University of Wisconsin–Green Bay
Established	1965
Type	State university
Chancellor	Dr. Thomas K. Harden
Provost	Dr. Julia E. Wallace
Students	6,700 Approx.
Location	Green Bay, Wisconsin, USA
Campus	Suburban
Athletics	16 NCAA Division I varsity teams (7 men's and 9 women's)
Colors	Green and White
Mascot	Phlash the Phoenix
Website	www.uwgb.edu

The University of Wisconsin–Green Bay (also known as UW–Green Bay or UWGB) is a public university located in Green Bay, Wisconsin, USA. It is part of the University of Wisconsin System and offers both bachelor and master degrees.

UW–Green Bay, founded in 1965, originally had an environmental sustainability emphasis, and now offers a wide array of degrees. The university, unofficially, has the nickname "Eco U".^[1] The university's mascot is the Phoenix.

History

By 1958, the University of Wisconsin-Extension's Green Bay center had swollen to 500 students, and was the second-largest of UW-Extension's eight freshman-sophomore centers. It grew to become the largest by 1965. Demand soon grew for a full-fledged four-year campus serving northeastern Wisconsin. Rudy Small, a vice president of the Paper Converting Machine Company, and Jake Rose, president of Kellogg Bank, took the lead in pushing for a new university in the region. In 1963, the Coordinating Committee for Higher Education unanimously recommended building a new university in the Fox Valley. However, Governor Warren Knowles was somewhat cool to the idea. Eventually, he compromised by proposing that the freshman-sophomore campuses in Green Bay and Kenosha be expanded to four-year institutions (the Kenosha institution eventually became the University of Wisconsin-Parkside). The bill was signed into law on September 2, 1965.^[2]

UW–Green Bay officially came into being in the fall of 1968, with the first classes being held at the Deckner Center, home to the old Green Bay extension center. It moved to its current location in the fall of 1969.^[3]

Students

In 2011, student enrollment was approximately 6,600, including 6,389 undergraduate students. The freshman average ACT score was 22.9, with a high school GPA of 3.32.^[4] In fall 2011, the official head count was 6,665.^[5]

Campus

Map of campus

Located on the northeast side of Green Bay, UW–Green Bay enjoys a park-like setting overlooking Lake Michigan's bay of Green Bay. At roughly one square mile, the campus is among the largest in the state. Much of the acreage is devoted to natural areas, with the central campus bordered on one side by the bay and on the other by a wooded ridge known as the Niagara Escarpment.^[6]

Points of interest

Weidner Center for the Performing Arts

Weidner Center

The Weidner Center for the Performing Arts features the 2,000-seat Cofrin Family Hall, the 200-seat Fort Howard Hall for recitals, and the 99-seat-in-the-round Jean Weidner Theatre, and a dance studio. The outstanding acoustics in center have won accolades from performers ranging from Yo-Yo Ma to Tony Bennett to The Oak Ridge Boys. A Casavant pipe organ and a Dale Chihuly chandelier are among its amenities.

Shorewood Golf Course

A nine hole public golf course is located on campus. The course also has a clubhouse that serves food and drinks. Current record holder and clubhouse manager Bill Lindmark shot a best of 29 in 1999.^[7]

Cofrin Memorial Arboretum

Cofrin Memorial Arboretum

The Cofrin Memorial Arboretum forms a natural boundary of 290 acres encircling the UW Green Bay campus and providing ready access for recreation, field trips, and research projects. The purpose of the Arboretum is to restore and preserve some of Wisconsin's native ecological communities and to provide a place where people can enjoy and appreciate nature. More than 6 miles of trails are open to the public for passive recreation such as hiking, biking, bird-watching, cross-country skiing, and simply meandering.^[8]

David A. Cofrin Library

At the center of learning and the academic buildings is the Cofrin Library, supporting the academic programs with a collection of more than one million items. As a depository for the U.S. government and the state of Wisconsin, the library has extensive holdings and electronic access to government documents. The Special Collections Department contains historical records of Northeast Wisconsin, genealogical records, and a local business archives collection.

Kress Events Center

Kress Events Center

The Kress Events Center is the host for Phoenix Athletics, concerts, university-wide events and is the headquarters for workouts, weight training, and intramural sports. The facility features an athletics training room, weight rooms, cardio deck, Olympic-sized pool, racquetball courts, a climbing tower, outdoor playing fields, and a multipurpose gymnasium for basketball, volleyball and indoor tennis.

