Director:

Susan M. Schierstedt is the Director of the Wisconsin Family Business Forum. Since the initial Forum program in the fall of 2006, Sue has been responsible for meeting the needs of family businesses throughout the region through the delivery of relevant programs, the facilitation of peer groups, the provision of information, and responsiveness to specific needs. Sue is part of a family business research team in the College of Business.

Sue has a B.S. in Education from Northwestern University, Illinois, and an M.B.A. from UW Oshkosh, College of Business Administration. From 1984 to 1992 Schierstedt was Associate Director of the Richard W. Koehn Institute for Information Systems and Automation at UW Oshkosh. Prior to joining the Wisconsin Family Business Forum, she was Administrative Officer for the Management Institute at UW-Madison's School of Business. Both organizations provided outreach programs and services to businesses, regionally and internationally, respectively.

Sue had early experience with the unique problems of family businesses. She grew up playing alongside her grandfather and father in a business she expected to take over someday. Having experienced the failure of the business due to the inability of her father and grandfather to agree on long-term strategies, she knows the importance of family dynamics, planning, and communications for the success of a family business.

You may contact Susan Schierstedt via e-mail at schierss@uwosh.edu.

Assistant:

Donna Nelson is the program assistant for the Forum.  She joined the Forum staff in May of 2006. As a member of the Forum team, Donna is customer-focused, serving as a resource upon whom members and sponsors can rely for professional, timely, and accurate information. Donna is appreciated for her excellent management of the Forum's program logistics, scheduling, registrations, and financial reporting.

If you would like information about the Forum or any of our programs, please contact Donna Nelson at nelsond@uwosh.edu.

Faculty
Liaison:

Dr. C. Burk Tower is the Forum's faculty liaison and publishes in the area of family business management. Burk is a faculty member in the Management and Human Resources Team in the College of Business Administration at the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh. He focuses on Marketing and Entrepreneurship. He also leads the Young Entrepreneurial Scholars (YES) composed of college students interested in starting their own businesses.

Burk worked closely with Craig Smith from Retained Earnings Company/MassMutual, the College's Dean, regional family business professionals, and family business owners to design and develop the Forum. Burk serves on the Forum's committees and as an ex officio member of the Board. As part of the Forum's staff, he works closely with the Director and the Board to ensure that the Forum is a valuable resource for the region.

You may contact Dr. Burk Tower at tower@uwosh.edu