McBurney Disability Resource Center dedicated at UW-Madison

UW-Madison News announced yesterday that the McBurney Disability Resource Center, which advocates for and assists students, families and the UW-Madison campus community in navigating the academic challenges and practical concerns faced by people with disabilities, will dedicate its new space at 702 W. Johnson St. in a ceremony next Wednesday April 6.

Roberta "Bobbi" Cordano ('90 JD LAW), vice president of programs for the Amherst H. Wilder Foundation, and Greg Rice ('77 BBA BUS), CEO and managing partner of Executive Management Inc., will speak as part of the dedication ceremony.

Rice is a former student of James Graaskamp, whose lessons and high expectations guided him as project developer on the McBurney Center.

According to the announcement, the new location offers new opportunities and benefits including a conference room dedicated to Professor James Graaskamp, a legendary figure in the history of real estate education and research at UW-Madison and who promoted the creation of the Center and its dedication to Michael McBurney ('60 BA, '63 JD). The James Graaskamp Conference Room seats up to 20 guests and has enhanced audio/visual capabilities for accessible training and event hosting.

James Graaskamp, paralyzed as a result of polio as a teen, was a passionate teacher known for his devotion to students and intellectual oratory. Stephen Malpezzi, professor of real estate and urban land economics, relates in his paper "The Wisconsin Program in Real Estate and Urban Land Economics: A Century of Tradition and Innovation" that "while Graaskamp made few concessions to his medical problems in his personal and professional life, he was active in improving the quality of life for others facing such difficulties."

The James A. Graaskamp Center for Real Estate in the School of Business was dedicated in 2007. The Graaskamp Center's main goal has been to serve as a link between real estate faculty and students, alumni, the real estate professional community, governmental agencies and the general public, and to administer the Wisconsin MBA program in Real Estate. The Graaskamp Center was proud to share a portrait of Graaskamp, commissioned for the 2007 naming ceremony, to be displayed in the McBurney Center's new conference room.


"Ceremony to dedicate new McBurney Disability Resource Center at UW-Madison," UW-Madison News, March 29, 2011