monie, Wis. – The University of Wisconsin-Stout Foundation & Alumni Association has announced the recipients of its 2025 Alumni Awards. They will be recognized during homecoming weekend at the Alumni Association’s celebration on Friday, Oct. 24, in the Memorial Student Center ballrooms. The evening will begin with a social hour at 5 p.m., followed by the awards program at 6 p.m. and additional social time, concluding at 8 p.m.
Tickets are available for purchase.
The recipients shared their professional accomplishments as leaders in their industries and their significant impact on the lives of UW-Stout students, alumni, the university and their communities:
- Distinguished Alumni Award: Gene Hallongren, a retired counselor, teacher and administrator at College of DuPage and DeVry University
- Trailblazer Alumni Award: Leslie Barlow, a visual artist, educator and cultural worker
- Luminary Alumni Award: Greg Else, director of Monitoring and Controls, Individual and Family Markets, with Health Care Service Corporation
- Chancellor’s Award: Dean Weidner, founder and chairman of Weidner Apartment Homes, headquartered in Kirkland, Washington
- University Partner Award: Great Northern Corporation, headquartered in Appleton Distinguished Alumni Award: Gene Hallongren (’65), (’66)
Hallongren believes that UW-Stout had a great impact on his life and career. It was at UW-Stout that he found the love of his life, Dianne Lindberg (’66), made lifelong friendships, and where a simple assignment in a guidance graduate course led to decisions that would impact his 45-year-long career.
In 1967, Hallongren began his career at Elkhorn High School in Elkhorn, Wisconsin, teaching technology classes, counseling grades 6 through 10 and coaching freshmen football and freshmen wrestling. After his year at Elkhorn, he worked for two years at York High School, in Elmhurst, Illinois, teaching woodworking, counseling and coaching freshmen football.
In 1969, Hallongren began his career at College of DuPage, in Glen Ellyn, Illinois. It was a new public community college in its second year and had approximately 2,500 students. When he retired as vice president of Community Education and Economic Development in 1999, DuPage had grown to become the largest single-campus comprehensive community college in the U.S., with an enrollment of nearly 34,400 students.
Upon retiring from DuPage, Hallongren served as president of the DeVry University-Chicago Campus/Metro, one of the largest of the 23 campuses in the DeVry University System, and then as president of the Tinley Park Campus. He retired in 2010.
Trailblazer Alumni Award: Leslie Barlow (’11)
Barlow, a studio art alum, believes art and art making are both healing and liberating, and her oil paintings are monuments to community members and explorations into how race entangles the intimate sphere of love, family and friendship.
“Receiving the Trailblazer Alumni Award from UW-Stout is an incredible honor. My time there shaped the foundation of who I am as an artist and educator. I’m grateful to the mentors who saw something in me before I could fully see it in myself — and I carry that forward in how I support emerging artists today,” said Barlow, an assistant professor of drawing and painting at University of Minnesota.
Barlow, who is represented by Bockley Gallery, is founder of PF Studios, an emerging artist studio program, part of the nonprofit Public Functionary. She also helped launch Creatives After Curfew, a mural collective and is the founder of ConFluence, an annual art and science fiction convention.
She has received the McKnight Visual Artist Fellowship, the Jerome Hill Fellowship, the 20/20 Springboard Fellowship, and five Minnesota State Arts Board grants. Her work has been published in art journals and is exhibited in collections throughout the Twin Cities.
Luminary Alumni Award: Greg Else (’97)
Else, a business administration alum, received the Luminary Award as a testament to his outstanding contributions to his community and for being an inspiration to others in his roles of mentorship, service and philanthropy.
Else is the director of Monitoring and Controls, Individual and Family Markets, with Health Care Service Corporation, headquartered in Chicago.
His philanthropy includes serving as co-founder of In-Abled Disability Business Resource Group; Blue Cross Blue Shield of Illinois’ corporate lead for Chicago Cares Serve-a-thon, the city’s largest day of service; and co-lead of the Employee Volunteerism committee.
In 2015, Else received the Blue Cross Blue Shield of Illinois Volunteer of the Year award. After residing in Chicago for 22 years, he now lives in Watertown and continues to support his community at weekly Loaves and Fishes community meals and other service opportunities. Else has served on UW-Stout’s Foundation & Alumni Association Board for 15 years. He was elected treasurer in 2021.
“For me, it’s important to give back to the communities that helped shape who I am. This includes my hometown, UW-Stout and Chicago,” Else said. “My time at UW-Stout helped direct the course of my life and enabled me to have a successful career, which inspires me to support students.”
Chancellor’s Award: Dean Weidner
Weidner received the Chancellor’s Award for his advocacy for education and workforce development and his profound impact on students within UW-Stout’s real estate property management program.
Over his career, Weidner has donated $2.5 million to UW-Stout through the University Foundation & Alumni Association to strengthen the real estate property management program and ensure students’ success. His contributions have established the Weidner Center for Residential Property Management, two University Foundation scholarships, an ambassador position to aid in student recruitment, as well as support for the renovation of Heritage Hall, the home of the REPM program.
“My long-term investment into the program at UW-Stout reflects my confidence in the curriculum that is being taught to students; the fact that educators in REPM have prior industry experience and can help to personalize the education with real world examples,” Weidner said.
“The workforce of the future requires an adaptable mindset of lifelong learners who continuously upgrade their technical skills as well as the soft skills that are valued by employers,” he added. “By partnering with colleges and universities, Weidner Apartment Homes can help shape the education of the upcoming workforce and embed the requirements of the industry into the curriculum. In this way, we are helping to create the workers we need, instead of merely trying to find them on the open market.”
University Partner Award: Great Northern Corp.
Great Northern Corporation received the University Partner Award in recognition of its longstanding and transformative partnership with UW-Stout, particularly in providing program funding and equipment that directly enhances the learning experiences of packaging students.
One of the most impactful elements of the partnership is the Great Northern Corporation Collaboration Experience course, a cross-disciplinary class where packaging and graphic design and interactive media students work in teams to design packaging for a Great Northern real-world client, providing an experience that mirrors the challenges and opportunities students will encounter in the workplace.
Great Northern provided $100,000 to fund the sponsored collaborative course. Zach Schmidtknecht (’99), general manager of the Chippewa Falls location, collaborated with team members Kris Johnson (’94) and Sarah Murawski (’00) to develop the course.
“Great Northern supports UW-Stout’s packaging program because we believe in investing in the future of our industry. UW-Stout’s hands-on approach aligns with our values of innovation, collaboration and continuous learning. The university consistently produces graduates who are not only technically skilled but also ready to contribute meaningfully from day one. Supporting the program is a natural extension of our commitment to building a stronger, more sustainable packaging industry,” Schmidtknecht said.
UW-Stout is Wisconsin’s Polytechnic University, with a focus on applied learning, collaboration with business and industry, and career outcomes. Learn more via the FOCUS2030 strategic plan.
