Fox Cities News

Terry Benter, a 1976 graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh, has retired after more than three decades in education. Benter held roles as a teacher, athletic director, assistant principal, principal and coach. He and his wife now spend their summers at Pickerel Lake.

Dorothea Taylor, class of 1981 from Stone Mountain, Georgia, is an illustrator with credits for Disney, Marvel and Warner Bros. She is currently working on volume 4 of the graphic novel series Doctor Dyslexia Dude. The series was created by Shawn Robinson (class of 2002) and his wife to promote literacy and representation through storytelling.

Lori (Burns) Brooks, who graduated in 1982 and lives in Shoreline, Washington, works as a freelance director in television sports. Her clients include the WNBA’s Seattle Storm, the Big Ten Network, League One Volleyball and NBC Sports. Brooks recently received her ninth National Sports Emmy Award for her work with NBC Sports during the production of the 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games in Paris.

Terri (Kiczula) Grinker from Campbellsport visited the UW-Oshkosh campus with fellow alumni who met as freshmen on Swart Hall’s third floor in 1978. The group included Monika DeArteaga, Gail Meyer (class of ’83), Carrie (Hoerning) Gromacki (class of ’82), Tammy Hinch, Terri Grinker herself (class of ’83), and Betsy Bartelt (class of ’81).

Gary Dodge from Neopit celebrated thirty years practicing law in Menominee and Shawano Counties. Dodge owns Dodge Law Office in Shawano and graduated from UW-Oshkosh in 1985.

Vicki Bayer from Appleton was named a 2025 Woman of Influence by Insight Magazine for her work as superintendent of the Green Bay Area Public School District. Bayer received the Educational Advocate Award.

Maurice Wince from Milwaukee owns Sherman Park Grocery. To mark its third anniversary after the closure of a neighborhood Pick ‘n Save store, Wince distributed over $10,000 worth of fresh produce to local residents.

Tricia (Konyn) Hurley from Peshtigo serves as executive director and CEO at Menominee Housing Commission where she oversees low-income public housing programs as well as Section 8 initiatives.

Ben Cooke from Los Angeles works for Entelekey Media—a production company that recently released "Site," a science fiction thriller available on Video On Demand platforms.

Jeremy Dobbe joined Di Renzo & Bomier LLC in Appleton after two decades specializing in estate planning, probate and business law. Dobbe graduated from UW-Oshkosh in 2002.

Kelly (Dewey) Chartre left her position as vice president of marketing at Fox World Travel to launch Visionary Balance—a fractional chief marketing officer service that blends her interests in travel and marketing. Chartre holds both undergraduate ('04) and MBA ('11) degrees from UW-Oshkosh.

Ryan Bowers is now head coach for Kaukauna High School’s varsity basketball team; he previously played basketball for both Kaukauna High School and UW-Oshkosh.

Kyle Kapinos became middle school principal at Wrightstown Community School District after seventeen years working in education since graduating from UW-Oshkosh in 2009.

Steven Devine was recognized by WOMT Radio as Young Professional of the Month. Devine joined Seehafer Broadcasting’s team last year where he became known as “the voice” of Manitowoc News; he also earned several awards at this year’s Wisconsin Broadcasters Association Awards for Excellence Gala.

Mackenna (Pribek) Zimmerman is an associate attorney at Peterson Berk & Cross S.C., having graduated with the class of 2021.

Megan Polster works as communications coordinator at Wisconsin Office of Rural Health following her graduation with the class of 2022.

Shane Dessart supervises patient access services at ThedaCare Neenah Regional Medical Center after earning his degree last year.