Susan Engeleiter, a UW–Madison School of Education alum and longtime supporter of the School, is the recipient of a Distinguished Alumni Award, the Wisconsin Alumni Association’s highest honor and most high-profile and long-standing award.
The award celebrates prestigious graduates of UW–Madison for their professional achievements, contributions to society, and support of the university over the course of their career or lifetime.
Engeleiter, who earned her bachelor’s degree in communication arts from the School of Education, followed by a law degree at UW–Madison, originally planned to become a high school speech and theater teacher after college. Instead she was elected to the Wisconsin state legislature in 1974, becoming — at 22 — the youngest woman elected to a state legislature anywhere in the country that year.
Later she became the first woman to head the Small Business Administration, and then a business leader as the vice president of Honeywell in Minneapolis and the CEO of Data Recognition Corporation, an educational testing firm that is an industry leader for pre-K–12, adult education, and multilingual learner assessments.
Engeleiter has long been a strong supporter and advocate for public education. “I personally benefited greatly from a very fine, quality public education, kindergarten through law school,” she says. “I strongly believe in public education.”
Diana Hess, former dean of the School of Education, says, “Susan’s commitment to education has been unwavering. She has made an enormous impact on the School of Education community, providing robust scholarship support across the arts, health, and education as well as supporting hundreds of future Wisconsin teachers.”
Read this story from the Wisconsin Alumni Association to learn more about Engeleiter’s distinguished life and career.