DISTINGUISHED ALUMNUS OF THE YEAR AWARD
Joseph L. Lee, Eng ’91
Western Springs, Ill.
As the chairman of Club Champion Golf, Joe Lee has dedicated the past 13 years of his professional life to helping golfers play better by perfectly fitting equipment to their swing and body types, which enables them to enjoy the game more each time they play. The foundation for Joe’s career was solidified during his time as a member of the Marquette men’s golf team, and he is now able to combine his love for the game of golf with the opportunity to serve others.
Joe’s personal definition of success aligns closely with St. Ignatius’ admonition to “go and set the world on fire.” Joe defines success as using the tools God gave you to make an impact on the world, which he has certainly been able to accomplish. Joe feels blessed to be in a position to serve others through his church, Marquette’s golf program, local golf clubs and associations, and other nonprofit organizations.
Joe is proud to be part of a Marquette legacy, with both of his parents attending Marquette in the early 1960s as well as several other family members. He chose Marquette because of the educational opportunities as well as its strong Catholic tradition. He credits his opportunity to play golf under Coach Jim Nasiopulos as greatly enhancing his Marquette experience, learning from the leadership of his teammates and coach.
Joe credits Jim Nasiopulos with helping him succeed at Marquette. Jim was instrumental in recruiting Joe to the men’s golf team and helped Joe navigate playing college golf while being successful in his engineering classes. Joe says, “Jim’s leadership and responsibility went beyond the golf team to multiple other roles for Marquette’s athletic department, and I continue to admire him greatly today.”
Name someone (past or present) with whom you’d like to have dinner.
I would really enjoy having an adult conversation with my grandfather, Everett Lee. As a father and professional now, I would have many questions for him as to how he balanced personal interests, career success, parenting, and practicing his deep Christian faith. He was an engineer with John Deere for 35 years, raised four kids (two Marquette grads) with his wife, Monica, and kept Christ dear to their family. He spent most of his retirement years caring for his Monica, yet always seemed be content and excited for life.
What is one of your favorite Marquette memories?
On Friday afternoons after class, I would head over to play pick-up basketball at the Helfaer Recreation Center. There were always a ton of good players there to test my high school basketball chops, but I always felt the satisfaction of another week behind me and starting the weekend with some good exercise with my friends.
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