SHOREWOOD, WI – The Shorewood School District will honor five graduates for their achievements and service to their communities at the Shorewood Tradition of Excellence Awards Day in April.
Shorewood alumni Donald Baumgartner (Class of 1949), Johnathan Bernard (Class of 2000), Christopher Carson (Class of 1994), Wayne Newhauser (Class of 1982), and Joan Walsh (Class of 1976) will be recognized during a special day-long event at Shorewood High School on April 13, which will include an awards ceremony at an assembly for all students, a luncheon, a tour of campus, and a reception sponsored by the Shorewood High School Alumni Association.
"We look forward to honoring these Shorewood alumni who have demonstrated many of the outstanding character traits that we hope to instill in our future graduates," said Shorewood Superintendent Dr. Bryan Davis. "We are very proud of their accomplishments and we are grateful for this opportunity to recognize them, as they help our students understand the importance of service to their community."
Established in the year 2000, the Tradition of Excellence Awards are bestowed upon Shorewood High School graduates or faculty who have distinguished themselves in a diverse range of areas, including community and public service; science, engineering, and technology; medicine and public health; the arts and humanities; business; government and political service; education; military service; philanthropy; and other professions committed to serving others. Previous honorees include Chief Justice William Rehnquist and U.S. Congressman and Secretary of Defense Les Aspin, among others.
The 2018 Shorewood Tradition of Excellence inductees are:
Donald W. Baumgartner founded Paper Machinery Corporation in 1951. Mr. Baumgartner, who now serves as Chairman of the Board, led Paper Machinery Corporation to become the world's primary source of converting machinery for the production of paper cups, paperboard containers and custom packages. Today, Mr. Baumgartner personally holds patents on machines for manufacturing paper drinking cups.
Over the years, PMC has received many awards for engineering advances, business excellence and product innovations. In 1992, President Ronald Reagan personally presented Mr. Baumgartner with the President's "E" Award in the White House Rose Garden. The award was from the U.S. Department of Commerce for "Outstanding Contribution to the Export Expansion Program of the United States." In 1993, Mr. Baumgartner received the Ernst & Young's Wisconsin Entrepreneur of the Year award, which recognizes entrepreneurs whose ingenuity, perseverance and hard work have resulted in thriving, growing ventures.
Highly active in Milwaukee-area civic and community organizations, Donald Baumgartner is a member of the Greater Milwaukee Committee and has co-chaired the Mayor's Advisory Committee on International Trade. He traveled to Europe with Milwaukee Mayor John Norquist on two economic development missions promoting Milwaukee-area businesses, and served on the Mayor's Advisory Committee on Economic Development. Mr. Baumgartner and his wife, Donna, contribute generously to the quality of Milwaukee's cultural life and have embraced the spirit of philanthropy. He is a past President of the Milwaukee Art Museum's Board of Trustees and served as President of MAM and Chairman of the museum's Building Committee during the construction of the Calatrava addition. He worked closely with Calatrava during the construction process and also served on the architectural selection committee. As a member of the architectural selection committee, Donald Baumgartner was instrumental in selecting Santiago Calatrava as architect for the addition for the Milwaukee Art Museum. In 1994, the Museum chose the Spanish-born architect as the designer who would take them into the next millennium with his international vision and skill as an engineer and architect. Mr. Baumgartner is a Life Director of the Florentine Opera Company. The Baumgartners sponsored the Florentine Opera's production of Elmer Gantry in 2010, which was recorded by Naxos Records and garnered two Grammy Awards in 2012. The Baumgartners also support the Milwaukee Ballet—presenting ballets, sponsoring events and contributing both financially and with their time. The Milwaukee Film Festival has also benefited from the support of Mr. and Mrs. Baumgartner. They have sponsored the spotlight presentations program and Donna serves on the Milwaukee Film Board of Directors. In addition to these key organizations, the Baumgartner family participates in the support and growth of numerous other Milwaukee community organizations. In 2016, Mr. and Mrs. Baumgartner received an EDDY Award from the Sharon Lynne Wilson Center for the Arts in recognition of their generous contributions to the quality of Greater Milwaukee's cultural life.
Dr. Johnathan Bernard is a board-certified orthopaedic sports medicine and shoulder surgeon specializing in the management and arthroscopic treatment of sports injuries.
After he graduated from Shorewood High School in 2000, Dr. Bernard attended the U.S. Naval Academy, receiving a degree in Chemistry. He went on to attend the Yale School of Medicine and the Harvard School of Public Health, where he received both a Medical Doctorate and a Master's in Public Health concentrating in Health Management and Policy.
