The founder and chief executive officer of the national non-profit organization One Heartland will headline the graduation commencement ceremony Dec. 20, UW announced Thursday.?
Neil Willenson graduated from the University of Wisconsin in 1992 and founded One Heartland — a charity that provides services to children and families living with HIV/AIDS — at the age of 22.?
The organization is one beneficiary of UW’s annual Humorology event, in which members of the Greek system put on musical skits to raise money for charities.?
“[One Heartland] has raised over $40 million, and we saw that as an incredible feat and something to really showcase,” said Hannah Karns, senior class president. “We thought he would be a great person to hear from. He clearly has entrepreneurial skills and is really committed to community service.”
For his philanthropy work, Willenson was named the 2008 “Local Hero of the Year” by GQ Magazine, alongside fellow “Men of the Year” Michael Phelps, Barack Obama, Sean Penn and others.?
Willenson also received the Forward Under 40 distinction in 2009, an award given to UW graduates under the age of 40 whose work demonstrates the principles of the Wisconsin Idea.
“We felt that he exemplified the Wisconsin Idea and he’s really served as a great UW alumnus,” Karns said.?
She added she thinks students will be able to connect with Willenson because he is a more recent UW graduate and first began developing his non-profit organization as an undergraduate at UW.
The senior class officers initiated the speaker selection process by brainstorming potential candidates, then creating a prioritized list of potential speakers and submitting it to Secretary of the Faculty David Musolf.?
Musolf proceeded by contacting the candidates to determine whether they would be available to speak at the winter ceremony. Musolf said Willenson was on the top of the list he received from the senior officers.
“He is certainly a distinguished alumnus of the university and has a lot to offer,” Musolf said.?
Historically, most commencement speakers have been UW alums or have had ties to Wisconsin, Musolf said, partly because UW does not pay commencement speakers an honorarium.
The two commencement ceremonies — at 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. — will draw about 6,000 to 7,000 students, graduates, friends and family, and will be streamed live on UW’s website.
UW senior Claire Kostechka will be among the approximately 2,000 students expected to graduate this semester.
Kostechka said she thinks Willenson’s success demonstrates the value of a UW education.
“I think it shows a different aspect of what people can do with their educations,” Kostechka said.?
Sixth-year undergraduate Spencer Morrison will also be graduating in December. He had never heard of Willenson, but he said he was still excited to hear what he has to say.
“It’d be great to have a speaker that’s more recognizable,” Morrison said.?
