Klingler College of Arts and Sciences Award Recipients
A Person for Others Award
GILBERT D. SEDOR, ARTS '59, LAW '61
Janesville, Wis.
“Tenacious.” “Relentless.” “Leader by example.”
All have been used to describe Gil Sedor. But the most telling description comes from a newspaper headline: “Volunteering is his full-time job.”
For 50 years, Gil has been a fundraiser, volunteer and community leader in Janesville, Wis., where he practiced law after graduating from Marquette. He retired as an attorney in 2003 but continues to be known as a man for others. From working on behalf of the Red Cross, Salvation Army, United Way, YMCA, Jaycees, Rotary Club, Janesville’s Hedberg Public Library and the UW–Rock County Foundation, Gil is guilty of what one journalist called “chronic participation syndrome.”
“Voluntary service is the lifeline and backbone of every community,” says Gil, who is also a passionate promoter of Bill Gates’ $100 million grant to support Rotary International's efforts to eradicate polio worldwide.
As a child growing up in Wausau, Wis., Gil mentored younger kids in a YMCA program. As a wrestling and football student-athlete at Marquette, he developed a disciplined will to “spend as much time as it takes to get everything accomplished.” That philosophy served him well when, as a young attorney, he took to heart the advice of his partners to get involved in the community.
He is a Rock County (Wis.) Hall of Honor inductee and received the Alexis de Tocqueville Award in charitable work. Gil does it all because he believes in Jesus’ words: “What you do for the least of my brethren, you also do for me.”
Fun fact: Gil fondly remembers his factual law and constitutional law class.
