Outlook Magazine - Fall 2018

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successful from day one,” Dallas said.

n a late summer morning in the mid-1950s, young Dallas Pankowski

“I really believe in the Stout philosophy,” Dallas said, adding that he strongly supports the blend of liberal arts with technology education. “Dallas and Edith Pankowski are the embodiment of the type of benefactors who are incredibly important to UW-Stout, and I am extremely grateful for their generosity,” Chancellor Bob Meyer said. “This gift is a confirmation of their continued connection to both UW-Stout and our community and their desire to invest in the future of our university.” The Pankowskis have given back to UW-Stout for many years via an endowed scholarship that benefits two students each year. In addition, they are lead donors for a planned amphitheater at Schmeeckle Reserve in Stevens Point. New, successful adventure Their philanthropy is possible thanks to the highly successful but low-key company, Pankowski Associates, they started about 40 years ago near Stevens Point, Wisc. Dallas left the electronics teaching field after more than four years at SUNY-Oswego and after Edye had earned bachelor’s, master’s and doctorate degrees, the latter in interior architecture from Penn State. They moved to Plover, near Stevens Point, about halfway between their hometowns to be closer to their ailing fathers. Pankowski Associates began with six rental units for college students at UW-Stevens Point. Although they took a risk – they cashed in Edye’s life insurance policy to help fund the startup – “it was

Their number of rental units grew for many years. They also expanded into building single-family spec homes and purchasing commercial real estate properties in the Green Bay-Appleton area. The company, smaller in recent years, is a team effort. With his know-how from UW-Stout, Dallas managed crews that built the apartment units and homes. Edye designed the interiors and handled the books, a tight, vertically integrated operation. “I liked the challenge and actually enjoyed the building. People will ask, ‘What did you do today?’ There’s a wall,” said Dallas, who took pride in using his teaching skills to train his crews and develop efficient production methods. Dallas’ adventure at 18 when he took the all-night train to Stout State was only a life’s beginning. He and Edye’s wanderlust has taken them to about three-fourths of the world’s nearly 200 countries, often on the road less traveled and sometimes in tenuous situations. They have collected art, created art and remained physically active with cross-state bike tours, hiking and downhill skiing out West. No matter where they’ve gone, however, their hearts have remained tethered to UW-Stout and Menomonie, a connection that will live on in perpetuity through their generous estate gift and scholarship. They are helping ensure that other students have opportunities, like they did, to make their marks in the world.

stepped off a train in north Menomonie to begin an adventure. The first person from his Milwaukee family to go to college, he was by himself and had never seen Stout State College. Later that day after he checked into Lynwood Hall – east of Harvey Hall -- he was wondering just what he’d gotten himself into so far up north. Five years later in 1961, the man leaving Menomonie wasn’t the same. He had bachelor’s and master’s degrees in industrial education, had taught classes while earning his master’s and was headed to the University of Missouri for his doctorate. Something else was new. Two days after getting his master’s, he and Edith Rogers of Menomonie were married. They had met when she waited on him at a restaurant in town. She then worked in the business office at Stout, as she couldn’t afford to attend the university. The city and school that once seemed strange to Dallas – he originally thought Stout State was in Menomonee Falls near Milwaukee – had changed him. “I had made Menomonie my home. You knew everybody, the storekeeper, your neighbor,” he said. A hands-on learner who had a career opportunity as a machinist before he came to Stout and whose dad worked at American Motors and was an amateur mechanic, Dallas loved the UW-Stout way of learning by doing. Nearly 60 years later, the Pankowskis are honoring the impact the school had on their lives with a $4 million estate gift, one of the largest donations in UW-Stout history. “What did Stout do for me? A lot. And it’s Edye’s hometown. It’s the right thing to do,” Dallas said. They hope that through their gift, UW-Stout can continue to prosper as an outlier in higher education. “We hope Stout never loses that hands-on emphasis. We want Stout to remain special and unique,” Edye said.

Dallas skydiving and Edye climbing a mast on a sailboat to Europe.

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