Donor Stories
A rare gift: Family endows professorship in memory of children
In their photographs, Jenni and Kyle Geurkink look like happy, healthy children. “They were regular, healthy children, who were meeting all of their developmental milestones,” she says. “There was no reason to think anything to the contrary. We had no idea what was coming.”
$1.25 million legacy gift will support brain injury research at the Waisman Center
A new legacy gift will help researchers and clinicians at the Waisman Center continue to search for ways to benefit individuals and families whose lives have been impacted by brain injuries and developmental disabilities.
Thoughts of Gratitude: Dan Campbell
There are Stray Cats in the Waisman Center. Painted by Dan Campbell, these eight felines welcome visitors from inside their framed canvas home.
Thoughts of Gratitude: The Rijkaarts
Jelte Rijkaart is 10 years old, with a ready smile, dark brown hair and warm brown eyes. He enjoys hanging out with people, especially his brother Roan.
Thoughts of Gratitude: David Busta
As basketball season gathers steam (go Badgers!), one small town in northern Wisconsin will be buzzing with excitement about a different basketball tournament on the Saturday after Thanksgiving.
A Kid. His Cards. And a Cause.
Day after day, Pam Miller would watch her son, Giizhik Klawiter, turn a half-inch thick stack of paper into a beautiful array of drawings.
Thoughts of Gratitude: Marijo Bunbury
Marijo Bunbury loves a challenge, especially when she’s passionate about the outcome.
Luckily for the Waisman Center, in 1994 someone told Bunbury that a congested events calendar would make it impossible to raise funds (to support the center) through a golf benefit.
New Fund to Advance Intellectual And Developmental Disabilities Genomics Research
The fund, named the Mailick and Messing Interdisciplinary Research Fund, honors former center directors, Marsha Mailick, PhD (2001-2014) and Albee Messing, VMD, PhD (2014-2018).
Major Lifetime Gift Establishes Scholarly Society Richard
It’s been seven years since Dick Morse, MD, a UW alum and retired child psychiatrist, and his lifelong partner, Lawrence M. Connor, MSW, a retired social worker, established an $11 million (now worth an estimated $17 million) planned estate gift for the Morse Society — a multidisciplinary graduate fellowship program at the Waisman Center.
Mancheski Foundation Funds Next-Gen Research on Down Syndrome and Alzheimer’s
A gift from the Mancheski Foundation continues to provide integral support to doctoral student Matthew Zammit as he furthers his research on the progression of Alzheimer’s disease in individuals with Down syndrome.
Thoughts of Gratitude: Scott Kornstedt
People are drawn to the Friends of the Waisman Center’s board for many different reasons. For Scott Kornstedt, it’s Raegan, his 6-year-old daughter who loves strawberries and reads at the top of her first grade class.
Thoughts of gratitude: the Willis family
“Mom and Dad both believed in the importance of advancing knowledge through scientific research about topics such as autism and ADHD,” says Nancy. “The Waisman Center is where they believed they would get the biggest return on their philanthropic investment.”
A life full of love and magic: Eva S. Borenitsch
Eva Susan Borenitsch was magical. She knew no limits. “We called her our little unicorn,” says her mom Emily Borenitsch. She loved snuggles, skittles, food sampling at Costco with her dad, and being outdoors during the warm weather.