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Friday, April 17, 2026Glacier Canyon Conference Center, Wisconsin Dells
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Friday, June 19, 2026Zoom
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Thursday, October 08, 2026Moraine Park - West Bend Campus
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| Lazear Named Wisconsin Technical College Trustee of the Year 2025 Click here to view Nicolet's blog post about Dianne Lazear. Dianne Lazear of Tomahawk has been named Trustee of the Year by the Wisconsin Technical College District Board Association in recognition of her outstanding service to technical college education. Lazear serves on the Nicolet College Board of Trustees and represents Lincoln County. She is one of 144 trustees across Wisconsin’s 16 technical colleges. Each year, nominees for Trustee of the Year are evaluated based on their engagement in local, state, and national advocacy and other collaborative work for the benefit of students and technical education. |
A former Nicolet College faculty member and administrator, Lazear has served on the Nicolet College Board of Trustees since 2019. “Trustees are often asked, ‘Why do you serve?’ For me, it’s the same answer that I gave when I was hired by Nicolet College, almost 30 years ago,” said Lazear. “The answer is: ‘Think global, act local.’” The impacts of Lazear’s activities have been wide-ranging, from local to national levels. Locally, on the Nicolet College Board of Trustees, Lazear has served as Treasurer, Vice Chair and Chair, while leading key efforts including the presidential selection process, key performance indicators, and policy review. Lazear also developed a trustee handbook and new trustee orientation process to help onboard incoming trustees each year. These tools are now offered as best practices across the state and used as a format and reference in other community colleges across the country. “Dianne is truly a role model for her fellow trustees,” said Abbey Dall Lukowski, chair of the Nicolet College Board of Trustees. “Her tireless efforts, passionate engagement, and selfless service to the college and our students are an inspiration to us.” Lazear has also participated in state-level committees and presented at the Association of Community College Trustees National Leadership Conference, continuing her advocacy on a broader stage. “This work transforms individual lives, and as a result, transforms families, communities, and the state, as all ripples matter, transforms the world around us,” Lazear added. |
1976 William Pierce, Waukesha 1978 Walter Calvert, Southwest WI 1979 Leah Rigler, Indianhead 1980 Ben Guthrie, Nicolet 1990 Jacqueline DeBaker, Lakeshore 1991 Joan Jenstead, Waukesha 1992 Donald McGrath, Blackhawk 1993 Conrad Zander, Nicolet 1994 Ruth Harker, Lakeshore 1995 James Munro, Blackhawk & Jerald Schoenike, Fox Valley 1996 Ken Day, Northcentral 1997 Deborah Streuli, Indianhead 1998 Linda Christman, Madison 1999 Robert Beaver, Mid-State 2000 Philip Baranowski, Moraine Park 2001 Audrey Hein, Blackhawk 2002 Sandra Haasl, Mid-State 2003 Ruth Mundt, Southwest WI 2004 Joan Jenstead, Waukesha 2005 David Logghe, Indianhead | 2006 Jean Trempe, Northcentral 2007 James Munro, Blackhawk 2008 John Lukas, Lakeshore 2009 Ronald Bertieri, Waukesha 2010 Lauren Baker, Milwaukee 2011 Vernon Jung, Jr. Moraine Park 2012 Russell Moyer, Southwest WI 2013 Patrick Costello, Mid-State 2014 Ramona Mathews, Chippewa Valley 2015 John Lukas, Lakeshore 2016 Ramona Mathews, Chippewa Valley 2017 Robert Beaver, Mid-State 2018 John Lukas, Lakeshore 2019 Betty Bruski Mallek, Mid-State 2020 Carla Hedtke, Northeast WI 2021 Lori Laberee, Northwood 2022 Chuck Bolstad, Southwest WI 2023 Don Tuescher, Southwest WI 2024 Ram Bhatia, Gateway |
From the Board Member of the Year nominations, we select one extraordinary person, who has not received this award in the past, based on three criteria. The Board Member of the Year criteria are:
Please see the list above for the names of previous BMOTY award recipients.  |
Awards Timeline Announcement: June 9th Nominations Due: July 21st Ratings Due: September 1st Presented: Fall Meeting
Nomination Forms
| Nomination Information Your nomination submission must include an essay explaining why the nominee should receive the award based on the stated award criteria. Nomination essays must be formatted as follows:
Submissions that do not follow this format will be disqualified.
Award nominations must be received no later than July 21st, 2025. |
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