A Family Legacy, Built on Lawrence

Shirley Spangler Steiner ’59, a voice performance student at Lawrence, still watches concerts online. She follows campus news, tracks what’s happening, and has done so long after her own time there. Her daughter, Janet Steiner Stevens ’82, went to Lawrence. Her grandsons went to Lawrence. Their wives went to Lawrence. And if the great-grandchildren have anything to say about it, the streak is far from over.

Janet remembers her first visit to campus clearly. “I came from a small town, and there were all these people from all different backgrounds, the professors… it was just wonderful to be in that setting,” she says. “I thought, oh, this is a pretty special place.” Rob Stevens ’79, who would become her husband, was drawn by the chance to compete in athletics. “It was a very good fit for me,” he says. “I couldn’t have done that at a larger school.”

They met as students living in Ormsby Hall. Rob competed in track and football. Janet studied abroad in London on a whim, at the encouragement of her roommate. “It exposed me to a world I didn’t even know existed,” she says. After graduation, Rob went on to a career in medicine. Janet went to law school, raised their family, and found herself drawn into music along the way. “I still don’t know what I want to do when I grow up,” she says with a laugh. “But I understand now what it means to be a lifelong learner and to have the ability to learn and to use those tools for whatever you do.”

Then came their sons, Paul ’10 and Sam ’13, who each, independently, chose Lawrence. Both majored in biology. Both ran track. Both went to medical school. Both married fellow Lawrentians they met on campus.

 

 

Sam’s path to Lawrence came with some resistance. “When I was looking at colleges initially, I was saying I would go anywhere but Lawrence,” he admits. “I wanted to do something different from the rest of the family.” But when he actually went and visited colleges, his thinking changed. “It ended up being a really good fit. I definitely was not pushed to go there. This was not a family expectation by any means.”

“On paper, my brother, dad, and I all look very similar,” Sam says. “But there are certainly different, unique experiences in there.”

Paul is a good example of that. A biology major and track athlete, he also came to Lawrence in part because of percussion professor Dane Richeson. “Seeing all the world music and the different sounds I had never heard before from far-off countries was very influential,” he says. He remembers Richeson taking students into the Chapel to play the triangle. “I’m like, ‘Oh, this is easy. You just have to hit it this one way,’” Paul says. “And he spent a whole hour talking about all these different factors that I never thought about for each instrument.” Years later, Paul still plays in the Civic Symphony of Green Bay, where his mother Janet is also a member. “I have interests outside of just being a doctor, outside of medicine, so I don’t get burnt out,” he says. “Those have been really helpful throughout the years.”

For Sam, Lawrence included conference championships in the 1500, the mile, the steeplechase, and the 5,000 meter, events that echoed his father’s own conference championship in the long jump. “When you are over at the gym, you find a plaque with various names on it, and you’re like, ‘Oh yeah, that plaque has my dad’s name on it.’” Rob is not above bragging about it: a father and son, both conference champions.

The next generation is already paying attention. “My eight-year-old is convinced Lawrence is the only college around,” Paul says. “She’s already envisioning herself there.” Sam and Katherine’s daughter feels much the same. “She’s happy to tell her classmates about Lawrence, which they’ve never heard of, but to her is a really big deal,” Katherine says. “She thinks it’s super cool that when she was a year old, Lawrence sent us a letter saying, ‘Welcome to the class of 2048.’ As far as she’s concerned, she is already accepted, and that’s where she’s going,” Sam adds.

The Level Up Project centers on two new facilities. The Loop is a dedicated indoor training center for athletes. The Hub brings together fitness, recreation, and practice space under one roof, including a state-of-the-art music rehearsal suite. For this family, the project felt personal on both fronts. “When we traveled to other conference schools, we were really at a disadvantage not having a dedicated indoor space where people could really work on things during the Wisconsin winter,” Janet says. “It’s kind of weird having an indoor track season but not having a true indoor track,” Paul adds. “I remember Coach Jason Fast shoveling off the track every couple of weeks, and going on subzero runs outside and having to toughen up.” Katherine Dannecker-Stevens ’14 sees the new spaces as valuable beyond athletics too. “As classes have grown, it’s harder for students to find spaces to do their work outside of their dorm,” she says. “This is just way more space for students to work and connect.”

Rob and Janet made a generous gift to the Level Up Project. Then, as a Christmas surprise, Paul and Sam revealed they were making their own gift, naming the long jump pit in their father’s honor. “He certainly was a big factor in our lives and careers, not only with going to Lawrence, but also both of us going to medical school and picking the same family medicine specialty,” Sam says. “He has been a great role model, and we have been inspired to follow in his footsteps. I thought it was a wonderful opportunity to be able to name it after him.” Paul agreed: “Our dad really loves track and field, and he was the long jump conference champion. I thought that was kind of fitting.”

“That was really sweet,” Janet says. “We are so proud of them, in so many ways.” For the family, the gift connects directly to what Lawrence gave them. “I hope students can see that alumni are devoted to Lawrence,” Paul says. “We’re rooting for them. I know it’s always a tough time to be a college student, but we are trying to give them all the tools they need to be successful in their careers and to make those relationships over the course of their time here.” “It’s a good way to invest in our future,” Janet adds, “the way people invested in us.”

Posted June 1, 2026 in Donor Profile.