ANDY BAGGOT Insider Related Content • Varsity Magazine

Nicholas leaves lasting legacy with match campaign
Initial donation leads to $40 million in endowed scholarships for UW Athletics 

BY ANDY BAGGOT
UWBadgers.com Insider

MADISON, Wis. — There are many ways to measure the generous legacy of Albert O. Nicholas involving the Wisconsin Athletic Department, but perhaps none more telling than of his last.

A proud UW graduate, a former men's basketball player, a business titan in the state, the man known as Ab and his wife, Nancy, created the Nicholas Match Program designed to fund endowed scholarships for UW-Madison students.

As part of a $50 million gift to the university, the Nicholas family earmarked $20 million for UW Athletics with the idea that other individuals would match it for a total of $40 million.

That project, which began in June of 2015, has reached the finish line. UW Director of Athletics Barry Alvarez announced Wednesday that 66 parties have combined to provide gifts totaling $20 million.

"This is an insurance policy for the future of the program," Alvarez said. "This goes on in perpetuity.

"First you have to thank the Nicholases, but so many people stepped up and were part of it to make it happen."

In all, 17 donors added to their current endowments and 49 new scholarships have been initiated, giving UW Athletics one of the deepest endowed scholarship pools in the Big Ten Conference.

"It makes us, if not the top school in the Big Ten, one of the top schools with the most amount of endowed scholarships."

Ab Nicholas was 85 when he died Aug. 4. His son, David, said the match program was a cherished project.

"This was one of his dreams," David said of his father, who knew the additional $20 million had been raised prior to his death. "He was given an opportunity as an athlete to get an education and he always loved that part of it, so he wanted to give back.

"It was something he could do and wanted to. It was really about his time at the university and having the ability to give back and give other kids the opportunity he had."

Ab Nicholas was a standout for the Badgers from 1949 to '52, twice being named first-team all-Big Ten Conference. He eschewed a career in the NBA to enlist in the Army and go to graduate school to specialize in finance and investments.

Among his many philanthropic endeavors was a gift of $10 million that helped bring to life the Kohl Center, home to the UW basketball and men's hockey teams. The basketball practice gym is named for Nicholas and his wife.

Bob Bruce, a Madison native who played golf for the Badgers and befriended Nicholas when they attended UW, is among the donors who created a new endowment.

Bruce, who founded an investment and finance company in Chicago, has underwritten multiple golf scholarships and supplied a seven-figure lead gift for the UW Golf Training Center at University Ridge.

He said the "monstrous gift" from his long-time friend to establish the match program was a product of his love for all things UW.

"I'm a dwarf compared to Albert," Bruce said. "He gets publicity, but he doesn't get enough. He's given so much. I admire him for doing all that. It's just amazing."

Joe Rothbauer, another participant in the match program, had a similar experience as Nicholas and Bruce.

Rothbauer was an offensive lineman, a three-year letterman, for the Badgers who served as captain in 1980. He received a degree in engineering in 1981 and currently works in Houston, Texas.

When the match program was announced, Rothbauer was the first to sign up, augmenting an endowed scholarship he and his wife, Becky, had created in 2011. The added investment is designed to create scholarships for in-state and out-of-state recipients.

"I went into business and struck it pretty well," Rothbauer said. "It was a time to pay back. The original scholarship was all about paying back that which I believe I owed to the university for the education I got and the opportunity I received."

After writing a six-figure check to cover the initial scholarship five years ago, Rothbauer took the unusual step of writing a thank you note to Alvarez.

"There were a few points I wanted to get across to Barry about my experience at the university and the fact I was trying to pay back what I believe I owed," Rothbauer said.

One of the points Rothbauer made was about the people who helped mold him, including then-UW football coach Dave McClain and assistants Mario Russo and Bob Palcic.

"The experience I had in football taught me about motivating people and leadership of people," Rothbauer said. "I became more than I ever thought I possibly could become on a football field because of what they did for me.

"Those lessons I've carried with me."

The Badgers were 5-4-2, 4-7 and 4-7 during Rothbauer's time as a starter from 1978 to '80, but there were valuable lessons aplenty.    

"We clearly weren't the team they are now," Rothbauer said. "We didn't even get close to a bowl game when I was playing.

"In the tough times when you're 4-7, the game isn't all that much fun. That's when you've got to get up every morning, you've got to dust yourself off and you've got to get after it."

Rothbauer said investing in Wisconsin is a wise move because of its "massively world-class" education, professors and facilities.

"I go around and there's just nothing that I've seen like the University of Wisconsin," he said. "I've been on a lot of campuses – Texas, Texas A&M, Baylor, Delaware – there's just nothing like Wisconsin."

Brothers Ken and Kim Heiman operate Nasonville Dairy, a 125-year-old family enterprise in Marshfield. Their decision to endow a scholarship for the first time has roots in deep, fertile soil.

"Our entire livelihood, our entire heritage has come from Wisconsin," Ken said. "We were born and raised here. Our grandfather settled here. Our great grandfather settled here. Our businesses are here.

"Everything we've done is related to this university. The things that we get personally out of the Center of Dairy Research, out of the Science Lab, are phenomenal."

A major vehicle for promoting UW is its 23-sport athletics program and the more than 800 participating student-athletes.

"What we see as far as the sports, the university has set a threshold that's unbelievably high," Heiman said. "The university sports and so forth promotes Wisconsin to the absolute max. It does great things."

Heiman said funding an endowed scholarship is part of the company's fiscal duty.

"Agriculture has been good to us and sports in general and the things that are being done there are so good for the university and so good for the students," he said. "To us it becomes our responsibility to help with that."

Being part of the Nicholas Match Program was an opportunity the Heimans couldn't resist.

"Oh, my Lord, we have to take advantage of it from the viewpoint that they matched what we were going to give," Ken said. "It's a win-win. It made all the sense in the world."

For information about endowing a scholarship for UW Athletics, please visit SupportTheBadgers.org or email development@uwbadgers.com.

The university portion of the Nicholas Match campaign is still ongoing. For more information on how to become involved, please visit SupportUW.org.