For University of Wisconsin-Madison Alumni and Friends Wild Life George Schaller MS’57, PhD’62 travels the globe to save exotic animals. SUMMER 2010 West Wing Badger She keeps the president’s schedule on track. Head Case Joseph Jastrow helped launch the science of psychology. Mustard Man Why would someone devote a whole museum to a condiment? Gone Too Soon Determined partners work to slow infant deaths. Invest Invest in in Great Great PEOPLE PEOPLE Ensure that the leaders Ensure that the leaders of tomorrow can afford a of tomorrow can afford a world-class UW-Madison world-class UW-Madison education today. education today. Ben Van Pelt aspires to be the next great Students like Apriel Campbell will change American writer. Right now, he’s a triple-major, our world in ways that we have yet to work-study student. When he isn’t in class, imagine. This work-study genetics major he trains for his hobby – wrestling – and revels in the unlimited possibilities of a gains stamina for his second, late-night job. great public university, from cutting-edge But even smart, ambitious students like science to intercultural dialogs. Ben can’t afford to attend UW-Madison But even bright students like Apriel cannot by simply working more hours. afford to attend UW-Madison without Your gift to the Great People your help. Your gift to the Great People Scholarship will create a pool of Scholarship creates a pool of financial financial resources for promising resources for promising students. Make scholars like Ben while ensuring the your gift now to support UW-Madison’s next socioeconomic diversity of a strong generation. The UW Foundation public university. Make your gift now will even match your gift to increase and the UW Foundation will boost its its impact. impact with a match. For more information, go to: For more information, go to: www.uwgreatpeople.org www.uwgreatpeople.org Or contact Dani Luckett at 608-263-0522 Or contact Dani Luckett at 608-263-0522 [email protected] [email protected] Great People Move Great People Move Wisconsin Forward Wisconsin Forward OnWisconsin_InsideFrontCover_01-07-10_v01.indd 1 1/7/2010 3:34:51 PM OnWisconsin_InsideBackCover_01-07-10_v01.indd 1 1/7/2010 3:36:31 PM SUMMER 2010 contents VOLUME 111, NUMBER 2 Features 22 A Voice in the Wilderness By John Allen Before Jane Goodall and Dian Fossey, there was George Schaller MS’57, PhD’62, whose crusade to protect the world’s most beautiful and endangered animals has taken him to the globe’s most remote regions. 30 Right on Schedule By Jenny Price ’96 When President Obama turns to the who, what, when, and where of his daily agenda, he has a Badger to thank. 36 Spreading the Love By Denise Thornton ’82, MA’08 For Barry Levenson MA’73, JD’74, following his bliss meant forsaking the practice of law to found the world’s 30 only mustard museum. 38 Mind Tricks for the Masses By Deborah Blum MA’82 The flamboyant Joseph Jastrow founded the UW’s psychology department and helped shape the fledgling science. 42 Baby Steps By Susan Lampert Smith ’82 This is one top ranking that Wisconsin doesn’t want. Working together, public-health experts hope to reduce the shocking mortality rate among African-American babies. 22 Departments 5 Inside Story 6 Letters 10 Scene 12 News & Notes 36 18 Collection 19 Classroom 20 Sports Cover 46 Traditions George Schaller is shown at the Bronx Zoo, where he is 48 Gifts in Action senior conservationist. 49 Badger Connections Photo by Rob Bennett 66 Flashback SUMMER 2010 3 Stephen Babcock (center), with his butterfat tester, and colleagues W.A. Henry (left) and T.C. Chamberlin. In 1890, University of Wisconsin professor Stephen Babcock invented a device to test the amount of butterfat in milk. His discovery ended the practice of watering down milk and created a cash cow for Wisconsin, putting the state on the map as a leader in dairy production and research. UW–Madison faculty hold more scientifi c patents than any other public university in the country. At University Research Park, their ideas become start-up companies, generating jobs and building the state’s future. FORWARD. THINKING. www.wisconsinidea.wisc.edu Researchers at the Stratatech Corporation hope the skin tissue they developed will help wounds heal with less infection, pain, and scarring. 