriculum and Instruction in the school.  His books and articles have focused on high school reform, instructional leadership, and curriculum improvement.  He recently served on the U.S. Department of Education task force on high school reform, was co-chair of the statewide task force on the high school graduation exam, and was co-author of the California high school task force report known as Second To None.  He served for three months in India as senior advisor to the Central Ministry of Education on improving secondary schools, and he has visited schools and studied school leadership in 13 countries.  He also was co-director of the International Principal's Institute that was held each summer at USC.

Dr. Marsh grew up in Madison, where his father was a high school principal.  He has three degrees from UW−Madison: an undergraduate degree, an M.A.T. in history-education that led to high school teaching, and a Ph.D. in Curriculum and Instruction.  He received the Outstanding Alumni Award from the School of Education at UW−Madison.  Dr. Marsh resides in Studio City, California.

Tashia Morgridge

Tashia Frankfurth Morgridge earned her bachelor's degree from the School of Education in 1955 and a master's degree in 1975 from Leslie University in Massachusetts.  Now retired as a special-education teacher, she lives in Portola Valley, California. 

Ms. Morgridge is a supporter of Reading Recovery, a literacy program for at-risk first-grade students.  In addition, she is active in encouraging civic engagement among students at Stanford University and at the University of Wisconsin and is a member of the Board of Directors of Campus Compact. Ms. Morgridge's husband, John, is a 1955 graduate of the University's School of Business and earned his MBA from Stanford University in 1957.  He is a member of the boards of directors of WARF, the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation, CARE and the Nature Conservancy, and is a Trustee of Stanford University.

Kathryn M. Richardson

Kathryn Richardson whose family represents four generations of UW graduates, completed a Masters and Ph. D. in Educational Administration while at the University of Wisconsin – Madison.  Kathryn spent most of her career in Wisconsin as an educator.  She began as a teacher and continues in the profession as a Curriculum Director for CESA 5.   Several years ago Kathryn was pleased to join the UW- Madison School of Education steering committee for Education Outreach and Partnership. 

During the quiet recesses of life Kathryn reads, skies and walks.  She finds herself on weekends enjoying all Madison has to offer from the symphony to the farmers market.  As Kathryn’s family gathers around to care for their 96-year-old mother ,the generations have found camaraderie by attending Badger sporting events.  Once again UW-Madison provides the family with a common bond.

Cynthia Schaus

Cindy Schaus has been a teacher in special education for twenty-five years.  She received a bachelor’s degree from UW-Madison in Behavioral Disabilities in 1977 and a master’s degree from UWM in Exceptional Education in 1981.  She has taught students with Emotional-Behavioral Disorders, Specific Learning Disabilities, and Cognitive Disabilities. She currently job shares in an elementary school in Franklin Public Schools, teaching students with Cognitive Disabilities.  She has a special interest in augmentative communication and use of technology to support student learning.

Cindy’s family includes four generations of UW grads, including her daughter Kate, A UW Alumni, who is teaching in a Cross Categorical Elementary Program.  Cindy is a board member of ARC of Greater Milwaukee and proudly supports this organization, following in the footsteps of her parents who were founding members. She also volunteers with her church.  Her family enjoys cheering for the Badgers during football and hockey games.  She lives with her husband Roger in Greenfield, Wisconsin; her three young adult children live nearby.

Ron Schwarz

Ron Schwarz graduated from the School of Education in 1977. He taught high school math in Managua, Nicaragua and Cali, Colombia for three years before going on to pursue his MBA from the University of Texas, Austin (1982). Since then, Ron has founded three companies: Nuts & Bolt Software Company (1984), a software development & consulting firm; Chemical Information Services (1994), which provides information to chemical and pharmaceutical industries via subscription; and in 2008, Mordy Haynee Ventures, LLC, a private equity firm specializing in the acquisition and start up of information services companies. In his free time, Ron enjoys playing tennis and golf. He currently lives in Dallas, Texas with his wife Robin. They have two children, Aaron and Rachel (BS ’10, in communication arts).

Carolyn Stanford Taylor

Carolyn Stanford Taylor completed two degrees at the University of Wisconsin−Madison: a bachelor’s degree in elementary education in 1978 and a master’s degree in educational administration in 1979.  In 1997, she received the School of Education’s Lois Gadd Nemec Distinguished Alumni Award.  Her daughter, Carlettra Stanford, a second-year principal at Gompers Elementary School in Madison, was the 2008 recipient of the same award.

Ms. Stanford Taylor is currently the assistant state superintendent for the Division for Learning Support: Equity and Advocacy at the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction (WDPI).  Her areas of responsibility at WDPI include special education, student services, and two state schools, the Wisconsin School for the Deaf in Delavan and the Wisconsin Center for the Blind and Visually Impaired in Janesville.  She previously served as the principal of Lincoln and Marquette Elementary Schools in Madison.  She also taught more than 10 years in the Madison Metropolitan School District, and is involved in numerous community organizations, including the Dane County Human Services Board, FST (Families and Schools Together) local and national boards, and is a commissioner on the Governor’s Juvenile Justice Commission.  Ms. Stanford Taylor and her husband, Larry, reside in Madison.

James T. Thompson

Jim Thompson is a Wisconsin native with a Bachelor's degree from UW-Madison in Agricultural Economics. He also attended Executive Business program at the University of Michigan. Jim worked at privately held Cargill, Inc. for more than 30 years leading, to position of President - Steel Group. Following his retirement, he served as Executive Vice President of The Mosaic Company, a publicly traded spin out of Cargill's fertilizer business. Jim has served on numerous industry and non-profit boards and currently serves on 2 publicly traded boards, one based in Minnesota and the other in Sydney, Australia. His hobbies include orchestral music, art, most spectator sports and a growing interest in wine. Jim resides in Minnetonka, Minnesota with his wife Georgia.

Marie Weber

Marie Weber received a bachelor’s degree from Iowa State Teachers College (currently University of Northern Iowa), and a master’s degree and Ph.D. from UW-Madison in physical education. After the completion of her undergraduate degree, Dr. Weber taught for several years in the public schools of Iowa and Massachusetts before joining the Physical Education and Dance faculty at UW in 1963. Her primary areas of teaching and research were in curriculum and supervision with a special focus on the supervision of student teachers. In 1980, she assumed the position of Director of the Office of Field Experience for Educational Personnel, a position she held until her retirement in 1990.

Gregory A. Wescott

Gregory Wescott is currently completing his 37th year in public education in Wisconsin and his 13th year as superintendent of schools for the Elkhorn Area School District.  He received a bachelor’s degree in education from the University of Wisconsin−Stevens Point in 1973, a master’s in educational administration from the University of Wisconsin−Madison in 1980 and an education specialist certificate in administrative leadership from the University of Wisconsin−Milwaukee in 1993.  He was named Wisconsin High School Principal of the Year for 1991-92.

Mr. Wescott serves on the boards of the Walworth County United Way, the Matheson Memorial Public Library, and the Elkhorn Community Fund.  His hobbies include reading, walking and checking on the Badgers.  He resides in Elkhorn, Wisconsin with his wife, Mary.