LSSU to recognize Bud Denker

This article is the continuation of a news release issued today by Lake Superior State University.

To return to the beginning of the article, please click here.

************************* Bud Denker

Denker, a 1980 graduate in business administration/ management, is receiving the Kenneth J. Shouldice Achievement Award.

Denker [shown] is senior vice-president of Penske Corporation and executive vice-president of the Penske Automotive Group and Penske Racing, and chair of the group that brought the Grand Prix back to Detroit in 2007 after a six-year hiatus.

The event brought 100,000 fans to Detroit and generated $53 million in economic impact for the region.

Over $5.5 million in infrastructure improvements were made on Belle Isle in 2007 as a result of the race’s regeneration.

At Penske, Denker oversees $18 billion in business and 38,000 employees.

He assumed responsibility for Penske's marketing and communications functions after joining the company in 2005.

This includes Penske Automotive Group’s 314 premium-branded automotive dealerships and its exclusive distribution agreement for the United States Smart Car Network.

Denker joined Penske from the Eastman Kodak Company, where he served as vice-president of brand and marketing development overseeing the Kodak brand.

"The education and experiences I gained at LSSU provided me with many essential elements that I have used throughout my professional career," Denker said. "Moreover, the work ethic and values bestowed by LSSU are those that I have carried with me since my graduation many years ago."

Denker and his wife, Melissa, live in Bloomfield Hills with their two children, Christian and Cameron.

Sophie Chandauka

The recipient of the Paul Ripley Young Alumna Award, Sophie Chandauka [click here to view photo] made a big impression on campus in the late 1990s and with everyone who attended commencement in the spring of 2000, when she delivered the student response.

Her speech brought the crowd to its feet in Taffy Abel Arena.

A native of Harare, Zimbabwe, Chandauka came to LSSU by way of Canada, where she was an exchange student through the Rotary International program in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario.

She attended St. Mary’s College for one year and, through the assistance of Rotary and other scholarships, enrolled at LSSU in 1996.

Her college education took her to many places.

During her sophomore year, she served an internship in Washington, DC.

Then, in her junior year, she received the prestigious Ambassadorial Scholarship through Rotary International’s foundation and enrolled in international studies and law at University of Birmingham, England.

She returned to LSSU to finish her degree in political science/ pre-law.

From LSSU, Chandauka went back to England, where she completed her legal education with the College of Law and her legal practice course, with distinction, at Oxford Institute of Legal Practice.

Today, she is an associate for Baker & McKenzie LLP's Corporate Group in London.

She works in the public company team and advises public companies and non-executive directors on various regulatory and corporate governance issues.

In 2007, Chandauka was nominated for the Young Solicitor of the Year for the British Legal Awards, where her firm cited her as being a great asset to the company because of her excellent legal technical capability, passion for excellence in client service and business development, and her exemplary contribution to the wider community.

She was also nominated for the Assistant Solicitor of the Year in 2008 and was selected as one of Management Today's '35 under 35' list in 2008 in the U.K.

"LSSU gave me the privilege of an education and access to opportunities that literally opened the world to me," Chandauka said. "It was also at Lake State that I was groomed, through leadership positions and work experience, to become a confident individual who took risks in order to live up to all that this world has to offer, given the talents I am fortunate to have."

For more information about the awards themselves, please click here.

*************************