On Thursday, November 5th, our Synod Vice President Nancy Schanke was honored by the Fox Valley Chapter of UW Alumni Associate as “Badger of the Year.” From the UW Alumni Association, “The Badger of the Year honorees are selected based on leadership in their professions, service in their communities, and/or contributions to volunteer organizations.”
Nancy is a 1976 UW–Madison graduate with a degree in Occupational Therapy and spent many years serving students in the Appleton Area School District. A devoted community volunteer and leader, Nancy is known for her willingness to support others, build relationships, and work for social justice. As a wife, mother, and grandmother, she embodies the Wisconsin Idea through her deep commitment to community, compassion, and making the world a better place. Nancy wears so many hats in her life and calling. In addition to serving as our synod vice president she chairs the UW Alumni Association and is a dedicated volunteer for Pine Lake Camp.
Bishop Anne shared the following remarks at the gathering hosted in Nancy’s Honor:
“My name is Anne Edison-Albright, and I serve as bishop of the East Central Synod of Wisconsin in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. And I am a huge Nancy Schanke fan!
My first interaction with Nancy came not too long after I started my first term as bishop, back in 2021. Nancy invited me to go with her to visit Pine Lake, a Lutheran camping ministry that does amazing faith formation work with people of all ages and is very near and dear to Nancy’s heart. Nancy’s invitation made me think, “Okay… she’s clearly awesome. She should be our next synod vice president.”
Synod is a term we use in the ELCA to describe regional groupings of congregations, people, and other ministries. Our synod includes more than 100 ELCA congregations in an area that stretches from Fond du Lac up to Tomahawk and from Door County out to Wisconsin Rapids.
Synod staff celebrate with Badger of the Year and Synod VP, Nancy Schanke.
Being a synod vice president is a little bit like being the chair of the board of directors of a mid-sized, somewhat complicated nonprofit organization. It’s a major commitment, and not just in terms of time. It requires considerable leadership and courage, as well.
As our synod vice president, Nancy has traveled to and visited many congregations to celebrate milestones and joyful events. She has also accompanied me on visits to congregations that are experiencing conflict, considering leaving the ELCA, or struggling with the changing realities of what it means to be a church today.
But the thing I appreciate most about Nancy is the very reason I asked her to serve as our synod vice president back in 2021 and to be open to serving a second term, which began in 2025. Nancy helps me, and our whole church, keep sight of the bigger picture and the things that matter most.
Nancy, as you know, is a Badger. She embodies and lives out the Wisconsin Idea: that education is not something that can or should be confined to a classroom; rather, education can and should make life better for all people.
Nancy applies this idea in every part of her life, including her life as a person of faith. God’s love can’t be confined to a church building. God’s love in action can make life better for all people.
Nancy is a person of faith who shares God’s love by working for economic and social justice; opposing racism, homophobia, patriarchy, ableism, and all the other forms of fear and hatred that deny the inherent belovedness and dignity of all human beings.
Nancy, congratulations on the honor of being Badger of the Year! And thank you for all the ways you live out the best of what it means to be a UW–Madison alumna and a person of faith in everything you do and everything you are.
Thank you, Nancy!”
