Herb Kohl to receive Distinguished Public School Graduate Award
MADISON – Wisconsin native Herb Kohl, a 1952 graduate of Milwaukee Washington High School, will receive the 2016-17 Wisconsin Distinguished Public School Graduate Award on May 1 at the Madison Concourse Hotel and Governor’s Club. State Superintendent Tony Evers will present the award during the reception for Wisconsin Title I Schools of Recognition prior to the noon awards ceremony in the State Capitol rotunda.
“Wisconsin public school graduates make significant contributions in the arts, sciences, statesmanship, and athletics across the nation and throughout the world,” Evers said. “Herb Kohl exemplifies this tradition through unparalleled generosity as a successful entrepreneur; a passionate public servant for the City of Milwaukee, the State of Wisconsin, and the United States of America; and an education philanthropist. Herb Kohl understands the important role of education as a foundation of our democracy; and his contributions will have a lasting impact.”
Kohl earned a bachelor’s degree at the University of Wisconsin-Madison (1956) and a Master of Business Administration from Harvard Business School (1958). He served with the U.S. Army Reserve for six years while working as a real estate and stock market investor. In 1970, he was named president of Kohl’s, a family-owned chain of department and grocery stores.
Following the example set by his Washington High School classmate and UW-Madison roommate Allan “Bud” Selig when he brought the baseball Brewers to Milwaukee, Kohl purchased the Milwaukee Bucks professional basketball team in 1985 to ensure the team remained in Milwaukee. He owned the team for nearly 20 years and was elected to the Wisconsin Athletic Hall of Fame in 2007.
Elected to the U.S. Senate in 1988, Kohl served on the Senate Appropriations Committee, chairing its Subcommittee on Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies. He served on the senate committees on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs and the Judiciary; he also chaired the Senate’s Special Committee on Aging.
Shortly after winning his first term as U.S. Senator, Kohl established his educational foundation and began funding annual scholarships for Wisconsin high school seniors and fellowships for teachers and their schools. In 1997, the foundation added Student Initiative scholarships, and in 2016, Leadership Awards for principals and their schools. To date, the Herb Kohl Educational Foundation has awarded more than $12 million to public, private, and home-schooled students; classroom teachers; and building principals and their schools.
Kohl is the fourth recipient of the Wisconsin Distinguished Public School Graduate Award. Prior recipients were author Michael Perry (New Auburn High School, 1983); social work pioneer Ada Deer (Shawano High School, 1953); and public television’s American Experience executive producer Mark Samels (Shawano High School, 1973).
