Our Mission
The Wisconsin Medical Alumni Association’s mission is to create lasting relationships between the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health alumni and students by visibly supporting our alumni, students and residents and advancing the mission of the school.
Vision for the Future
The Wisconsin Medical Alumni Association creates an exceptional environment for current students and fosters lifelong relationships by connecting our alumni with each other, our students, our residents, the faculty, the school and the university.
Growth and Impact Timeline
2020s
- Adapting to the COVID-19 pandemic, WMAA embraces virtual event formats between Spring 2020 and Fall 2021
- Non-stock corporate status of the Wisconsin Medical Alumni Association is dissolved; WMAA fully absorbed into the infrastructure of UW SMPH
- WMAA provides $600,000 to create WMAA Scholarship Match Campaign, resulting in formation of 32 new need-based scholarships and enhancement of 16 existing scholarships
2010s
- WMAA earmarks $200,000 in unrestricted gift funds to match Great People Scholarship funds
- Board of Directors creates Board Advisory Council
- WMAA converts Sam Perlson Low Interest Student Loan Fund to a scholarship for medical students
- Stethoscope Program established
- Half-Century Society established
- Record 652 new members join Middleton Society in 2018
2000s
- WMAA moves from Medical Sciences Center to Health Sciences Learning Center in 2004
- Board of Directors establishes first Wisconsin Medical Alumni Association Student Scholarship Fund
- Wisconsin Medical Alumni Association sponsors and organizes annual White Coat Ceremony
- Student and Alumni Partnership Program launched, matching alumni to students with interest in a defined specialty
- WMAA hosts first “Operation Education” with State Medical Society Foundation
- WMAA 50th anniversary, includes alumni cruise on the Rhine River
1990s
- Samuel Perlson Low Interest Student Loan Fund created
- Charles Russell Bardeen, MD, Founding Dean Memorial Fund is created. Fundraising begins for new Medical Alumni Auditorium in the Health Sciences Learning Center
1980s
- Host Program established for students visiting potential residencies
- WMAA 25th anniversary celebration
1970s
- Max Fox Preceptor Award established and awarded to Merritt L. Jones, MD 1912
- First fiftieth anniversary class — the Class of 1927 — receives bronze medallions struck for the occasion
- Phi Chi Medical Fraternity Building Corporation helps create Medical Alumni Student House (MASH) to provide low-cost housing for medical students
- Dorothy Wittmann Betlach, MD ’47 becomes first woman president of WMAA Board of Directors
1960s
- Medical Alumni Bulletin becomes Medical Alumni Quarterly
- Board of Directors allocates funds to Medical Student Association (MSA) for use as determined by MSA
1950s
- Medical Alumni Association founded in 1956
- Kenneth Lemmer, MD ’30, named first president
- Wisconsin Alumni Journal produced and later renamed Medical Alumni Newsletter
- Leland McKittrick, MD 1915 receives first Medical Alumni Citation Award