More than 50 undergraduate and graduate students in engineering majors and the Rader School of Business will receive their bachelor’s or master’s degrees at Milwaukee School of Engineering’s (MSOE) Winter Commencement, Saturday, Feb. 28, at the Kern Center.

The ceremony will feature a keynote address from Dr. Rolf Wegenke, who also will receive an Honorary Doctor of Business and Economics degree.

Spenser Brown is the class respondent, the honor that goes to the graduate with the highest G.P.A. Brown is graduating with high honors and will receive a Bachelor of Science degree in Industrial Engineering and a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Management. Brown also will receive the Alumni Association Award. Recipients of this prestigious award are first nominated by faculty members in their respective academic departments and then the entire graduating class selects from among its peers the student who is most deserving.

About Dr. Rolf Wegenke:
Rolf Wegenke, Ph.D. is president and chief executive officer of the Wisconsin Association of Independent Colleges and Universities (WAICU). WAICU is the official organization of the 23 private, nonprofit institutions of higher education in the state, including MSOE. Wegenke is also president/CEO of the WAICU Benefits Consortium and the WAICU Educational Technology Consortium.

Wegenke joined WAICU in 1992 and has worked diligently to advance educational opportunities for the 60,000 students in WAICU and to create innovative programs to control college costs. Previously, he served in the administrations of five Wisconsin governors, directing the state’s international trade and investment, business development, technology transfer, community development, and finance programs.

Under Wegenke’s guidance, WAICU has secured tens of millions of public and private dollars for grants to students and organized nationally recognized “transformative” programs to control college costs.

Throughout his career, Wegenke has served on multiple boards and commissions. He co-chaired the Wisconsin PK–16 Leadership Council, chairs the Wisconsin Educational Communications Board and the Wisconsin Public Broadcasting Foundation. He is president of the Fund for Campus Servant Leadership. He sits on the executive committee of the Wisconsin Technology Council and chairs its Human Capital Committee. He serves on the Board of Directors of Competitive Wisconsin Inc. He is a member of the National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities State Executives and of the Foundation for Independent Higher Education.

Wegenke is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in political science. He earned his master’s and doctoral degrees in political philosophy from the University of Chicago. Wegenke has received many awards and honors including the Governor’s Exceptional Performance Award, the Pro Gloria Dei Award of Wisconsin Lutheran College, the Robert Marshall Award for the advancement of entrepreneurialism and technology transfer, and doctorates (honors causa) from both Beloit and Ripon colleges. He is a native of Montello, Wis., is married and has one son.