‘P OWERBOAT ’ AWARDFOR E XCELLENCE

Fred Kiekhaefer ’69 received Powerboat Magazine’s 2003 Publisher’s Award for Product Excellence in May at the magazine’s annual Performance Awards ceremony held at Lake Las Vegas in Nevada.

President of Mercury Racing, a division of Mercury Marine, Kiekhaefer was presented the award for guiding the company into what Powerboat publisher Jerry Nordskog describes as “the most important and influential company in highperformance boating today.”

Of the 22 boats receiving the magazine’s 2003 Product Excellence award, 10 are powered by Mercury engines and 15 by Mercury drives.

Mercury Marine started in 1939. It is now part of the Brunswick Corporation, which began as the Kiekhaefer Corp. in Cedarburg, Wis. Mercury is now the leading manufacturer of marine propulsion systems. Kiekhaefer is credited with shifting the company from a 90 percent focus on racing and 10 percent focus on consumer products to a 10 percent focus on racing and 90 percent focus on consumer products. Even though only 10 percent of the business is dedicated to racing today, the division continues to set more records and win more races than all other engine companies combined. The firm remains the only major marine-engine manufacturer to support national offshore and tunnel-boat racing series with on-site product support. Interestingly, Kiekhaefer’s employment contract with Mercury expired eight years ago. “I’m basically an ‘atwill’ employee. I stay because I’m having fun, and we’re doing good things,” says Kiekhaefer in the June

2003

issue

of Powerboat

Following his graduation from Ripon College with a degree in physics, Kiekhaefer went on to earn a master’s degree in engineering from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1972 and a master’s degree in business administration from the Kellogg School of Business at Northwestern University in 1978.

Abby Williams ’04

Waukau ’78 Receives Minority Health Award

Jerry Waukau ’78 of Keshena, Wis., has been recognized for his outstanding performance and commitment to eliminating health disparities in Wisconsin. The award was presented by the Minority Health Program of the Department of Health and Family Services at a luncheon in Milwaukee in April.

Waukau is the health administrator for the Menominee Tribal Clinic and serves as chair of the Wisconsin Tribal Health Directors Association. His dedication has contributed to a number of recent, significant improvements in health care for American Indians in Wisconsin including the implementation of Medicaid Managed Care system participation for Tribes. He also assisted with the establishment of statewide Epi data capability to allow improved design and monitoring of service systems, and helped facilitate the introduction of benefit counselors at Tribal sites. Waukau has also been involved in bioterrorism system development, the development of new health-research capabilities and the foundation of the Wisconsin Alliance on Indian Health.

Waukau graduated from Ripon with a degree in anthropology and economics.

Abby Williams ’04