Lawton Gallery

The Lawton Gallery, located adjacent to the theater in Theater Hall, is free and open to the public. The gallery mounts six to eight exhibits each year, including shows by UW–Green Bay faculty and students. The gallery has a role in the Art academic program, both through its exhibits and through classes that offer gallery management experience to students.

LeMieux Chapel

Joseph LeMieux was a stonemason who built lighthouses on the Great Lakes. His brother-in-law, Fabian LaPlant, was a carpenter. Together they teamed to build what today is a hidden Green Bay haven, LeMieux Chapel.^[9]

Student housing

UWGB has 28 residential buildings, including traditional residence halls, apartment style residence halls, and student apartments. These are available for students enrolled in 12 or more credits. DeSprito House is the campus' female only residence hall. Approximately 2,000 students live on campus.^[10]

Activities

Phlash TV, a student-run TV station, won nine student awards in 2006 and 2007 from the Wisconsin Broadcasters Association. This was the most of any school in the state. In February 2008 Phlash TV brought home five awards, including three first place awards, again the most of any school in Wisconsin in the TV category.

The University of Wisconsin Green Bay student body participates actively in issues regarding university governance through the Student Government Association. The Student Government Association consists of an executive branch, a legislative branch, and a judicial branch (the Student Court).

Athletics

Athletics logo

UW–Green Bay, which brands itself athletically as "Green Bay", is an NCAA Division I school, and is a member of the Horizon League.

The Green Bay women's basketball team has won or tied for the Horizon League regular-season championship nine times, including the last eight years.[1] They have been to the NCAA tournament eight times, including four of the last five years. They have also made two appearances in the Women's National Invitation Tournament (WNIT).

The team received its first national ranking in 2003, when it was ranked as high as #16 in both the Associated Press poll and the Coaches' Poll. In 2005, they also received a national ranking and a bid to the NCAA Tournament, but were knocked out in the first round by Maryland. In 2006, they appeared in the WNIT, where they lost to Iowa State in a first-round game. The next season, they were seeded #9 in the NCAA Tournament and defeated New Mexico in the first round before falling to top-seeded Connecticut in the second round. That loss ended their school record and nation-leading 26-game winning streak.

The next NCAA Tournament win for the Phoenix women came in 2010, when they entered as a #12 seed and upset 5-seed Virginia in the first round before bowing out to Iowa State on the Cyclones' home court just short of the Sweet 16. In the 2011 tournament, they entered as a #5 seed and made their first Sweet Sixteen appearance, defeating Arkansas–Little Rock and Michigan State before losing to regional top seed Baylor.

The Green Bay softball team claimed its first Horizon League tournament championship in 2005 after being picked to finish last in the conference. They went on to the national tournament, where they defeated #6 seed Oregon State in the first round.

Notable alumni

• Carl Allen, musician
• Kathi Bennett, college basketball coach
• Tony Bennett, professional basketball player, college basketball coach
• Robert Cowles, Wisconsin State Senator
• Dave Hansen, Wisconsin State Senator
• Mike Jackson, President and COO, Supervalu grocery stores
• Mark King, President and CEO, TaylorMade-adidas Golf
• Jill Lajdziak, former general manager, Saturn
• Frank Lasee, Wisconsin State Senator
• Barbara Lawton, Lieutenant Governor of Wisconsin (attended)
• Sharon Metz, Wisconsin State Assemblywoman
• Nick Mortensen, comedian
• Jeff Nordgaard, NBA player
• Jeff Ott, author
• Tosaint Ricketts, professional soccer player, member of the Canadian national team for the U-20 World Cup
• Michael Schachtner, Professional Basketball Player
• Horst Stemke, Olympic athlete
• Logan Vander Velden, NBA player
• Mike Grell, comic book writer and artist

Notable faculty

• Gregory S. Aldrete, professor of history and humanistic studies
• Herbert J. Grover, Wisconsin educator and politician
• Harvey J. Kaye, Professor of Social Change & Development (History and Sociology)
• Michael Monfils, Mayor of Green Bay
• Denise Sweet, Poet Laureate of Wisconsin (2004-2008); Associate Professor of Humanistic Studies (First Nations Studies/English/Interdisciplinary Studies)

References

External links

• Official website
• Official Athletics website
• Official Facebook page
• Official Twitter site

Coordinates: 44°31′48″N 87°55′15″W / 44.53°N 87.92083°W / 44.53; -87.92083