About 75 undergraduate and graduate students in engineering majors, the Rader School of Business and School of Nursing will receive their bachelor’s or master’s degrees at Milwaukee School of Engineering’s (MSOE) Winter Commencement, Saturday, Feb. 24, at the Kern Center. 

MSOE Regent Robert Wagner ’64, chairman and CEO of The Wagner Companies in Butler, Wisconsin, will receive an Honorary Doctor of Engineering degree.  

Hamzah Mirza, of Greenfield, Wisconsin, is the class respondent. Mirza is graduating with honors and will receive a Bachelor of Science in Management Information Systems.  

Cassie Giamarusti, of Antioch, Illinois, 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. She is graduating with honors and will receive a Bachelor of Science in Industrial Engineering.  

About Robert Wagner

After graduating with a degree in mechanical engineering from MSOE, Robert Wagner worked as one of only two mechanical engineers at Louis Allis Company—which was an electric motor manufacturer. After a few years, Wagner’s father asked him to join his company, R&B Wagner, which creates and manufactures innovative metal products for the fabricating industry. After decades of growth and acquisitions, R&B Wagner became The Wagner Companies and employee-owned. Wagner stepped down as president of the company, but continues to serve as chairman and CEO.  

He has remained connected to MSOE for years though his philanthropic support of the university and its students, and his service as a member of the Board of Regents since 2002. Wagner is also passionate about volunteering and helping the community through his church, Kiwanis, Salvation Army, Wisconsin Academy of Science, Arts and Letters, Wisconsin Arts Board and more.