Egle, Kuse, Lemke named to MASH Academic Hall of Fame

Three area natives were inducted into the Medford Area Senior High School Alumni Hall of Fame on Monday night.

Inductees were Dr. Brian Egle, Dr. Hildegard R. Kuse and Shirley Hessefort Lemke. The Academic Hall of Fame inducted its first honorees in 2013 and prior to Monday, 13 people had been inducted into the Academic Hall of Fame.

Egle is a 1995 graduate of the Medford Area Senior High School. Since graduating he has made remarkable contributions to society through his distinguished career, currently serving as the Section Head of the Plasma Enrichment Science and Engineering in the Isotope Science and Engineering Directorate at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) since 2020. Egle has been a scientist at ORNL since receiving his PhD in Nuclear Engineering and Engineering Physics from the University of Wisconsin - Madison in 2010.

Egle’s professional journey at ORNL has been marked by excellence and leadership. Prior to his current role, he held the position of Senior Research Engineer in Fusion Energy and served as the Group Leader of the Isotope Development Group. His significant impact on ORNL’s isotopes program is evident through his multiple leadership roles and innovative contributions. Egle’s dedication to advancing scientific knowledge has earned him notable recognition, including the DOE Office of Science Appreciation Award for the enrichment of ruthenium-96—the first stable isotope produced in the United States since 1998. Additionally, Egle received the prestigious Department of Energy Oppenheimer Fellowship in 2022, a testament to his exceptional achievements and leadership in the field.

Egle was unable to attend Monday’s ceremony in person but addressed the students, parents and community members present with video remarks talking about the challenges he faced and had to overcome going into graduate program and needing to take the qualifying entrance exams three times. He spoke of the need for perseverance and hard work.

Shirley Lemke graduated from Medford High School in 1958 as Salutatorian of her class. She went on with her education and graduated from UW Stevens Point with a Bachelor of Science in Intermediate Upper Elementary Education.

She started her career as a teacher, teaching 6th and 7th grade students in the Medford School District at Brookside School and then with the construction of the new high school in 1968 the 6th and 7th grade students moved to the Medford Area Middle School where she taught 7th grade social studies. She then became director of the Medford Public Library. During her tenure at the library she helped generations of young people learn to read and opened the path to lifelong learning. Her vision and dedication helped unite the community behind the construction of the new library building which was completed in 1998. Lemke retired from that position in 2001 (the same year she received a lifetime achievement recognition from the Medford Area Chamber of Commerce).

Retirement, if anything, sped up her commitment to educating the community. She has served in Lions in a variety of club offices including time spent in regional and statewide leadership. She is passionate about the Lions mission to be “Knights of Sight” working to bring resources to the area for those of all ages with vision issues.

Lemke is also a dedicated community volunteer working at Lions and community events throughout the year from the helping sort ducks at the duck race to putting in long hours in the food stand on the 4th of July.

Throughout her career and volunteer work, Shirley has been an innovator and leader promoting education and access to lifelong learning.

Dr. Hildegard R. Kuse was born in 1928 in a log cabin on a Town of Medford farm north of the current high school. She collaborated extensively with her late sister, Dr. Loretta S. Kuse, a 1957 Medford Area High School graduate. Hildegard graduated from MASH in 1946 and received degrees from Central State Teachers College, the U of lowa and a PhD from the U of Colorado. She taught elementary students in Shawano, WI and also in university laboratory schools. She taught college level reading, language arts and science methods and supervised student teachers at four universities. Hildegard directed NASA aerospace education workshops at UWSP for 8 summers. She authored church school curriculum, histories, and materials for church festivals. She foraged for and wrote about local wild food sources, superior in taste and nutrition to commercial counterparts. She coauthored an elementary Science textbook and served as a board member and writer for three volumes of Taylor County history. After teaching at UWSP for nearly 3 years, Dr. Kuse retired in 1990. She had received both the University Service and Excellence in Teaching Award. Her biography was included in the 2023 edition of ‘Who’s Who.’ The sisters were the first recipients of the HL Kuse Award given by the Taylor County Literacy Council. In Medford, she was active in Friends of Downtown, the Chequamegon Bird Club and Taylor County Historical Society.