The 2021 Distinguished Awards honorees are (L-R) Larry Markus, Chad Vale, Rick Witt, Chris Wetteland, Max Petersen and (not pictured) Michael Gunther and Lawrence Maligaya.
Mundelein High School held its 2021 Distinguished Alumni ceremony and recognition Saturday with a luncheon at the District 120 Office Building. The program honors alumni who have excelled in a chosen profession, community service, civic involvement and more.
This year MHS was proud to honor Larry Markus (Class of ‘67), Chad Vale (Class of ‘74), Rick Witt (Class of “00), Chris Wetteland (Class of ‘93), Max Petersen (Class of ‘06), Michael Gunther (Class of ‘95) and Lawrence Maligaya (Class of ‘05).
Each honoree has the opportunity to address the audience and is presented with a plaque. A plaque honoring each awardee is also displayed on a Distinguished Alumni Wall in a prominent location on the high school campus.
“We are extremely proud of these honorees,” said District 75 and 120 Superintendent Kevin Myers. “Each of them is a testament to what any student may choose to do with his or her Mundelein education.”
The seven honorees (two could not attend) included a Purple Heart recipient (Gunther), an MIT graduate and founder of the STEM Explorers Scholarship at Mundelein High School (Maligaya), a biomedical and robotics engineer (Markus), a physician scientist resident at Massachusetts General Hospital (Petersen), a retired member of the US Air Force who spent 20 years as a Veterans Services Officer (Vale), A University of Tennessee-Knoxville Materials Science and Engineering senior lecturer (Wetteland), and a Sergeant with the Mundelein Police Department (Witt).
It was a fitting punctuation to Homecoming activities at Mundelein High School and a wonderful way to honor alumni during the school’s 60th anniversary year.