CONTACT: Thomas Keefe, (920) 424-0255
OSHKOSH – Longtime Kimberly-Clark Corp. executive Linda Bartelt has been named director of the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh Center for Community Partnerships (CCP).
The appointment, effective Aug. 29, is a significant development for the nonprofit organization serving the university and region. Bartelt also will teach in the university’s College of Business Administration (COBA).
“This is a new opportunity for the center to further engage the university and the community in a joint effort to serve our region,” said Foundation President Thomas Keefe. “Linda has been a leader in marketing, management and strategic partner relations at K-C. She brings us an opportunity for exciting new efforts to put the resources of UW-Oshkosh to work for our community.”
Bartelt, who earned a master’s degree in business at UW-Oshkosh in 1994, was with K-C for 21 years, most recently as vice president of the corporate new venture team. From 1995 to 2002, she was president of the company’s wet wipes sector. She was marketing director from 1984 to 1995.
“I’m thrilled to be joining UW-Oshkosh,” Bartelt said. “I look forward to continuing my relationship with K-C as part of the Center for Community Partnerships. K-C always has been a leader in the Fox Valley, providing great resources and talent to the community. I have had many opportunities at Kimberly-Clark, and I can hardly wait to share my experiences with UW-Oshkosh students. ”
The CCP, created in 1998 through the leadership of UW-Oshkosh College of Business Administration Dean E. Alan Hartman, is a one-stop access point for university and community expertise “part of the Wisconsin idea of a university without walls.”
It was the first of its kind in the nation.
Bartelt will succeed Susan Neitzel, who has been named to lead a UW-Oshkosh Foundation capital campaign to support a new, $46 million academic building and other projects to “ensure the continued academic excellence” of the university.
Neitzel’s appointment, Keefe said, reflected the commitment UW-Oshkosh has made “to a public-private vision for the future of this great campus.” Bartelt’s appointment also reflects that commitment, he said.
“Her talents and experience will support efforts to bring the outstanding expertise of our faculty to assist business and all other segments of our region,” he said. “Linda’s decision to join us also promises to be a significant opportunity for members of our faculty to work on projects in this community.”
The CCP began with the help of a $50,000 grant from Aid Association for Lutherans (now Thrivent Financial for Lutherans) to help also provide service to nonprofit and other community groups.
