About The Board
Presidents of the Board
Presidents of the University of Wisconsin System Board of Regents, from 1971 to today.
Contacting the Board
Comments can be submitted through the Office of the Board of Regents (board@wisconsin.edu) or by contacting Regents individually.
Regents
Term of Appointment: May 2022-May 2029
Angela Adams, MASCL, CHPC is the Founder and CEO of SAGE Business Advisors, LLC. – a fractional executive consulting and executive coaching firm. Adams currently serves as the interim President & CEO of The African American Leadership Alliance Milwaukee (AALAM).
As a certified high-performance coach, Adams has leveraged a growth mindset while serving in various top roles including chief communications officer, chief diversity officer, and vice president of community relations where she successfully led marketing communications, brand, and culture as an enterprise-level executive. She is known for creating impact across complexly structured organizations effectively building and reshaping capabilities to ensure they thrive in dynamic environments. From strategic planning to operational execution, Adams champions performance, adaptability, innovation, and resilience.
Adams has extensive board governance experience, currently serving on the Board of Regents for the Universities of Wisconsin, The Legacy Foundation Advisory Board, The Friends of Plum Board, and The Milwaukee (WI) Chapter of The Links, Inc. Previous board appointments include Froedtert Hospital, African American Leadership Alliance Milwaukee (AALAM) Board Chair Emeritus, Sherman Phoenix Foundation, and Professional Dimensions Board Chair Emeritus.
Adams obtained her bachelor’s degree in business administration from Florida A&M University and earned her master’s in strategic communication and leadership from Seton Hall University.
Term of Appointment: May 2024-May 2026
Desmond Adongo is currently enrolled at the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh, pursuing a double major in Environmental Studies with an emphasis on policy and values and Economics, and a certificate in Geographic Information Systems. Before returning to school full-time, Desmond worked as a Learning and Development Operations Specialist and Coordinator at Footlocker Inc.
Regent President
Term of Appointment: May 2020 – May 2027
Amy B. Bogost was appointed to the University of Wisconsin System Board of Regents by Governor Tony Evers in 2020 and is currently serving as President. She practices law as a civil rights attorney dealing with victims of sexual abuse and domestic violence, including expertise in Title IX. She has provided invaluable training on the implementation of Title IX at Tribal colleges and has played a pivotal role in organizing, teaching and collaborating with the Southwest Center for Law and Policy’s National Trial Tribal College, co-sponsored and located at the University of Wisconsin Law School. NTTC addresses the shortage of legal practitioners in Indian Country and Alaska by training laypersons to litigate in the areas of greatest need: divorce, child custody, visitation, child support, domestic violence protection orders, and victim rights. Bogost is deeply committed to advancing educational equity and disability rights and has also dedicated her legal skills to advocating on behalf of students and families with learning differences and other disabilities. Bogost currently sits on the Milwaukee-based HIR Wellness Center Board, a nonprofit organization that believes in a multi-systemic and integrated approach to providing high-quality mental health and wellness care. She holds a Juris Doctorate from Chicago Kent College of Law and a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and History from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She is a member of the Washington State, California, and Wisconsin Bar Associations. Bogost is deeply rooted in her community. She, her husband, and their three adult children are lifelong residents of Wisconsin, where they have all proudly received degrees from the University of Wisconsin.
Term of Appointment: May 2023 – May 2025
Evan Brenkus is enrolled at the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay, where he is pursuing a major in First Nations Studies and a minor in Mathematics. Currently, he is making meaningful connections within the Oneida Nation’s education system – working under contract at the Nation’s Oneida Language Immersion School. In the future, he wants to use what he has learned to create an online platform for First Nations to document, access, update, and hear their language while providing helpful tools to Indigenous educators to aid in language revitalization within their classrooms.
Term of Appointment: March 2020 – May 2025
Héctor Colón is the President and CEO of Lutheran Social Services of Wisconsin and Upper Michigan (LSS). Under his leadership, LSS has adapted new models and business strategies to increase relevancy and operational efficiency. Before the start of Colón’s tenure in 2017, the organization had not met its budget for four consecutive years. Since that time, LSS has generated multi-million dollar surpluses with a gain of $2.4 million in 2019. In 2019, Colón was named the Nonprofit Executive of the Year by BizTimes Media and the Hispanic Man of the year by UMOS.
