Darrell Behnke, JD, is managing director for The Private Client Reserve at U.S. Bank in Madison, Wisconsin. In addition to managing a department, he administers a number of revocable trusts, testamentary trusts, individual retirement accounts, and charitable trusts for individuals as well as several public and private foundations. Behnke has been with U.S. Bank for more than two decades. Previously, he led the development and implementation of financial planning for the company’s Private Client Group. Prior to joining U.S. Bank, Behnke practiced law for a local law firm and worked as an accountant for a Wisconsin-based public accounting firm. He is a graduate of the UW-Madison, where he earned both his bachelor’s degree with honors and his JD with cum laude honors from the University of Wisconsin Law School. He has served on a number of local Boards, including the Board of St. Mary’s Hospital Foundation, the Madison Real Estate Council, and Oakwood Village Apartments, among others.
Patricia Boldt graduated from (then) Lawrence College in 1948. Following her marriage to O. C. Boldt, she took on the roles of wife, mother of three and community volunteer. In the course of living in Appleton for 59 years, she has served on many community boards, often as secretary or president. She was the first woman chosen as president of the United Way. As an active member of Memorial Presbyterian Church, Pat was ordained both as an elder and deacon, taught Sunday school, served on the church building committee, and was twice on the Pastor Nominating Committee. Along the way, she drove for Meals on Wheels, was a trail guide for fourth graders at a nearby nature center, was a reading tutor for first grade students, and for many years was an interviewer at an emergency assistance agency. From 1974-82, Pat was a member of the Board of Regents of St. Olaf College; she was given the Groth Mentoring Award in 2002. Pat Boldt was a patient of Dr. Richard Dortzbach from 1978-1990, and has had extensive experience with eye care at the University of Wisconsin. Together, Pat and O. C. Boldt have been honored with the Walter Rugland Community Service Award, the St. Olaf Regents Award, and honorary degrees from Lawrence University.
Erik Christianson is Executive Vice President at NACDA (National Collegiate Directors of Athletics). Previously he was executive director at College Sports Communicators and before that was managing director of communications at the National Collegiate Athletic Association. Prior to joining the NCAA, Erik worked as director of communications for the University of Wisconsin System, and he also served as a university relations specialist for UW-Madison University Communications. He has experience in state government as well at the Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development. Before moving into public relations, Erik worked as a newspaper reporter and editor in Minnesota, Illinois and Indiana. He is a graduate in communications from Northwestern College in St. Paul, Minnesota, and earned a master’s degree in public affairs reporting from the University of Illinois-Springfield. Erik lives near Indianapolis, Indiana, with his family. His interest in ophthalmology and visual science is highly personal: his oldest son is a survivor of bilateral retinoblastoma, a childhood eye cancer. Erik also has a notable family connection to the field of ophthalmology. He is a great nephew of the late Dr. Harold Scheie, the founder and namesake of the Scheie Eye Institute at the University of Pennsylvania.
Alan R. Morse, JD, PhD, is an Adjunct Professor of Ophthalmology at Columbia University, and CEO Emeritus of Lighthouse Guild International, which was formed by the merger of Jewish Guild Healthcare and Lighthouse International in December 2013. Previously, Morse served in the same roles at Jewish Guild Healthcare, where he has worked since 1968. His research interests include the influence of vision loss on health care utilization and cost; optimizing the delivery of vision and healthcare services; and the functional implications of vision loss, particularly when combined with cognitive impairment. Dr. Morse is an Adjunct Professor of Ophthalmology at Columbia University, a trustee of the Healthcare Association of New York State, and a director of the Alliance for Advancing Nonprofit Healthcare, the Center to Promote Health Care Studies, The Home Care Association of New York State, and the Jewish Home Lifecare System (Bronx, NY). Dr. Morse is a frequent participant on government panels, workgroups, and committees and is currently one of the two chairs of the Executive Board of the New York State Commission for the Blind and Visually Handicapped. Dr. Morse received his BA from Franklin College, MA from Indiana University, JD from Pace University, and PhD from Fordham University. Dr. Morse has served for six years as an active member on the McPherson ERI Advisory Board.
