John & Kathyrn Burke
Founders Award 2001

During 35 years of marriage, John J. and Kathryn Murphy Burke have provided leadership and service at local, state and national levels. Their contributions range from raising community awareness of the arts to training political and business leaders for the future.

"Murph" is a lifelong supporter of the arts and community development in Wisconsin. She was recently named chair-elect of the Governing Board of Americans for the Arts. An alumna of Mount Mary College, she is co-chair of Mount Mary College’s capital campaign. She also participates on boards for the Wisconsin Lake Schooner Educational Association, Ten Chimneys Foundation, St. Mary’s Ozaukee Foundation, and the Wisconsin Humanities Council.

John is chairman and CEO of Burke Properties, a real estate development company he founded in 1968. He also serves as chairman of the board and CEO of the National Center for Housing Management, a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit educational institute that trains and certifies residential real estate managers. John is a trustee of his alma mater, Spring Hill College in Mobile, Alabama, as well as a board member of the Cardiovascular Research Center of the Medical College of Wisconsin. John also serves on the Wisconsin Center District Board and received the Elizabeth Nelson Award for volunteerism from Milwaukee’s United Cerebral Palsy Board.

John has served on gubernatorial campaign finance committees for Tommy G. Thompson and Scott McCallum, presidential campaign finance committees and on the Republican National Committee. John and Murph are on the executive committee of GOPAC, a national organization that prepares conservative political candidates for local and state elected office. Murph was co-chair of the Bush Victory 2000 campaign in Wisconsin.

A founding member of the Board of Visitors for Marquette University’s Les Aspin Center for Government, John is also one of its most consistent supporters. Murph has volunteered as a guest lecturer for the Aspin Center’s course “The Arts and Democratic Society.”

Proud parents of five children and one grandchild, John and Murph have combined their talents to serve on charitable and civic boards. In May 2000, the Children’s Outing Association named them Parents of the Year and in 1998, they received the Challenger Award from Milwaukee’s chapter of ARC. They have recently made donations to the Calatrava addition to the Milwaukee Art Museum, to Spirit of Milwaukee for art in the Midwest Express Center, and to the Wyland Wall, painted on the north end of the Milwaukee Courthouse Annex.