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.