Donor Profiles
Ab Nicholas
From left to right: Ab Nicholas, Frank Kaminsky, Nancy Nicholas
How has your experiences as a UW student-athlete affected your business career?
Being a student-athlete on UW’s campus was extremely important in my development. Being a student-athlete here not only gave me the business experience and business knowledge but also gave me a lot of confidence playing basketball. Without that experience I don’t think I would have been as successful in business. It taught me to be confident and not to give up because there are plenty of times in business, as in sports, where it would be easy to give up. Sports teaches us not to do that.
What motivates you to give to the many areas on UW’s campus, including the Athletics Department?
The main motivation is to give back. That, to me, is giving others an opportunity that I had when I was on campus. I’m thrilled to see the development of these student-athletes and I’ve never missed a penny of it. It’s been fun to do. If it helps, I’m extremely pleased that I’m doing it. But it’s a “give back” proposition for Nancy and me. We enjoy doing it and it’s mainly to help others. To give others an opportunity and chance to be successful.
What gives you the most sense of pride about being a UW alumni and former student-athlete?
We’re winners here. We have good coaches and good teams. We compete. We have an outstanding program. And most of all we do it right. The people that compete in Madison in athletics are true student-athletes. I’m proud of that and we should continue to do that. That will give these student-athletes an opportunity to be successful later.