As Executive Director of the Milwaukee County Department of Health and Human Services, Colón worked with a team to turn multi-million dollar deficits into multi-million dollar surpluses. There he led several countywide initiatives, including efforts to reform the juvenile justice system, end chronic homelessness, transform mental health care, and end a 30-year waitlist for disabilities services.
As a member and champion of the U.S. national boxing team, Colón won seven national titles and competed in the 1992 Olympic trials. At the height of his boxing career, Colón stepped away from his Olympic dreams and the potential of millions to serve God. Today, he is an independent director on the board of USA Boxing with a focus on inspiring athletes to discover their own path towards personal and professional greatness. His first book, “From Boxing Ring to Board Room,” is set to release in June 2020.
Term of Appointment: March 2024-May 2028 
Haben Goitom is the Vice President of Legal at Mainspring Energy, a technology company that builds on-site power generation. Prior to her work with Mainspring, she spent nearly 10 years at Alliant Energy in both legal and business leadership roles. Earlier in Goitom’s career she worked as an attorney in the New York office of Jones Day. She currently serves on the Board of Directors for the Urban League of Greater Madison and on the Board of Visitors for the University of Wisconsin Law School.
A native of Madison, Wisconsin, Goitom has an MBA from Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management, a JD from the University of Wisconsin Law School, and a Bachelor of Science in Economics from The Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania.
Term of Appointment: May 2023 – May 2030
Regent Jim Kreuser has more than three decades of experience in public service, serving as Kenosha County Executive for 14 years from 2008 to 2022 and representing Kenosha in the Wisconsin State Assembly for 15 years from 1993 to 2008. A first-generation college graduate, he earned his bachelor’s degree from UW-Parkside in 1983 and continued on to complete his master’s in public administration (M.P.A.) from the school in 1986. During his time at UW-Parkside, Regent Kreuser was PSGA President for 2 years and interned for Congressman Les Aspin. He then interned for then-Kenosha County Executive John Collins and was hired as a full-time administrative assistant in the county executive’s office after graduating with his M.P.A., where he worked until 1993.
Jim and his wife, Jane, have two sons who have graduated from UW‐Madison and UW‐Stevens Point.
Term of Appointment: May 2019 – May 2026
Previous Appointment: May 2010 – May 2017
(534) 444-3118
edmund.manydeeds@wisconsin.edu
Edmund Manydeeds is an attorney with Manydeeds Law S.C. in Eau Claire, Wisconsin. He is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Superior and received his law degree from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Manydeeds was appointed and confirmed in the spring of 2010 to the University of Wisconsin System Board of Regents and served a 7-year term. Manydeeds was reappointed in 2019 to the University of Wisconsin System Board of Regents to serve a second 7-year term.
Term of Appointment: May 2024-May 2031
Timothy F. Nixon is a commercial lawyer representing clients in state and federal courts. He is a senior attorney in business finance and restructuring in the Green Bay Office of Godfrey and Kahn, S.C. His name appears on numerous “best lawyers” lists both state and national. He is a frequent lecturer, presenter, and writer on matters involving commercial and bankruptcy law, served on the Board of Directors of the American College of Bankruptcy, and has been a presenter at the National Conference of Bankruptcy Judges Annual Convention.
Tim has represented clients in cases before the United States Supreme Court and the Courts of Appeal, as well as in bankruptcy courts across the nation, including some of the largest actions filed in the United States. The Wisconsin Supreme Court appointed him to the Preliminary Review Committee, and subsequently to the Board of Administrative Oversight, for the Office of Lawyer Regulation on which he served for twelve years.
Tim holds a bachelor’s degree in public and environmental administration from the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay. He earned a law degree from the University of Wisconsin Law School and a master’s degree from the Robert M. Lafollette School of Public Affairs at University of Wisconsin-Madison. Prior to graduate school, Tim served as a ship’s officer in the Merchant Marine for nine years.
Term of Appointment: May 2018 – May 2025
cris.peterson@wisconsin.edu
(715) 463-5799
Cris Peterson is a dairy farmer and writer from Grantsburg, Wisconsin. Born and raised in Minneapolis, Minnesota, she earned a B.S. in Education from the University of Minnesota before marrying her husband, Gary, and moving to the farm. In partnership with their son, Ben, they have operated Four Cubs Farm near Grantsburg for the past 45 years. They milk 1000 cows with 16 robots. The farm has been in the Peterson family since 1877.
