17�Թ�

For Jim Brown and Karen Isebrands‑Brown, 17�Թ� is a place they’ve shaped and supported through decades of leadership, innovation, and a commitment to higher education and the Northwoods community. 

Karen joined 17�Թ� in 1969, teaching and counseling before serving as director of the Women’s Resource Bureau and dean of the Center for Business and Industry. Over her career, she championed workforce development, diversity in non‑traditional careers, and led the 17�Թ� sustainability initiative. “I got to change gears a hundred times and do a hundred jobs. No one was carving the path for me. I got to carve my own path. It was a wonderful opportunity,” Karen recalled.

Jim joined 17�Թ� in 2000 as vice president of instruction, bringing with him a philosophy rooted in community engagement. Jim said, “We had great faculty and deans to run the day-to-day operations, so I felt my job was to spend time in the community and connect the college to the outside world.” He made those connections by strengthening employer partnerships, expanding career and health programs, and forming the Grow North Economic Development organization.

In 2008, Jim added vice president of operations to his responsibilities before retiring in 2010. Karen retired in 2004 but returned to work part time for several years.  Today, their commitment to 17�Թ� and the 17�Թ� Foundation remains strong.  As loyal donors, they provide five scholarships for nursing students.

“For me, it’s about focusing on the enrichment of the students’ lives and making the difference between living on the margins and having a successful career,” Karen says. Jim added, “Look around at all the businesses and services you see and access in the Northwoods on a regular basis. Virtually every business employs a 17�Թ� graduate. The level of services you enjoy here is partly due to the education and training these employees earned at 17�Թ�.”

Their legacy at 17�Թ� is measured not only in the programs and services they created but in the impact they make on our community. Their belief in the power of education ensures that 17�Թ� will continue shaping futures for generations to come.

After graduating from 17�Թ�, Lynn Hudson earned a bachelor’s degree in biochemistry at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, a PhD in genetics and cell biology at the University of Minnesota, and completed her post-doctoral work at Harvard Medical School. Dr. Hudson spent 30 years doing research at the National Institutes of Health as the head of the Laboratory of Developmental Genetics and later taking the helm at the Office of Science Policy Analysis.

Her father, Dr. Steger, helped create 17�Թ�. “Even when my dad started in 1969, he really believed in lifelong learning. That was a time when that was such a novel concept,” Dr. Hudson recalls. Dr. Hudson never forgot the important role 17�Թ� played in her life, saying, “It really prepared me. I look back at my educational life, and I’d say in all that time, about a half dozen people really influenced me with their passion for the subject and their drive, and half of those were here.”

Dr. Hudson established the Dr. Robert Steger Award in her father’s memory for students graduating from 17�Թ� and transferring to a four-year college or university, and she makes a contribution to this award every year. After more than 50 years, the Steger family is still making a difference in the Northwoods community. Theirs is a lasting legacy made possible by a lifetime of philanthropy carried on from one generation to the next.