Since 2016, the La Follette School has awarded the annual Stephen F. Brenton Health Policy Scholarship to a student seeking to pursue a career in the health sector. Brenton is a widely respected leader who spent his career in health policy, and whose advocacy helped shape the healthcare landscape in Wisconsin and across the nation.
A UW–Madison alumnus, Brenton was President and CEO of the influential Wisconsin Hospital Association (WHA) from 2002 to 2015. He is serving on the 2021–22 awards committee with a La Follette School faculty and staff member.
“The Brenton Scholarship is vital to the School’s recruitment of talented students and for seeding the next generation of Wisconsin health policy and administration leaders,” says La Follette School Director and Professor Susan Yackee.
Past recipients have influenced healthcare and health policy in the public sector (Mitchell Running, MPA ’17, MPH ’18), nonprofit organizations (Emily Capodarco, MPA/JD ’21), and as clinicians (Dr. Allison Couture, MPA ’20). The most recent recipient (Katie Gray, MPA x’22) plans to focus her career working with patients suffering from dementia.
“I am beyond excited to combine the work I love, with the degree I love, in the state I love,” said Gray.
The Brenton Scholarship was created and endowed with financial contributions from WHA members.