Mary Weiser Art Scholarship

Mary Weiser
(1917-1986)

Mary Weiser worked with the Art Department for many years, serving as department secretary and secretary to the chair.  She also served as a surrogate mother for many of the students, taking great interest in their lives and helping where she could.  Mary was the person who would bring in banana bread and have a candy dish filled to offer a faculty member’s child, while running an office with incredible efficiency.  When Old Main burned, she reconstructed files and put the Art Department offices back together again. 

Born in 1917, Mary was one of 14 children.  She was raised in Milwaukee, graduating from Milwaukee’s North Division High School.  After graduating, she worked for several years as an office administrator before starting a family and then moved to Whitewater in 1956.  In 1965, she accepted the position as the first secretary for the newly formed art department. 

Mary Weiser’s work with the Art Department was not just a job; her relationships with the faculty and students were important to her, and she became good friends with many of them throughout the years.  Her personal contributions to their life and work are hard to measure. 

Her family established the scholarship in Mary’s honor because they believed that she would have wanted to be part of the school in perpetuity.  Scholarships are given to support returning art students.