A Launchpad for the Future

Beth Partleton credits the UWM School of Architecture & Urban Planning with launching her successful career and providing her with lifelong friendships. Because attending the school became a pivotal turning point in her life, she decided to establish an endowed scholarship for architecture students with a gift from her estate.

“I started out wanting to be an interior designer. I had never considered architecture, but my experience working in an architecture firm doing interior design made me realize I had an interest in doing more. That’s when I enrolled in UWM.” She received her MA in architecture from UWM in 1979. Beth thinks the small school and sense of community she experienced at UWM played a strong role in her professional development. “The friends you made were the ones who stayed up with you all night in the studio and slept on the floor. We made friendships that were much stronger than just going to a class.”

When Beth neared the end of her graduate work at UWM, then-Dean Anthony Catanese recommended her for a position at Miller Brewing Company (now MillerCoors).

From the start of her career there in 1977 until her retirement in 2008, Beth undertook company-wide projects, primarily designing offices and employee spaces. She later served as a project manager focused on design and construction of breweries, moved into facilities management and planning, and later focused on manufacturing processes and efficiencies, then project management and finally capital project and risk management.

Following the death of her husband, Vernon Vice, in 2017, Beth began to reflect on her life’s work. “You ask yourself, am I leaving any mark on the world? What has meant the most to me in my life? What has helped me get where I am?” For Beth, leaving her mark meant helping future architecture students fulfill their dreams at UWM.

Dean Robert Greenstreet emphasizes the importance of Beth’s contributions. “Beth Partleton’s gift will help ensure the future of our students and our school. She epitomizes the positive role that alumni can play through volunteer leadership and generous giving.”

To learn more about ways you can make a lasting impact on students and the school, like Beth is, contact Gretchen E. Miller, J.D. at gemiller@uwm.edu or (414) 229-3067.