Milwaukee natives Sue and Allan (Bud) Selig are grateful to be able to give to their communities — both the Milwaukee community at large and the Jewish communities here and in Israel.
“My career has given me the opportunity [to contribute to my community]. Some people say [giving] is a responsibility. It isn’t a responsibility; it’s a privilege. It makes you feel grateful,” said Bud Selig in a telephone interview with The Chronicle.
The Development Corporation for Israel/State of Israel Bonds will present the couple the State of Israel Builders of Israel Award at a gala tribute award dinner on Monday, June 14, at the Pfister Hotel.
They are being honored “for their exceptional support of the Israel Bonds investment program and for their personal contributions to the enrichment of American and Jewish life in our community and abroad,” according to executive director Bonnie Jacobson.
“Sue and Bud Selig are an exceptional couple…. They aren’t just “nice”; they truly enjoy people and the unique role each of us plays in making our community stronger and friendlier. They go about their work in a way that is quiet and does not bring attention and honor to themselves, but rather, to others.”
The Jewish community figures prominently in the lives of the Seligs. Sue is involved in the Milwaukee Jewish Federation and serves on the board of the Jewish Community Foundation, the endowment development program of the federation.
“This is a tough time for the world, said Bud, “and a very tough time for Israel. They need and deserve all the support they can get — emotional, psychological and financial.
“Remember what we went through after 9/11? In Israel, they live that every day. You just can’t do enough for Israel,” he said.
To that end, the couple established the Allan H. and Suzanne L. Selig Merit Scholarship Fund at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
Support, honor and baseball
With deep commitment to community, the couple supports many organizations, financially and by giving time, skills, imagination and leadership.
“The [Milwaukee Art] Museum is my first love, frankly,” said Sue Selig in a telephone interview with The Chronicle. Participating in choosing the architect for the museum addition “was the most exciting thing I’ve ever done.”
Sue has also been active with the Milwaukee Ballet and serves on the board of the Children’s Outing Association. She and Bud were among several founders of the Child Abuse Prevention Fund in 1987.
The couple has also received many awards. In 1993, he received the Ellis Island Medal of Honor, awarded to outstanding citizens who have contributed to our national identity while preserving the distinct values and heritage of their ancestors.
In addition, Bud and Sue were awarded the “Sports Torch of Learning Award”, presented to outstanding leaders in the field of sports from the American Friends of Hebrew University in 2001.
And in New York, in December 2003, Bud received the “Recognition of Goodness Award” from the prestigious Jewish Foundation for the Righteous, an organization that provides financial support to aging non-Jews who risked their lives to save others during the Holocaust, for his extensive charitable efforts.
Bud also received awards from the Boys and Girls Clubs of America, the Anti- Defamation League, the Potawatomi Council of the Boy Scouts of America, B’nai B’rith, the United States Olympic Committee and more.
As a boy growing up in Milwaukee, Bud followed the old Milwaukee Brewers minor league team and the Chicago Cubs. He became a Braves fan when the National League franchise moved to Milwaukee from Boston in 1953 and became the team’s largest public stockholder before selling his stock in 1965, when the team moved to Atlanta.
He founded Teams, Inc. — later called The Brewers — an organization dedicated to returning Major League baseball to Milwaukee and brought the Chicago White Sox to Milwaukee to play several games in 1968.
After efforts to purchase the White Sox fell through the following year, Selig’s efforts finally bore fruit in 1970, when a Seattle bankruptcy court awarded the Seattle Pilots franchise to Selig and his investors.
In September 1992 Baseball Commissioner Fay Vincent resigned and Selig was named chairman of the Major League Executive Council by his fellow owners. In July 1998 he was elected the ninth Commissioner of Baseball by a unanimous vote of the 30 Major League baseball club owners.
Sue and Bud Selig met during high school — she at Whitefish Bay High School and he at Washington High School. Afterward, he attended the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and she went away, first to the University of Colorado and then to the University of Minnesota. They have been married for 27 years and reside in Milwaukee, as do their three daughters and five granddaughters.
Couvert is $85. For reservations call the Israel Bonds office at 414-351-1777 by June 5. A 5 p.m. reception will be followed by a 6 p.m. dinner.
George F. Will, Pulitzer Prize winner and syndicated columnist, will be the special guest speaker. Will, who is passionate about baseball, has been a close personal friend and advisor for a decade, said Selig.
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