Events

A former small business owner and Dane County Board Supervisor, MELISSA AGARD was first elected to the State Assembly in November 2012, and served five terms in the Wisconsin State Legislature. She was elected to the State Senate in November 2020 and was chosen unanimously by her colleagues to serve as Senate Democratic Leader in November 2022.  She was then elected as Dane County Executive in November 2024.  Agard will talk about renovation plans for the Veterans Memorial Coliseum.

GRANT SOVERN is the president of the board of the Community Immigration Law Center, the second in the country public defender service for immigrants threatened with deportation.  While we all know immigrants at our workplaces, schools, and families, almost none of us understand how dramatically the US immigration system has changed from the welcoming woman with a torch in New York Harbor to today’s promises to deport millions of people.  The basis of the misunderstanding is the various words and statuses we use to describe the immigration processes and who qualifies, or doesn’t qualify, for what.  While that may sound basic, Sovern's presentation will provide the vocabulary and understanding to weigh in more effectively at a dramatic time for this issue.   

Did you know that public library service was established as one of the first municipally-funded services for Madison in 1875?  Library Director TANA ELIAS will present the history and growth of Madison Public Library in the past 150 years and a preview of what's next for Madison's public library system.

Our Second Century Fellowship Group invites children and grandchildren to learn more about our Rotary Club and the many wonderful things we do as well as to see how it has impacted their parents and/or grandparents, neighbors, etc.  The master of chemical demonstrations and science policy advocate, UW-Madison Emeritus Professor of Chemistry BASSAM SHAKHASHIRI will share the fun of science by doing experiments at our meeting to learn, enjoy, and take good action for the benefit of our community.  

JOHNEISHA PRESCOTT is a housing program specialist with the Dane County Division of Housing Access & Affordability.  NICOLE CHRISTEN is program director for The Road Home Dane County.  They will talk about managing housing and shelter initiatives for Dane County, contract oversight, and cross-agency collaboration to address homelessness and housing instability.

MICHAEL KLOSS was invited to join the Eau Claire Morning Rotary Club in 2014.  He quickly became passionate for community service to both local and international communities and greatly enjoys the sense of self-fulfillment that he receives from helping others. During his time, he has been Club President for two terms; is currently active as their Foundation Chair; and has been the Assistant Governor for Group 1 for the past four years.  

Flying above the clouds provided a new and larger prespective of life for DIANE BALLWEG, and it also opened an inner door of personal possibilities.  An advocate of lifelong learning, Diane secretly took flying lessons for two years, surprising family and friends when she became a pilot.  She has flown to six continents, navigated remote airstrips, and retraced the flight path of Japanese fighter pilots on their approach to Pearl Harbor. Her love of flying inspired her to establish and teach an aviation class at Edgewood High School.  On August 13, she will talk about her experiences that have culminated into a book titled, "Into the Wind, Above the Clouds: Love at First Flight."

The Madison Symphony Orchestra (MSO) reaches a milestone with the 2025-2026 season.  The MSO celebrates its 100^th Anniversary season and joins the ranks of many of the leading US symphony orchestras who have provided symphonic music to the communities they have served for 100 or more years.  Join Music Director John DeMain and Executive Director Robert Reed as they chat about what this means to the Madison region.

SCOTT DIKKERS served as The Onion’s co-owner and editor-in-chief for most of its first 3 decades. He’s the #1 New York Times bestselling author of over 40 books and the creator of the  comic strip “Jim’s Journal,” as well as founder of The AV Club, and founder and proprietor of How to Write Funny, an online comedy-training center. His work has won the Thurber Prize for American Humor and a Peabody. He publishes a daily article on creativity and productivity on Substack under the banner, “No Dikkering Around." Scott's latest book, “The Onion Story: How a Band of Misfits, Dropouts, and Sad Sacks Built the World's Most Trusted News Source,” comes out in October.

Remzi Arpaci-Dusseau is the Vilas Distinguished Achievement Professor and Grace Wahba Professor of Computer Sciences at UW-Madison. Remzi is a widely renowned scholar, dedicated teacher, and a special advisor to the Provost on Computing and serves as the Director of the School of Computer, Data & Information Sciences. He co-leads a group with Professor Andrea Arpaci-Dusseau. Together, they have graduated 32 Ph.D. students and won numerous best-paper and test-of-time awards; many of their innovations are used by commercial systems, and their group is considered one of the leading storage-systems groups in the world. He and Andrea's operating systems book, "Operating Systems: Three Easy Pieces" (www.ostep.org) is downloaded millions of times yearly and used at numerous institutions worldwide; despite being freely available, it has been the top-selling book on Amazon in operating system theory for many years.

Remzi Arpaci-Dusseau will present information about CDIS, the newest and fastest growing school at UW-Madison. His presentation will discuss its origins, current projects and programs, and new directions, in particular as related to the ongoing “AI moment” in the world.

