Wisconsin 275

Mark Bugher served as director of University of Wisconsin-Madison’s University Research Park from 1999 until his retirement in 2013. Bugher is credited with helping develop the park into a hub for early-stage, growth-oriented businesses in the engineering, computational and life sciences sectors.

Carrie Thome leads NVNG Investment Advisors, a Madison-based firm that works to connect corporate and institutional investors with venture opportunities.

Rev. Alex Gee has emerged as one of the leading voices in the movement for racial equity in Madison.

Christine Specht leads Menomonee Falls-based Cousins Subs, which currently has nearly 100 locations throughout Wisconsin and Illinois.

David Trotter manages the Winnebago Seed Fund, a Neenah-based fund founded in 2016 to make seed investments in Wisconsin startups.

In the late 1990s, Jerome Frautschi gave what was recognized then as one of the largest gifts to the arts from a single donor in the U.S.

Robert Hillis founded Milwaukee-based Direct Supply in 1985 as the first virtual distributor of medical equipment for nursing homes.

John Zeratsky spent time working for YouTube, Google and VC fund Google Ventures before co-founding his own Milwaukee-based VC fund, Character.

Héctor Colón took the helm of Lutheran Social Services of Wisconsin and Upper Michigan in 2017 and is credited with leading a $17.4 million turnaround of the organization.

Jim Yehle was promoted to president and CEO of J.H. Findorff & Son Inc. in early 2020, just months before the COVID-19 pandemic’s arrival.