Wisconsin Academy: Announcing statewide academy evenings kickoff presentation in Hudson

Contact: Jason A. Smith, communications director

MADISON–The Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts and Letters is pleased to announce Stan Gruszynski, the USDA’s new State Director of Rural Development, will be the featured speaker for the series opener of statewide Academy Evenings presentations on Tuesday, October 13, at 7:00 pm at the Phipps Center for the Arts, 109 Locust Street in Hudson. Gruszynski will discuss “The Future of Farming and Rural Life” project, and share stories (some of them humorous) based on his travels across Wisconsin.

The Wisconsin Academy’s “The Future of Farming and Rural Life” project explored the state’s potential for economic and sustainable growth through agriculture, and developed a specific action plan and policy recommendations to lead to a more sustainable, diverse, and economically viable future for Wisconsin’s agriculture sector and rural communities (see our webpage for more details). Completed in 2008, the project “was the voice of rural Wisconsin,” says Gruszynski. At his Academy Evenings presentation Gruszynski will augment “The Future of Farming and Rural Life” project research by addressing the challenges facing agricultural communities today on both state and national levels. In a time of limited resources, Gruszynski suggests that communities can best address their most-pressing needs by assessing where these needs lie in the context of the local economy and collaborating with other communities on long range, sustainable plans.

Stan Gruszynski is rooted in the life of urban and rural Wisconsin. Until recently, he served as Director of the Rural Leadership and Community Development program within the Global Environmental Management (GEM) Education Center in the College of Natural Resources at UW–Stevens Point. Prior to his appointment at UWSP, he served in the state legislature for five terms (1984–1994). He has extensive experience assisting local communities in building leadership capacity and opportunities for economic advancement within the framework of Wisconsin’s conservation ethic.

This Academy Evening event is co-sponsored by UW–River Falls and the Phipps Center for the Arts. Statewide Academy Evenings are sponsored by the Pleasant T. Rowland Foundation, Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation, University of Wisconsin-Madison, M&I Bank, the Evjue Foundation, and the Lubar Family Foundation.

About Academy Evenings

Academy Evenings engage the public in a wide variety of topics of public interest and feature Wisconsin’s leading thinkers, scholars, and artists. These free forums are intended to encourage public interaction with these leaders in an intimate atmosphere designed to foster discussion and build community. The Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts and Letters sponsors Academy Evenings regularly in Overture Center for the Arts in Madison and at other venues across the state. For more information on Academy Evenings in your area, visit wisconsinacademy.org .

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