Sandra Lemke Trout (BS UW-Madison, Journalism’59) is a distinguished patron of the arts and sciences who, along with her husband Dr. Monroe E. Trout (who passed away in March, 2024), endowed four faculty chairs within the McPherson Eye Research Institute. Sandra Lemke Trout was a reporter at the Capital Times in Madison. Her sister, Janet Chase Lemke was an emerita assistant professor of physical therapy at UW-Madison and served as chair of the physical therapy program from 1982-1985. Alongside their work, Sandra and Monroe Trout established a parallel career in philanthropy. Their generosity has benefited many educational institutions (including Morehouse School of Medicine, Bloomfield College, Westminster College, Dickinson School of Law, UC-San Diego, and the University of the Cumberlands). The Trouts were the founding sponsors of the Rossini Festival in Knoxville, TN. In 2010 they endowed and established the Trout Museum of Art in Appleton, Wisconsin, presenting the museum with their private art collection.
Deceased:
Oscar C. Boldt was Chairman of The Boldt Company, one of the nation’s largest and most highly respected construction firms. Under Oscar’s guidance, The Boldt Company – founded by his grandfather in 1889 – developed a national presence with much activity in the institutional and hospital construction arena. The Boldt Company’s sterling reputation for efficiency, innovation and integrity is a reflection of Oscar’s personal history of service and community support, including his service as a navigator on a 15th Air Force B24 bomber in Italy during World War II. When the war ended, he returned to Madison to complete his Civil Engineering education. On graduation in 1948, he returned home to Appleton to join the family’s small construction company, then in its 59th year. Oscar has been deeply involved in community activity, serving on many community boards, frequently as Chairman. He was part of a small group that developed the Fox Cities Performing Arts Center, which has become a model for success in other communities. He considered that his greatest achievement was marrying Patricia Hamar, but he also received much additional recognition, including several honorary degrees.
Derilyn Cattelino is a native Madisonian and UW alumna. A homemaker and mother of three, she is now an empty-nester who has enjoyed working as a community volunteer. Over the years, she served on the Boards of the Madison Civic Music Association (symphony and opera), as Secretary of the Board; the Madison Art Center League as Board Secretary; and Friends of the UW Hospital as Program Chair. Deri has chaired the nominating committee for MCMA, and has coordinated the American Cancer Society event and the Arts Ball.
Emmett A. Humble was born in Kerens, Navarro County, Texas and served with the Navy in the Pacific Theater in WW II. After his service, he returned to Texas and married his high school sweetheart, Lorine Crumpler. After receiving both Bachelor & Masters degrees from the University of Texas at Austin, Emmett went to work for the Humble Oil and Refining Company – now ExxonMobil – in Tyler, Texas. His career involved several moves within the U.S. and overseas, before he finally returned to Houston in 1971. His tenure at Exxon included thirteen years of Board level service (the last five years as CEO of Esso Exploration Inc., Exxon’s affiliate responsible for international exploration and drilling), and as a Director of Exxon Production Research Company. Upon retirement from Exxon in 1986, he formed a consulting firm, Petroleum Associates International. Emmett has served as the Chair of both the Board of Advisory Trustees and the Board of Managing Directors of the Retina Research Foundation, President of the East Texas Geological Society, President of the Exxon East Texas Employees Federal Credit Union, and is a Life Member of the Board of Directors for the Sam Houston Area Council of the Boy Scouts of America. He is a member of the Second Baptist Church of Houston, and serves on the Houston Committee on Foreign Relations. Among his many honors are the Silver Beaver Award and the Distinguished Commissioner Award from the Boy Scouts of America, a United States Coast Guard Public Service Commendation, and the Retina Research Foundation Service Award. Emmett Humble, a good friend to the Institute and to many others, passed away on November 7th, 2018.
Dr. Monroe E. Trout built an influential career in pharmaceutical discovery and development and the health care industry, which culminated as chairman and CEO of American Healthcare Systems. Alongside his work, Dr. Trout and his wife, Sandra Lemke Trout, established a parallel career in philanthropy that was transformative for many of the organizations that they supported. Monroe E. Trout, Sr., passed away on March 4th, 2024.