Updates

Check out what our alumni and friends are up to!

1980's

Randy Ballwahn ('88) has been working with Friends of Madison Student Radio and WSUM 91.7FM since January '04 to develop a fundraising program and long-range development plan for student radio at the University of Wisconsin. Their goal is to work with outside businesses, granting agencies and alumni to help reduce or eliminate WSUM's reliance on student fees for certain operations such as program supplies, equipment, student scholarships, advertising, promotions and events. If you were involved with any incarnation of student radio--WLHA, WSSO, WSRM, WMHA -- you can also share your student radio stories.

Lynn J. Bodi ('84) has been elected to the Board of Trustees of the American Academy of Adoption Attorneys, a national association of attorneys who have distinguished themselves in the area of adoption law. Ms. Bodi is a co-founder of The Law Center for Children & Families, a Madison law firm.

Stephen Burrows ('84) just sold his first feature film to Miramax. Entitled "Chump Change," Burrows wrote and directed the film which stars Fred Willard, Jerry Stiller, Abe Vigoda and Traci Lords. We'll post an update when it hits theatres! You can view the trailer or Burrows' many tv and film commercials at backyard.com.

Erin Davis ('86) is now Vice President of Corporate Communications for ANC Rental Corporation located in South Florida.

Paul Ewen ('88) is a freelance editor/producer in NYC. His film When the World Runs Fast was accepted into the 2004 Wisconsin Film Festival. The film is a remake of a film he made in 1986 when taking intro Super-8 class with JJ Murphy. He also, edited/directed an Opening Tribute for Michael Caine, the Film Society of Lincoln Center. He also does work or MTV, working on two different campaigns to encourage young people to vote in the 2004 election and edited/designed the Film Society of Lincoln Center's May 2003 tribute to Susan Sarandon.

Julia Gray ('89) has finished journalism grad school and is now a contributing writer for beachwoodreporter.com and TheStreet.com. She hopes to move to NYC to work on more multimedia/online journalism in the future.

Matthew Payne ('88) was promoted to the position of Lay Canon for Administration and Youth Ministry in the Episcopal Diocese of Fond du Lac, which covers the north-eastern third of Wisconsin. In this position, he oversees the overall operation of the diocesan office as well as coordinating youth ministry programs. He has been employed by the Diocese since 1999. He lives in Oshkosh, Wisconsin.

Steffan Postaer ('84) has recently published a novel, The Last Generation.

Bill Siegal ('86) was co-director of The Weather Underground, a film about the radical '60s group who blew up police stations, courthouses, and portions of the Capitol building, in order to lodge protests against the Vietnam War and racism.

Lev L. Spiro ('84) has directed multiple episodes of NBC's "My Name Is Earl", UPN's "Everybody Hates Chris", Fox's "Arrested Development", and Showtime's "Weeds" this year. He has a pilot holding deal at the Fox network, and is slated to direct the indie comedy feature "Queen Lara" in 2006.

Butch Vig ('80) and Steve Marker ('89) were once Communication Arts students but are now better known as members of the band Garbage.

Jeff Zabin ('87) is Director of Marketing in the Global Marketing Solutions group at Fair Isaac Corporation (NYSE:FIC), the leading provider of customer analytics and decision technology. A widely recognized business thinker, he is the coauthor of two books: The Seven Steps to Nirvana: Strategic Insights Into eBusiness Transformation (McGraw-Hill, 2001) and Precision Marketing: The New Rules for Capturing, Retaining and Leveraging Profitable Customers (John Wiley & Sons , 2004). He has written for several trade magazines, and his research has been published in leading academic journals, including the Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science. He is also a frequent keynote speaker for business forums in the U.S. and Europe. A graduate of the University of Wisconsin, and a returned Peace Corps volunteer, Jeff lives with his wife and two children in Evanston, Illinois, where he advises several startup companies and is often included in lists of Chicago's most influential IT professionals. His latest book is called Precision Marketing.