[Congressional Record Volume 172, Number 20 (Wednesday, January 28, 2026)]
[Senate]
[Pages S334-S335]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       TRIBUTE TO RANA ALTENBURG

  Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, if you were to follow I-94W for just an 
hour and a half north of the city of Chicago, you would find yourself 
rolling into the city of Milwaukee. Every day, tens of thousands of 
drivers make this commute, and every day, they are greeted

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by two colors: blue and gold--more specifically ``denim'' and 
``wheat,'' the two colors used to paint every highway circling 
Milwaukee. Why these colors? Well, for one, because they are the colors 
of Milwaukee's own Marquette University. And for two, because of the 
hard work of a woman named Rana Altenburg.
  With more than 30 years serving as Marquette University associate 
vice president for public affairs, Rana Altenburg's legacy reaches far 
beyond choosing those two colors while she chaired the Marquette 
Interchange Color Committee. Her impact on the city of Milwaukee, the 
State of Wisconsin, and Washington, DC, was profound. While Rana 
retired at the end of 2025, her legacy will be felt for years to come.
  In fact, it is difficult to walk more than a few blocks in Milwaukee, 
or even Wisconsin, without encountering Rana's handiwork. Crossing 
Wisconsin Avenue on Marquette's campus? Rana worked alongside city 
officials to install the medians bisecting the busy street. Enjoying a 
``blue moon'' popsicle from Pete's Pops on a summer day in Milwaukee? 
The local business was the inaugural winner of Rev-Up MKE, a small 
business pitch competition put on by the nonprofit that Rana helped 
found in 2015. Going to a dental check up in Eau Claire, WI? Your teeth 
are probably being cleaned by someone from Marquette's esteemed dental 
school, which Rana championed.
  A few blocks down from Marquette's campus sits Milwaukee's ``Near 
West Side,'' a group of seven neighborhoods that, in the 2010s, were in 
dire need of reinvestment. Rana brought together five anchor 
institutions in Milwaukee--Marquette, Advocate Aurora Health, Harley-
Davidson, Molson Coors, and Potawatomi Ventures--to establish a 
nonprofit dedicated to revitalizing the city's Near West Side as a 
business and residential corridor. Ten years later, Near West Side 
Partners--NWSP--with Rana at the helm as the nonprofit's board 
president, is thriving. Thanks to the hard work of NWSP, more than 50 
new small businesses have opened in the area, crime has decreased by 
double-digits, home ownership rates are up, and the opening of the 
mixed-use space, Concordia 27, has given Milwaukeeans a new community 
hub.
  Beyond Wisconsin, Rana is one of the strongest advocates for 
Marquette's Les Aspin Center for Government in Washington, DC. The 
program, which brings students out to the Nation's Capital to study 
American political systems and to intern across the city, has expanded 
its reach during Rana's tenure. She leveraged the university's tightly 
knit alumni network to place students at internships ranging from 
congressional offices to healthcare advocacy. As a direct result of 
Rana's support for the program, Marquette alumni populate Capitol Hill 
in extraordinary numbers.
  Rana is a familiar face to folks on Capitol Hill, even to those who 
didn't attend the Les Aspin Center. She worked alongside congressional 
staff to bring millions in funding to Marquette to support the 
university's dental school, the only one in the State of Wisconsin; to 
bolster Marquette's nursing program by securing funding for the 
school's clinical simulation lab; and to boost the redevelopment of 
Milwaukee's Near West Side.
  But she lent her talents to many other worthy causes, including to 
the James Wright Foley Foundation, a nonprofit named for the Marquette 
alumnus and journalist who was tragically captured and killed by ISIS 
while reporting in Syria. Through her efforts and the work of my 
colleague Senator Shaheen, the foundation will receive a $350,000 
earmark this year to support their work promoting journalists' safety 
abroad and to preserve the James Wright Foley Archives at Marquette.
  In recognition of her outstanding work, the Milwaukee Business 
Journal has honored Rana, first as a ``Forty Under 40'' awardee and 
subsequently, as a ``Woman of Influence''. But what the well-deserved 
profiles in the Milwaukee Business Journal often forget to mention are 
the hours she invested in mentoring Marquette students. Affectionately 
referring to them as her ``superstar interns,'' Rana mentored hundreds 
of students through the Marquette Office of Public Affairs, carving out 
time in her intense schedule to foster her interns' interest in public 
policy. She welcomed her students into the legislative process and even 
brought them along to meetings and events, allowing her interns to take 
an active role in advancing the university's priorities. Years later, 
those same ``superstar interns'' are now serving as legislative aides, 
communications professionals, and legal counsel across Capitol Hill, 
including on my own staff and on the Senate Judiciary Committee.
  But Rana takes no job more seriously than her role as a Marquette 
basketball superfan. A long-time season ticket holder, Rana is a 
fixture at the Fiserv Forum in the sea of university students. If you 
keep your eye out during the Big East tournament, it is not uncommon to 
spot Rana, decked out in blue and gold, in the crowd during an away 
game. And as perhaps the greatest contribution a superfan can make, 
Rana worked tirelessly to ensure the Marquette Golden Eagles could play 
at the new Fiserv Forum, keeping Marquette in the very small club of 
college teams that play in an NBA arena.
  In everything she did, Rana imbued one of Marquette's guiding 
principles, cura personalis, which translates to ``care for the whole 
person.'' Because of her guidance, Milwaukee has grown thoughtfully and 
deliberately, Capitol Hill has been made more compassionate and decent, 
and even that dentist in Eau Claire provides more wholesome care.
  While Rana dedicated the last 30 years to improving both Milwaukee 
and Wisconsin, she will always be a daughter of Northbrook, IL. My 
staff, especially the Marquette graduates she mentored; my son, a 
Marquette alumnus; and I congratulate Rana on a long and storied 
career. We wish Rana, her husband Jeff, her two daughters Hannah and 
Sophia, her son-in-law Jack, and her new granddaughter Nora, all the 
best in the years to come.

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