After being discharged from the U.S. Navy, Dr. Bernard completed his Orthopaedic Residency at the Johns Hopkins Hospital. He then completed his fellowship in Sports Medicine and Shoulder Surgery at the Hospital for Special Surgery – Weill Cornell Medical College in New York. He completed an additional short fellowship in AO Orthopaedic Trauma at the Hospital University of Geneva in Switzerland.
Dr. Bernard has served as an Assistant NFL Team Physician for the New York Giants, resident MLB team physician for the Baltimore Orioles, assistant team physician for several colleges including Johns Hopkins and Iona College, and was a Team Physician at the 2015 NFL Scouting Combine.
Dr. Bernard is active in public service and policy, having previously been awarded the Mortimer B. Zuckerman Fellowship at Harvard's Kennedy School of Government. He has also traveled to Haiti and performed surgery as a visiting surgeon through SIGN Fracture Care. He has published numerous scientific peer-reviewed articles and has presented his research nationally and internationally at orthopaedic meetings. He serves as a Health Policy Fellow for the Arthroscopy Association of North America. In addition, he is a Visiting Scholar at the American Board of Medical Specialties for the American Board of Orthopaedic Surgery. Johnathan, his wife Stephanie, and three daughters, Madeline, Alexandra, and Robyn, live in Northern Virginia.
Christopher Corwin Carson was born on a leap year on February 29, 1976 in Greensboro, NC. He spent the majority of his formative years in Shorewood, WI. Just like his beloved grandfather had done before him, Mr. Carson proudly graduated in 1994 from Shorewood High School (SHS), where he successfully played many sports, made lifelong friendships, and met Paula Dueñas, an AFS student from Colombia who attended SHS in 1992-93. Ten years later, Paula would become his wife and mother of his two children, Alex and Sofia.
Mr. Carson studied Sociology at Wittenberg University, graduating in 1998. During his college years he successfully led the rugby team to a state championship and had the opportunity to live abroad in Spain, becoming fluent in Spanish. Ever curious for learning about other cultures, Mr. Carson pursued a teaching position in Chile after completing college, taking this opportunity to travel all around the South American continent. Shortly after the events on September 11, 2001, he enlisted in the Army and underwent the intense two-year training of the U.S. Army Special Forces Qualification and Selection Course. He was selected, earned his Special Forces Tab, and became a Green Beret in 2004. Immediately following his Special Forces graduation, he joined a U.S. Army Special Forces 12-man detachment team located in Ft. Lewis, WA, serving as a Staff Sergeant. During his tours of duty, Mr. Carson was deployed throughout Southeast Asia and Iraq. In 2005, his son Alex was born with just enough time for Mr. Carson to meet him and then deploy again. In 2007, he was honorably discharged when the Carson family of three decided to leave the military life and relocate to Asheville, North Carolina. By the time his daughter was born in 2010, Mr. Carson had created and was successfully managing his own real estate development company called Corwin LLC, and his own real estate brokerage firm called AVL Associates.
In 2012, an unexpected bump in his upper right arm proved to become the most challenging situation in his life. For weeks, experts struggled to pinpoint the correct cancer diagnosis while Mr. Carson's family anxiously waited to get treatment started. Mr. Carson was diagnosed with a rare pediatric cancer called Ewing's Sarcoma. The subsequent eight-month chemotherapy treatment, numerous limb sparing surgeries, month-long radiation therapy, and innumerable urgent hospital stays and side effects proved to be tougher than his whole military experience. Undergoing Ewing's Sarcoma treatment is a monumental physical and mental ordeal. Seeing the crude reality of this orphan pediatric cancer made him feel increasingly frustrated. He knew he had to act and wanted to do something to help.
In 2014, he created the Carson Sarcoma Foundation (CSF) (www.carsonsarcomafoundation.org), where he has been able to put his best skills to good use. CSF helps and serves others. The mission of CSF is: "To fund targeted cancer research focused on increasing survival for those stricken with Orphan Sarcoma Cancers, ultimately leading to a cure." In 2015, Mr. Carson had a cancer relapse on his left lung. More surgeries and a second line of chemotherapy treatment followed. The Carson Sarcoma Foundation has become his only job and purpose in life. CSF is a leading force in the Ewing's Sarcoma world. It's an untiring voice for desperate patients, the information bridge between doctors and scientists, and the supporter of new approaches to find better treatments to one day, sooner rather than later, eradicate this beast of a pediatric cancer forever. Mr. Carson is being honored and recognized for his strength, entrepreneurial spirit, and tireless, selfless service.
