Ripon Area School District 2020 Friend of Public Schools Award
26 August 2020 News
Bill and Judy Neill are true friends of public education. They have donated countless hours and made many
donations to the school district over the years through the Ripon Education Foundation. Bill and Judy met as
students at Ripon College in 1965. After Bill served in Vietnam, they returned to Ripon in 1972 when Bill
accepted the position of Director of Alumni Relations for Ripon College. Their two sons graduated from Ripon
High School: Rob in 1987 and Josh in 1992.
Bill worked for the Ripon College for 39 years and served as an active duty and reserve officer in the US Army
for 25 years. Bill serves on Ripon’s Main Street Board, and he has been an active member of Ripon Noon
Kiwanis since 1974. Bill also served two terms on the Wisconsin Bar Association Board of Governors and as a
member of the WI Lawyers’ Client Protection Committee. He has volunteered with the Ripon Boy Scouting
program for almost 50 years, and over the years, Bill has donated time to Green Lake/Ripon Foundation Board,
the Ripon Community Foundation Board, local elections, and Ripon United Way. He is an active member of
First Congregational Church.
After earning her master’s degree from UW-Madison in Adult and Technical Education, Judy worked for
Moraine Park Technical College (20 years) and for the Wisconsin Technical College System Foundation (17
years). During that time, Judy provided leadership to several Wisconsin Technical College innovative
initiatives including Distance Learning, Tech Prep, Youth Apprenticeship and Performance-based Learning
Design. Judy has served on the Ripon Library Board and Ripon College’s Alumni Board. Currently, she is
active in P.E.O., League of Women Voters, Ripon College’s Alumni Association, and the First Congregational
Church.
Both Bill and Judy provide significant support for the Ripon Education Foundation; Bill having served as a
REF Board Member since 2011 and Judy since 2009. Bill chairs the Development Committee, actively seeking
gifts and working with major donors and potential major donors personally to help them plan the purpose,
amount, and configuration of their gifts. He is committed to ensuring that REF donors receive recognition for
their contributions and that donor intentions are fulfilled. Bill also serves on the Scholarship Awards and Great
Conversations Committees.
As treasurer for the Foundation, Judy manages REF finances and serves as the primary liaison with the
Oshkosh Community Foundation. She works closely with the Development Committee to create major donor
fund agreements and track designated gifts to ensure the gifts are used according to donor wishes. In addition,
Judy coordinates the Jennie Long Tutoring projects and serves on the Public Relations and Grants Committees.
Judy and Bill are consistent donors to the Ripon Education Foundation initiatives with particular interest in the
Jennie Long Tutoring Fund.
Bill and Judy shared “We believe that strong public schools are essential to a high quality of life at all levels
of community including local, state, national, and global. Our hope is that all Ripon Area School District
children will have the opportunity to maximize their potential to benefit from an education that offers excellent
opportunities to develop competence in math, science, language, and the arts, along with life-long
social/emotional and fitness skills. We believe that this can happen only in an environment where students,
parents, teachers, and staff members share mutual respect, and in the context of strong support from the local
community.”
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