Peterson has written twelve books for children. She also wrote a nationally syndicated newspaper column on literacy for Universal Press for eight years. An overriding theme of all her work involves proactively promoting agriculture and working to overcome public misperceptions about how food is produced.
Peterson has chaired Wisconsin’s Dairy 2020 Council, has served on the Wisconsin Dairy Business Association board, the International Dairy Foods Association advisory board, and was named the 2004 National Dairywoman of the Year. Currently she serves on Burnett Dairy Cooperative’s board of directors, is president of Grantsburg’s scholarship foundation, and is treasurer of Grantsburg Revitalization Operation, working to develop strategies to revitalize her community.
Term of Appointment: May 2023 – May 2030
Previous Appointment: Feb 2023 – May 2023
Dr. Joan M. Prince is the President and CEO of Executive Strategies Elite, LLC, a global consulting firm that works with top executive leaders on their most pressing issues. Prince, a Milwaukee native, was the first African American to hold undergraduate and graduate degrees in clinical laboratory medicine with a specialty in flow cytometry and hematology and a doctorate in medical science education from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, from which she has received four degrees. She served as the vice chancellor of global inclusion and engagement and as an associate professor in biomedical sciences at her alma mater from 2000 to 2021. In 2012, Dr. Prince was nominated by former President Barack Obama to the U.N. General Assembly as a public delegate with the honorary rank of ambassador. In this role, she occupied the US seat and worked with global leaders, UN committees and related organizations, and also delivered policy statements on behalf of the United States to the international board of nations.
Term of Appointment: May 2021 – May 2028
Dr. Ashok Rai is the President and Chief Executive Officer of Prevea Health – a physician-led, multispecialty health care provider working in partnership with Hospital Sisters Health System (HSHS) hospitals across Wisconsin. Dr. Rai’s passion to redesign health care in the U.S. embraces the movement from fee-for-service methods of payment to value-based care, which rewards health care organizations for their work in preventive health care and encouraging patients to live healthy lifestyles and not for the amount of procedures they perform.
Dr. Rai was born and raised in Michigan. He attended undergraduate school and enrolled in the “Target M.D.” program at the University of Wisconsin—Milwaukee. He completed his medical degree at the Medical College of Wisconsin, and then a residency in Internal Medicine and Pediatrics through Michigan State University at the Kalamazoo Center for Medical Studies. Following residency, he specialized in hospital medicine and held various leadership positions at Prevea Health before becoming the President and CEO of Prevea Health in 2009. He also continues to practice medicine and cares for patients at Woodside Lutheran Nursing Home in Green Bay.
Dr. Rai plays an active role in community and health care organizations. He joined the American Medical Group Association (AMGA) Board of Directors in 2012 and served as Chairman of AMGA in 2018. He is also Chairman of the Cellcom Green Bay Marathon Board; and serves on the Board of Directors for the Automobile Gallery in Green Bay and Progress Lakeshore, and on the Board of Downtown Green Bay, Inc.
Dr. Rai lives in Green Bay with his wife, Brooke. He is a proud father of three boys and three girls.
Term of Appointment: May 2024-May 2031
Jack Salzwedel is the former chair and CEO of American Family Mutual Insurance Company, a position he held from 2011 to 2021. Prior to becoming chair and CEO, Salzwedel was the president and COO of American Family, and served in many different roles and leadership positions at the company since his start there in 1985. Salzwedel earned his Bachelor of Arts in Business Administration, as well as a Bachelor of Science in Biology from Wartburg College in Waverly, Iowa. He has served on several boards, including the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation Board of Directors, the American Family Children’s Hospital Development Advisory Board, the Aldo Leopold Foundation, the Greater Madison Chamber of Commerce, United Way of Dane County, and the UW Chancellor’s Advisory Board, among many others.
Term of Appointment: March 2024-May 2029
Amy Traynor has more than two decades of experience in public education and is currently the Director of Learning Services at CESA 10 in Chippewa Falls, WI. She previously served as a mathematics teacher and instructional coach at Delong Middle School in Eau Claire, where she taught for more than 20 years before founding and serving as the Lead Teacher at Anthony Acres School in the Mondovi School District. Traynor currently serves as a WI Commissioner for the Education Commissions of the States, President of the WI Teacher of the Year Network, and Teacher Lead for Wisconsin’s Every Teacher a Leader Summit. Traynor is a National Board Certified Teacher of Mathematics, the 2013 WI Middle School Teacher of the Year, and a 2015 Presidential Award for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching Finalist. Traynor graduated from UW-Stevens Point with a degree in Mathematics and Secondary Education. She received her Master’s in Education from UW-La Crosse and her Principal and Curriculum Director certifications.
