Dear Colleagues,

I share with you sad news of the passing of three members of our UWM community.

Alice Mae Gillam
The Department of English shared the sad news that Dr. Alice Gillam, Associate Professor Emeritus in the Department of English, passed away on April 10, 2020.

Alice earned her Master of Arts in Teaching from Northwestern University and her PhD in English from Ball State University, joining the UWM faculty in 1986. She became the Writing Program Administrator and founded the UWM Writing Center, which today continues to serve thousands of students each year. Alice served as Director of Composition for thirteen years and as Department Chair of the English Department from 2001-2005. She also worked on the Advisory Board of UWM’s National Writing Project chapter. Alice’s three decades of achievement at UWM contributed enormously to the growth and success of the Rhetoric and Composition program in the Department of English, where she was celebrated for her administrative excellence and dedicated mentorship of graduate students. Following her retirement from UWM, Alice was an ad-hoc instructor in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction and a member of the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at UWM, where she taught as well.

Alice authored several books, as well as articles in many of the major journals in her field. She was elected to the executive boards of the National Council of Writing Program Administrators and the Conference on Composition and Communication.

For additional details, please see Alice’s obituary online. Our condolences to Alice’s family and to the many others whose lives she touched.

R. Gordon Goodrum

The College of General Studies shared the sad news that Dr. Richard Gordon Goodrum, Professor Emeritus and former Dean at UW-Waukesha, passed away on April 19, 2020.

Gordon served in the U.S. Air Force, and later earned his PhD in European History from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. During his professional career he served as a faculty member and Acting Dean at UW-Sheboygan and UW-West Bend, and Acting Dean as well as Associate Dean at UW-Waukesha. He retired as Professor Emeritus from UW-Waukesha in 1994. He continued to serve the college in retirement as an active board member of the UWM at Waukesha Foundation.

For additional details, please see Gordon’s obituary online. Our condolences to Gordon’s family and to the many others whose lives he touched.

Russell Armand “Russ” Launder

The College of General Studies shared the sad news that Russell “Russ” Launder passed away on April 19, 2020. Russell had served as a board member for the UW-Waukesha Foundation. He was also President and represented the campus on the UW-Colleges Board of Visitors as well as a Golf and Scholarship committee member.

Russell graduate from Juneau High School in Milwaukee and later enlisted in the U.S. Navy. After being honorably discharged, he began working at Pfister & Vogel Tanning Company, retiring after 50 years. He was the First Chair (trumpet) as well as a soloist in the All City Band of Milwaukee and was a medalist in the Badger State Games for Tennis. He also received the Bucky Badger Award for his fundraising efforts for the UW soccer team.

For additional details, please see Russell’s obituary online. Our condolences to Russell’s family and to the many others whose lives he touched.

Take care,

Johannes

Johannes Britz
Provost and Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs