George F. Hamel Jr. Receives Distinguished Alumni Award

In October, George F. Hamel Jr. (’80) was one of five people to receive the Distinguished Alumni Award from the Wisconsin Alumni Association. The award, first established in 1936, is the highest honor bestowed by the Wisconsin Alumni Association, which only presents the award to the “most prestigious graduates of UW-Madison for their professional achievements, contributions to society, and support of the university.”

To say George Hamel is extremely generous would be an enormous understatement. He and his wife Pamela have been benefactors of Communication Arts and UW–Madison for many years, heavily engaged with our department, the arts, music, athletics, and many other facets of UW–Madison. Most recently, they provided the the founding gift for SuccessWorks at the College of Letters & Science, and years earlier gave the $15 million lead gift for the new Hamel Music Center. Through their strategic gifts it is clear that the Hamels work to improve the lives of all Badgers.

Hamel was a founder and served as COO of ValueAct Capital, a San Francisco–based investment firm. He and Pamela are now the co-owners of Hamel Family Wines in Sonoma Valley.

George F. Hamel Jr. joined the prestigious list of Distinguished Alumni along with John Bollinger (’57, PhD’61), Carol Edler Baumann (’54), Ann McKee (’75), Allan Chi Yun Wong (MS’73).