Distinguished Alumni Award

Distinguished Alumni Award Information

The Alumni Award Program started in 2005 through the efforts of the Johnson Creek Education Foundation and the Johnson Creek Board of Education. The purpose of the award program is to identify and recognize outstanding achievements of alumni of hte Johnson Creek School District. It honors these individuals as role models for our students and encourages them to broaden their horizons and increase their commitment to future success.

The Nomination Process:

Anyone can nominate a person for Distinguished Alumnus.
Nominations must describe how the candidate has distinguished him/herself in a field of knowledge/scholarship, endeavor or a lifetime achievement.
Nomination forms will be available in the Johnson Creek District Office or on this page below.
The deadline for submission is April 1.

The Nominee:

Must be a graduate of Johnson Creek High School.
He or she must be out of school a minimum of ten years.
The nominee cannot be a current employee, school board member, committee member, or relative of the above at the time of nomination or receipt of the award.
The recipient must be available to personally receive his/her award at commencement ceremonies.

The Award:

The final selection will be made by a committee of the Johnson Creek Education Foundation comprised of the High School Principal, the Senior Class Advisors, the Student Council President, the Senior Class President and 2 members from the Education Foundation.
There will be no more than one award per year.
The award will be presented to the recipient at graduation.
Announcements/publicity of the award and recipient will be provided to area media, both here and in the area identified by the recipient.

Alumni of the Year Nomination Form

Past Alumni Award Recipients

David Krause

2010

David Krause, a 1972 graduate of Johnson Creek High School, can trace his family’s ties to the Johnson Creek community back to the mid-1800s. He received his BBA, MBA, and Ph.D. degrees in the study of finance from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, University of Texas-Austin, and Northcentral University, respectively. During his business and academic career he has focused on investments and the financial markets. Krause has been published in numerous academic journals and appears regularly as a commentator on television and in the print media.

Since 2004, Dr. Krause has been a professor in the Department of Finance and is the inaugural director of the Applied Investment Management program at Marquette University in Milwaukee where he teaches classes in investments, portfolio management, and ethics. Prior to his current position he was active in several businesses which he co-founded that were engaged in manufacturing, health care, and financial services.

Krause has served on various local corporate, charitable, civic boards, and foundations. He served on the Jefferson Board of Education for 16 years, including 13 as president. He is a past president of the Johnson Creek Education Foundation; he served for 9 years as the treasurer and finance chair of St. Coletta of Wisconsin, and he was an inaugural member of the Jefferson Community Foundation. Krause has received numerous academic and business awards over the years; however, he is proudest of his support of open governance and his promotion of ethics and character development. When the School District of Jefferson was named in 2009 as the first ‘School District of Character’ in Wisconsin, it was a significant accomplishment. He believes that fostering ethics and character education in schools and communities is vital to the continued success of our society and serves to further strengthen our democracy.

David and his wife, Beth, reside in Jefferson – and they have two sons, Carl and Eric. Carl is a graduate of Grinnell College and currently works in Chicago, while Eric is a sophomore at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

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