Honors and Awards:

• Honor graduate of La Crosse Central High School (1966); St. Olaf College, Phi Beta Kappa Graduate (1970); Honor graduate of University of Wisconsin Law School, Order of The Coif (1973); Served as a Captain in the United States Air Force (1973 - 1977) - receiving Air Force Commendation Medal (1975) and Air Force Meritorious Service Medal (1977); Recipient of the Award of Advocacy; Paul Harris Fellow, Rotary Club of La Crosse (1989); Recipient of the Rotary Four-Way Test Award (1991).  Elected as a Fellow to the Wisconsin Bar Foundation, 2006; elected as a Fellow to the American Bar Foundation, 2007.  (Only one per cent of attorneys nationwide are nominated and elected to membership). 

Bar/Professional Activity:

• Member of: La Crosse County Bar Association (1977), Former President; Wisconsin Bar Association; American Bar Association; Founding Board Member and Past President of Wisconsin Association of Worker's Compensation Attorneys; Wisconsin Association for Justice, Civil Trial Lawyers of Wisconsin; American Association for Justice; Wisconsin Bar Foundation; American Bar Foundation.

Pro bono/Community Service:

• Mr. Hanson participates in the Lawyer Referral Information Service.  Regarding community service, currently Mr. Hanson chairs the Operation Afghan School Kids Project, bringing school supplies to remote areas of Afghanistan.  He also chairs the Honor Flight - "Let Freedom Ring" committee to bring World War II Veterans to their memorial in Washington, D.C.  Mr. Hanson has been an active member of the La Crosse Rotary Club since 1979, where he has initiated a number of legacy projects, including founding the La Crosse Rotary Foundation, Inc., in 1983, which annually provides support to a wide variety of projects in the Greater La Crosse Area.  He co-chaired the 1993-1995 Kids Coulee Playground Project that mobilized over 3,000 community volunteers to construct a large innovative children's playground.  He chairs the La Crosse Kids Committee which created The Brain Game, a book that teaches parents how to enhance early childhood brain development.  In that process, Mr. Hanson brought together key community organizations and leaders for that book's development and funding.  (Over 40,000 copies are currently in print and the book is distributed at no cost to new parents at both major medical facilities in La Crosse, Wisconsin).   He is the founder of the Riverside International Friendship Gardens, Inc., a community-wide project to celebrate different cultures.  He was the founder and first President of the La Crosse-Dubna Friendship Association, which established a sister-city relationship with the "closed" city of Dubna, Russia in 1990 and led to numerous programs, including the development of a University, the creation of the Dubna Rotary Club, and innovative medical programs.  He chaired the Hands-Across-The-Heartlands Campaign that coordinated a community effort of 5,000 volunteers who collected and prepared for shipment of 400,000 pounds of food, clothing, and medicine.  This effort provided humanitarian relief to over 12,000 needy people in Dubna, Russia during the bitter winter of 1991-1992.  Mr. Hanson is also the founding President of the La Crosse-Luoyang Friendship Association which estabilshed the sister city relationship with Luoyang, China in 1997.  As a result of this relationship, two Chinese teachers are now in La Crosse every year providing the core of the Chinese language program now educating 200 high school students annually at no cost to local taxpayers.  He is also the founding president of the sister city relationships with Bantry, Ireland and Forde, Norway.  Mr. Hanson was the founding co-chair of the U.S. China Council for Sister Cities International and also serves as an advisor to the Mayor on the International Committee of the City of La Crosse.  In addition to his international interests, he has served as President of Junior Achievement of the Coulee Region.  Mr. Hanson is Founding President and board member (since 2004) of the Riverside International Friendship Gardens; He is also Past President and former Board Member of Junior Achievement of the Coulee Region (1999 - 2003).  Other civic involvement includes serving on La Crosse Lutheran Hospital Board of Trustees (1984 - 1990), including serving as President (1989-1990); working with the United Coulee Region (1998 - 2004); serving on the Viterbo University Board of Advisors (1990- 1996);  Mr. Hanson has served on the Downtown Project Management Team (1993 - 2005);  served on the La Crosse County Board Task Force on Collaboration Committee (2002); and participated in a community fund raising event for the La Crosse Symphony Orchestra, as Maestro in 2004.  He is an active member of First Congregational Church of La Crosse, serving as a Sunday School teacher, serving on the church council and with various committee involvements and past-president of congregation (1983).    

Verdicts and Settlements:

• During his over 30 years of legal practice, Mr. Hanson has successfully tried hundreds of worker's compensation and personal injury cases, many resulting in large awards.  In his personal injury practice he has successfully concluded a number of cases that exceeded a Million Dollars in value.  He also serves as a mediator in personal injury cases.

Other Outstanding Achievements:

• See Curriculum Vitae.

Educational Background:

• La Crosse Central High School, La Crosse, Wisconsin, 1966 (Honors Graduate);St. Olaf College, B.A. Degree, 1970 (Phi Beta Kappa Graduate);University of Wisconsin Law School, Juris Doctor, 1973 (Order of Coif, Honor Graduate)