UW-Parkside announces Heide family gift, campus naming
Photo: Front L-R: Members of the Heide family: Paula Heide-Poggenburg, Krista Reck, Kathryn Thompson, Timothy Thompson | Back L-R: UW-Parkside Chancellor Debbie Ford, Charles Heide, Jr., UW-Parkside Vice Chancellor for Advancement Willie Jude II
Somers, Wis.- The University of Wisconsin-Parkside has announced a major multi-year gift commitment for student scholarships from the Brookwood Foundation, led by Kenosha’s Heide family.
The C.P. and Anna Heide Scholarship recognizes Christen P. Heide and Anna J. Heide, who were business and civic leaders in Kenosha, beginning in the early 1900s. Their son, Charles H. Heide, Sr., and his wife Kathryn Heide, along with children Kathryn Thompson, Krista Reck, Charles Heide, and Paula Heide-Poggenburg, established the scholarship in 2018, in conjunction with UW-Parkside’s 50th anniversary, to benefit students with financial need or hardship.
When fully endowed in the UW-Parkside Foundation, the family’s latest commitment will provide multiple, full-tuition scholarships each year, for years to come.
“Our grandfather, C.P. Heide, often said, ‘Work as hard as you can, learn as much as you can, do as much good as you can,’” said Charles H. Heide, Jr. about the family’s commitment. “That philosophy guides our work in the community, particularly our decision to create the scholarship at UW-Parkside. In turn, we hope that it inspires students and gives them the support they need to overcome challenges, achieve their goals, and make a difference in their own community or future profession.”
The relationship between the Heide family and UW-Parkside is long standing, as the university’s campus is located near the Heide property and Hawthorn Hollow in Somers, which is home to the Charles and Kathryn Heide Schoolyard Observatory. This combined stretch of farmland, natural lands, and park land creates a “green oasis” in the community. However, the relationship goes beyond proximity: members of the Heide family are UW-Parkside alumni, and Charles H. Heide, Sr. collaborated with UW-Parkside faculty members on scientific and environmental research.
“We are proud and excited to celebrate the Heides’ investment in student success, and I am deeply grateful for their support spanning two generations,” said Chancellor Debbie Ford. “They are more than just neighbors, but truly partners in strengthening our community and reaching our shared goal of transforming lives through education.”
Through the years, the Heides have provided support through their philanthropic foundation, the Brookwood Foundation, for scholarships recognizing former UW-Parkside instructors Lillian James and August Wegner, among others, and for initiatives of the UW-Parkside Foundation. Their past support is commemorated by the naming of the Brookwood Lobby in the university’s Rita Tallent Picken Regional Center for Arts and Humanities.
In recognition of the Heide family’s commitment, UW-Parkside will name a campus space in their honor: the Brookwood Foundation Main Place in Wyllie Hall. A dedication event will be held in September as part of the grand re-opening of Wyllie Hall, which is currently completing a $35 million state-funded renovation.
The University of Wisconsin-Parkside is committed to high-quality educational programs, creative and scholarly activities, and services responsive to its diverse student population, and its local, national, and global communities. We are a dynamic learning community grounded in academic excellence and focused on student success, diversity, inclusion, and community engagement. The campus serves as a premier comprehensive public institution and a destination of choice, serving as a focal point of local, regional, and global progress.
Media contact:
Tannette Elie
Executive Director of University Relations
University of Wisconsin-Parkside
elie@uwp.edu