Join Executive Director of the Dane County Historical Society Rick Bernstein and Dane County Senior Planner Bridgit Van Belleghem, as they discuss the history and impact of racial covenants. These clauses, made illegal in 1968 with the passage of the Fair Housing Act, prevented non-Christians and non-Whites from buying or occupying land.

Rick Bernstein served as a Public Historian of 30 years with the Wisconsin Historical Society before taking on the Executive Director role. 

Bridgit Van Belleghem works with property owners in the Prejudice in Places project, and also works with rural landowners to preserve agricultural and natural resources in rural Dane County.

Join Sam Rikkers, Deputy Secretary and COO of the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation, as he shares insights into Wisconsin's place in the global economy gained from recent international trade missions to Mexico, China, Japan and more. 

Join former State Senator Dale Schultz, as he provides reflection on the state of politics nationally in Wisconsin and about the formation of United Wisconsin, an unincorporated association that one day may be a fusion political party, which he co-chairs. Also speaking will be former Dane County Sheriff Dave Mahoney, who co-chairs United Wisconsin. Jeff Mandell, General Counsel and President of Law Forward, will discuss fusion voting and how it works. 

United Wisconsin's Background: A group of voters have formed United Wisconsin, an unincorporated association that one day may be a fusion political party.  A lawsuit has been filed challenging Wisconsin's ban on fusion voting, arguing it violates the state constitution. United Wisconsin believes that restoring fusion voting will encourage more compromise and cooperation in our politics. Our platform centers on values that have built Wisconsin: rule of law, public education small business and natural resources.  

Matt Villeneuve of Turtle Mountain Chippewa descent, is Assistant Professor of U.S. History and Native American and Indigenous Studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where he teaches courses in American Indian History, Native education, and environmental history. His research focuses on Native histories of education and schooling. Matt will present on one type of school that has been largely overlooked for over a hundred years: Indian Boarding Schools. Supported by the federal government, there were nearly a dozen such schools which worked to separate Indigenous families, eliminate language, and enact cultural replacement. This talk will offer a brief sketch of the history of Wisconsin's Indian Boarding schools and gesture towards current efforts to seek truth and healing in the wake of these deeply impactful institutions and showcase the strength and resilience of Wisconsin's Native nations. 

Join John Patterson, a 27-year veteran of the Madison Police Department and the Acting Chief of Police, as he discusses his vision for the Madison Police Department. Chief Patterson will speak on the challenges and the opportunities of his role, his commitment to enhancing police-community interactions and collaborations, and fostering transparency.

Jim Berkenstadt, aka the Rock And Roll Detective, is a local bestselling author of nonfiction, popular music history and mystery books. He will be speaking about his past work as a musical consultant to The Beatles, and other groups, as well as his film documentary work. Berkenstadt will also delve into his two recent award-winning, mystery bestsellers, The Beatle Who Vanished: 60th Beatles Anniversary Tour and Mysteries in the Music: Case Closed. 

From welding labs to health clinics, culinary kitchens to art studios—Madison College is a place of endless discovery. Join Dr. Berne for a behind-the-scenes look at how the college is shaping futures and strengthening our community.

Dr. Jasmine Zapata is an award winning author, national speaker, double board certified physician, visionary public health leader, business pioneer, and mother of four. In addition to practicing in the hospital and holding statewide physician leadership roles, she is passionate about stepping outside of the clinic walls to explore upstream and innovative approaches to improving birth outcomes for all. Zapata’s many lived experiences help her uniquely connect with the communities she serves, and she is well known for her infectious energy, passionate advocacy, and heart for service.

In her presentation, Dr. Zapata will share the gripping details of her own daughter’s premature birth at 25 weeks gestation and the life threatening complications that came after. She will share how her birth story tremendously shaped her career trajectory and what she is doing on a personal and professional level to combat black infant mortality in Wisconsin. She will challenge listeners to reflect on what role they play in the current infant mortality crisis and what things that they can do in both traditional and non-traditional ways to improve it. This session will be a mix of storytelling, self reflection, and fireside chat style Q/A. Join us! 

The Wisconsin Veterans Museum turns 125 years old on April 5, 2026. As always, the museum team works to preserve, interpret, and affirm the role of Wisconsinites in service to the United States armed forces. This talk will give an overview of the museum's history, activities, and plans for the future. 

In honor of Rabbi Manfred Swarsensky, Rotarian Lester Pines will share history about the Rabbi and how Rabbi Swarsensky worked to repair the world, through kindness, respect, generosity and charity. 

Wisconsin State Journal political cartoonist Phil Hands will share his award-winning work and some of the stories behind the creation of his favorite editorial cartoons. He'll also explain how he gets his ideas, who his favorite targets are and what goes into making a compelling political cartoon.