4 ON WISCONSIN Ad_Economy_OW.indd 1 5/4/09 9:19:53 AM insidestory PETE SOUZA On Wisconsin SUMMER 2010 Publisher Wisconsin Alumni Association 650 North Lake Street, Madison, WI 53706 Voice: (608) 262-2551 • Toll-free: (888) WIS-ALUM • Fax: (608) 265-8771 E-mail: [email protected] Web site: onwisconsin.uwalumni.com Co-Editors Mastromonaco (right) meets in the Oval Office with President Obama and Niki Denison, Wisconsin Alumni Association senior adviser Valeria Jarrett. Cindy Foss, University Communications Senior Editor John Allen, Wisconsin Alumni Association It wasn’t hard getting Alyssa Mastromonaco ’98 to agree to an interview about her experiences working for Barack Obama and Senior Writer Jenny Price ’96, University Communications as director of scheduling and advance for the White House. Art Director The problem was finding a time when she wasn’t too busy to talk. Earl J. Madden MFA’82, Mastromonaco got a taste of just how hectic her job is when she tried to University Communications schedule something for herself. After I first reached out to her by snail mail, we Production Editor Eileen Fitzgerald ’79, settled on a date for a telephone interview. University Communications We didn’t end up talking until about three months later. Editorial Associates We first had to postpone our interview when her daily meeting with the presi- Paula Apfelbach ’83 and Ben Wischnewski ’05, Wisconsin Alumni Association dent was moved to the same time. No way I could argue with that; I have a healthy Editorial Intern sense of my place in the world. On another occasion when we planned to talk, she Sam Oleson x’11 sent an e-mail asking to reschedule: “I’m so sorry, the Nobel Peace Prize has made Design, Layout, and Production today completely insane.” I hate it when that happens. Barry Carlsen MFA’83; Toni Good ’76, MA’89; Kent Hamele ’78, University Communications For a couple of days, it looked like Obama’s visit to a Madison middle school Campus Advisers last fall to announce funding for education reform would allow us to meet in per- Paula Bonner MS’78, President and CEO, son, but then Mastromonaco had to “bounce off the trip” to Wisconsin to plan a and Mary DeNiro, Vice President of Marketing and Communications, Wisconsin Alumni presidential trip to Asia. At this point, I think we both wondered if we would ever Association • Amy E. Toburen ’80, Director, speak or if we were doomed to an eternal game of e-mail tag. and Albert Friedman, Associate Director, University Communications • Lynne Johnson, Two months later, the planets aligned and she called. But about thirty min- Senior Director of External Relations, utes into our conversation, she stopped short and asked, “Can I call you back University of Wisconsin Foundation in twenty minutes?” We didn’t speak again for another five weeks. In that time, Advertising Representative Madison Magazine: (608) 270-3600 Mastromonaco planned a surprise birthday party for First Lady Michelle Obama Alumni Name, Address, Phone, (“You’d be surprised how complicated that is … somehow we kept it all a secret,” and E-Mail Changes • Death Notices she says) and traveled to Haiti to help coordinate federal agencies engaged in relief Madison area: (608) 262-9648 Toll-free: (888) 947-2586 efforts following January’s massive earthquake (she was sleeping on the floor of E-mail: [email protected] the U.S. Embassy when an aftershock hit). Quarterly production of On Wisconsin Magazine Through it all, Mastromonaco revealed herself as an enthusiastic Badger is supported by a UW Foundation grant. and hard-working public servant who learned many of the same lessons at © 2010 Wisconsin Alumni Association UW-Madison that I did, including one of the most important: never give up. Printed on recycled paper using soy inks. Jenny Price ’96 Please remember to recycle this magazine. SUMMER 2010 5 letters Hooked on On Wisconsin The Travels of John Muir I don’t know who to thank for the latest issue Muir must have been quite the man. Shortly of On Wisconsin, but I’m glad that I happened after 1863, he sailed through the Panama to open it. In all honesty, I usually recycle mine Canal, which was finished in 1914. The first immediately, as I found the issues to be unin- attempt at construction didn’t start until 1880. spiring years ago. Admittedly, UW is such a “Someone to Watch over Earth” [Spring 2010] large school, it must be challenging to con- is a nice article, but this statement appears nect with the masses that are UW alumni, but incorrect. so far, nothing [had] really moved me. Gary Steuck Then, you [featured] Lorrie Moore on the Madison cover. I had the pleasure of having Ms. Moore as a creative writing teacher. That caught Editor’s Note: You weren’t the only astute my eye, and I was curious to see how she reader to point out that the Panama Canal is [doing]. It took me about twenty minutes opened in 1914. We should have clarified that to get to her article, as I found myself read- Muir’s voyage included land passage through ing every article between the front cover and what would later become the canal.