Alma Baron

When the youngest child of Alma Baron PhD’74 was grown, Alma decided to go back to school to get her doctorate. Through the Alma Baron Second Chance for Women Scholarship Fund, established in 2001, she made this same opportunity available to other women. This scholarship is available to help women older than 45 continue their education at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. “Second chance means exactly that – here’s your chance to go back to school and get a degree,” Alma said. “There are a lot of women who never would’ve considered college before. They are still young at the age of 45. I would love to give them the opportunity to get a degree. At the age of 50, when I completed my doctorate, my whole life changed. I had the opportunity to travel the world. I taught throughout the Far East, India, Scandinavia, Australia and New Zealand.” Alma’s dissertation led to the first working model for continuing education in business. After retirement, Alma, as emeritus professor in the Executive Education Program in the School of Business, continued to help business professionals find success in the workplace. Alma served on the National Council of Jewish Women, the state of Wisconsin Health Planning Board, the United Way of Dane County, the Attic Angel Association, Friends of WHA-TV, St. Mary’s Hospital Advisory Board, and the boards of the Madison Civics Club and the Madison Civic Music Association. She was the 1995 recipient of the Distinguished Alumni Award. A long-time philanthropist herself, Alma was a founding member of the UW Foundation’s Council on Women’s Giving. Alma and her husband Lee were longtime residents of Madison, WI. Their three children, Michael ‘71, Jill MS’79 and Ellen MS’78 PhD ’81, all hold degrees from UW Madison.