Alumnus of the Year Award
Hon. M. Joseph, Arts ’88, Law ’88
Milwaukee, Wis.
As a judge of the Wisconsin Court of Appeals, M. Joseph (“Joe”) Donald is keenly aware of the impact he has on others’ lives. He listens closely to “that internal voice that inspires me to make sure I’m understanding and considering all the options and looking at all sides of an argument before making a ruling,” he says.
Joe also feels “profound gratitude” for Marquette’s impact on his life. “I’m very aware of how different my life could have been had I not been accepted into Marquette as a freshman undergraduate through the Equal Opportunity Program,” he says. Later, his education at the Law School enhanced his critical thinking skills and helped advance his legal career, which he began as a law clerk at the Milwaukee County courthouse.
One of Joe’s favorite Marquette memories involves a note posted on a bulletin board in Sensenbrenner Hall — “this was in the mid-80s, before email and cellphones” — which summoned him to the office of then Law School Associate Dean Charles W. Mentkowski. He remembers feeling intense dread about the meeting until he realized the dean was inviting him on a student recruitment trip to Chicago. “By the end of that trip we were both surprised to learn how much we had in common, even though I was a skinny Black kid from the north side and he was a Polish guy from the south side,” he jokes.
The Marquette mission remains central to Joe’s life. “I strive to . . . push for positive change and a greater understanding of how connected we all really are,” he says.
