MILWAUKEE — Milwaukee entrepreneur Fred Sitzberger pledged $1 million to the UWM Foundation to support Milwaukee Panther Athletics at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee (UWM).
According to UWM, this is Sitzberger's second million-dollar gift to the program since 2016. The gift will support the Panther men's basketball program and the Athletics Department Excellence Fund. The fund helps all Panther student-athletes.
Due to the gift, the university plans to name a space within the new Orthopaedic Hospital of Wisconsin Center in his honor, UWM says.
“I am not an athlete, but I firmly believe that a strong athletics program can help shine a light on what a wonderful institution UW-Milwaukee is at the local, state and national levels,” Sitzberger said. “UWM provided me a good education at a good price. It was a small-town, caring atmosphere where the professors took an interest in you. Because of that caring, I worked hard and received a great job at one the best companies in my accounting field. I attained a level of success I could not have imagined in college, and it was because of UWM. That is why I give back.”
Sitzberger earned his accounting degree at UWM's Lubar School of Business in 1978. According to UWM, he found Sitzberger & Company and grew it to the four-county region’s 10th largest accounting practice through the acquisition of 22 firms. He sold the business and his payroll company, Payroll Care. He now retains his real estate and investment management firm, Bultman Investment Management. He also served many years as a volunteer for the UWM Alumni Association Board of Trustees and the UWM Foundation Board of Directors.