Dr. Wayne Newhauser, a native of Shorewood, Wisconsin, graduated from Shorewood High School in 1982. After earning a B.S. degree in Nuclear Engineering from the University of Wisconsin at Madison (UW), he worked for the State of Wisconsin's radiation protection unit, then returned to the UW to earn an M.S. degree in Health Physics and a Ph.D. degree in Medical Physics. Subsequently, he held appointments at Germany's national standards laboratory (Physikalish-Technische Bundesanstalt) in Braunschweig, and he was appointed to positions at Massachusetts General Hospital (Boston), Harvard Medical School (Cambridge), University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center (Houston), and Louisiana State University and Mary Bird Perkins Cancer Center (Baton Rouge). He has played leadership roles in the construction and operation of proton radiation therapy centers, major research projects, and scientific societies, such as the American Association of Physicists in Medicine (AAPM), the American Nuclear Society, and the Health Physics Society. He was elected to serve as a council member of the National Council on Radiation Protection, which was chartered by the United States Congress. He has authored more than 110 peer-reviewed scientific research papers on advanced-technology cancer radiotherapies, radiation physics, and applications of physics and supercomputing to improve the survival of cancer patients. He holds certification from the American Board of Radiology in therapeutic physics and has provided care to patients who received stereotactic radiosurgery. He has advised more than 50 trainees, including 17 students who earned their M.S. and Ph.D. degrees under his mentorship. He has received several awards and honors, including being named a Fellow of the AAPM. He currently serves as a tenured professor of Physics and Astronomy, holds the Dr. Charles M. Smith Chair of Medical Physics, and directs a graduate education program in Medical Physics and Health Physics at LSU, which is internationally known for its education and research programs. His favorite professional activities are mentoring graduate students and teaching courses in radiation physics and radiation biology.
Joan Walsh is The Nation's National Affairs Correspondent and a CNN political contributor. She is the author of What's the Matter With White People? Finding Our Way in the Next America, which the Philadelphia Daily News called "one of the best books of 2012 – and even more relevant now." Author Anne Lamott described it as "a brilliant and illuminating book about America since the upheavals of 60's and 70's."
Salon's very first news editor, Walsh served as editor in chief for six years. She is a regular on CNN's The Lead with Jake Tapper and Out Front with Erin Burnett, and has appeared on many other national shows including Real Time with Bill Maher and Now on PBS.
Before joining Salon, she worked as a consultant on education and poverty issues for community groups and foundations, including the Rockefeller Foundation and Annie E. Casey Foundation. She's written for publications ranging from Vogue to The Nation, and for newspapers including The New York Times, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, and the San Francisco Chronicle. An avid baseball fan, she's the co-author of Splash Hit: The Pacific Bell Park Story, about the building of the San Francisco Giants legendary waterfront stadium. Walsh lives in New York.
The 2018 Shorewood Tradition of Excellence honorees were nominated by peers, staff, students, and community members, and selected by a small committee comprised of Shorewood graduates, former administrators, and current staff. The Shorewood High School Alumni Association is sponsoring a special reception for the honorees at Camp Bar from 4:30-6:30 pm, which will be open to Shorewood alumni and community members. Shorewood High School students and staff will also have the opportunity to meet the honorees over the course of the day.
For more information about the Shorewood Tradition of Excellence Awards, please contact Ted Knight at [email protected].
For more information about the Shorewood Alumni Association sponsored reception, contact [email protected].
About Shorewood Schools:
The Shorewood School District, located just north of Milwaukee, has been nationally recognized for its tradition of excellence in education. Shorewood High School was ranked the #1 public high school in Wisconsin in 2013 by U.S. News and World Report and has been named a Blue Ribbon School by the U.S. Department of Education. The Shorewood School District was ranked #4 among all school districts in Wisconsin by the 2016 Niche School Rankings. The Shorewood School District is comprised of a diverse student population, with 41 languages spoken inside its four schools. Students of color represent approximately one third of our student population. Approximately 80% of Shorewood's graduates go on to study at four-year colleges and universities. Shorewood High School was designed in the 1920s to resemble a college campus, with seven separate buildings housing classrooms and facilities. The Shorewood School District is proud to have many famous distinguished alumni, including Chief Justice William Rehnquist and U.S. Congressman and Secretary of Defense Les Aspin, among others. Learn more at shorewoodschools.org.