Ex-Officio Member (WTCS Board Representative): June 2023 – Present
Past Ex-Officio Service (WTCS Board Representative): July 2011 – July 2013, July 2015 – July 2019
Mark is the Founder and Chairman of OEM Fabricators, Inc., a contract manufacturer in Northwestern Wisconsin. OEM was named Wisconsin’s Manufacturer of the Year in multiple years, and was the first to be recognized for their efforts in Workforce Development.
Mark volunteers with a number of organizations in the areas of workforce development, K-12 and postsecondary education and he is passionate about early childhood education and access to affordable childcare. A sample of Mark’s current and past public service includes:
- Member and President, Wisconsin Technical College System Board
- Chair, Governor’s Council on Workforce Investment
- Chair, National Governors Association, State Workforce Board Chairs Association
- Board Member and Executive Committee Member, Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce
- Member, Governor’s Early Childhood Advisory Council
- Member and President, Family Resource Center St Croix Valley Board
- Founder, Family Friendly Workplaces, Inc. (a 501c3 nonprofit)
- Member, St Croix Valley United Way Success by 6 Board
- Member, Chancellor’s Advisory Committee, UW River Falls
- Member, UW Stout’s Discovery Center Advisory Committee
Mark earned his Technical College Degree in Design Technology from St. Paul TVI, (now St. Paul College), and later in his career earned his MBA from the University of St. Thomas.
Mark lives in rural Emerald Township, Wisconsin with his wife Jackie. Together they operate Emerald Glenn Farm which breeds and trains American Shetland and Welsh ponies and Shetland Sheep. In their spare time, Jackie collects and restores antique bisque dolls, and Mark collects and restores brass era cars.
Ex Officio Member (State Superintendent): July 2021 – Present
statesuperintendent@dpi.wi.gov
608-266-8687
Dr. Jill Underly was elected State Superintendent of Public Instruction on April 6th, 2021. Since 1999, she has worked in all facets of public education, including PK – 16 as a high school and middle school social studies teacher, a University of Wisconsin College of Letters & Science academic advisor, a Title I Consultant and assistant director at the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction, an elementary principal and Director of Instruction, and most recently, a rural school district superintendent.
Dr. Underly received bachelor’s degrees in history and sociology from Indiana University-Bloomington, a master’s degree in secondary education from Indiana University-Purdue University, and a master’s degree in educational administration and a doctorate in educational leadership and policy analysis from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
She and her husband, John, have two children, one in middle school and one in high school. They live on a small farm in southwestern Wisconsin.
Term of Appointment: May 2019 – May 2026
Karen Walsh is director of the BerbeeWalsh Foundation, a family foundation dedicated to human and animal health and welfare. Since 2006, the foundation has awarded more than $8 million dollars in grants in the State of Wisconsin, including a gift to the University of Wisconsin Hospitals and Clinics that created the BerbeeWalsh Department of Emergency Medicine. She was a newscaster and reporter for news outlets including Wisconsin Public Radio prior to serving for 23 years in a variety of public information and communications positions at UW-Madison. She retired in 2005 as the Assistant Dean for External Relations in the College of Engineering, directing alumni and donor communications, news media relations, and industry communications. She also directed the college’s undergraduate student invention and prototyping competitions, the Schoofs Prize for Creativity and Tong Prototype Prize. Her honors include publications awards with the National Association of Government Communicators, the university’s Bollinger Academic Staff Achievement Award, and Philanthropist of the Year from the Dane County Humane Society.
A native of Columbus, Wisconsin, Walsh holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in Journalism from UW-Madison. She serves on a number of non-profit boards, including the Board of Visitors at the UW-Madison School of Veterinary Medicine, the Madison Cat Project, and the Access Community Health Centers Community Partners Board. She is also a past president of the Madison Opera Board of Trustees.
Regent Vice President
Term of Appointment: May 2020 – May 2027
Kyle Weatherly is the President of Alta Medical and a Universities of Wisconsin Regent. Prior to starting Alta Medical, Kyle was the founding CEO at Frontdesk and the President of Solaris Medical.
Kyle earned an MPA in Public Management and BA in Political Science and History from UW-Madison. Between degrees he worked for Habitat for Humanity, first in South Los Angeles and later in Madison.