The solid foundation I received at UW has opened many doors for me. I think it is important to give while you are ‘alive and taking nourishment,’ and it will be such a joy to see the new building on its completion.

Mary Behrens (’64 BS Nurs)

Pilot, Sailor, Survivor: Craig Mueller Shares Zest for Life

Craig Mueller was living his dream life as an airline pilot when, in 1998, an accident on an airport ramp ended his flying career and nearly ended his life. Mueller would endure heart, respiratory and kidney failure, vision impairment, amputation of his left leg above the knee and extensive loss of muscle and tissue on his right leg. A strong man who provided the brawn behind an America's Cup boat, Mueller learned he might never walk again, and certainly never pilot a plane.

Optimism--and passion, generosity and gratitude--reigns in the life of this man who feels he has been given a second chance. The University of Wisconsin-Green Bay is a beneficiary. Mueller (BA'71) is the first individual alumnus to establish a $1 million planned gift for UW-Green Bay. He is creating an endowment that will some day generate $50,000 annually for scholarships for UW-Green Bay students.

In 1961, Mueller was among the 345 enrollees jammed into a former World War II ordnance building in Green Bay nicknamed "Cardboard Tech." It was there that this financially challenged, shy young student awakened to a world of creative thinking, freedom of expression and respectful exchange of opinion.
After earning his degree in communication, he traveled, surfed and fulfilled his two great loves: flying and sailing. He worked as a grinder (the muscle that works the sails) on Stars and Stripes 86, America II and Heart of America. His career as an airline transport pilot also took off.

Mueller's near-fatal accident changed many things but not his spirit. He wants the beneficiaries of his endowment to have the opportunity to find themselves, as he has. "I want them to be able to do whatever they want and not be bound by the finances," he says. "I want them to be unafraid to take chances. A university education is more than showing up for class, getting good grades and having a social life. It's about the entire experience. The process and the people--that's the real education."