District 128 Foundation for Learning announces award recipients
The District 128 Foundation for Learning has announced the recipients of its 2016 Alumni Achievement Awards: Y. Ralph Chu, Libertyville High School Class of 1986, and David Margules, Vernon Hills High School Class of 2004.
Chu, founder and medical director of Chu Vision Institute and Chu Surgery Center in Bloomington, Minnesota, is recognized as an international leader in cataract and refractive surgery.
Margules is mission manager at the Defense Intelligence Agency, a combat support agency of the United States Department of Defense.
Chu and Margules, the recipients of the third annual Alumni Achievement Awards, will be recognized at the foundation's annual benefit, "The Big Event," Nov. 4 at Viper Alley. Complete details and registration information can be found at www.events.org/D128TheBigEvent.
Dr. Chu received his medical degree from Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine as part of its Honors six year BS/MD program, where he was a member of the Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Society. He completed an internship at Evanston Hospital and an ophthalmology residency at Duke University Eye Center in Durham, North Carolina. Dr. Chu then completed a fellowship in cornea and external disease, refractive, cataract and lens implant surgery and glaucoma in Minneapolis.
Following his passion to help end blindness around the globe, Dr. Chu formed the Chu Vision Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to bringing education, vision correction surgery, technology and resources to underserved communities locally and abroad.
He has traveled to Myanmar, Thailand, and many other countries, bringing his surgical talents to educate and train other physicians.
Dr. Chu is past president of the Ophthalmic Outpatient Surgery Society, as well as a member of many other ophthalmic organizations. He has become a sought-after resource for numerous broadcast media outlets both locally and nationally.
Dr. Chu has lectured and taught physicians on nearly every continent, including Asia, Australia and Europe, and is a highly respected speaker, nationally and internationally, on cataract and refractive surgery.
Dr. Chu lives in Edina, Minnesota, with his wife and daughter. He is an accomplished violinist and, as a young person, performed for the Vatican, at Carnegie Hall and on Oprah Winfrey's show, to name a few. He enjoys music and the arts, traveling and biking and serves on the board of the Minnesota Orchestra, as well as the Walker Art Center and The Children's Theatre Company.
David H. Margules currently serves as the Africa and Middle East Mission Manager at the Defense Intelligence Agency in Washington, D.C. David has worked at DIA since 2010. In that time, David has completed a rotation with the Joint Staff Directorate for Analysis and twice deployed to Afghanistan in support of International Security Assistance Force - Afghanistan operations, at the Kandahar Intelligence Fusion Cell and Combined Joint Intelligence Operations Center.
There, he provided intelligence support to ISAF leadership, facilitating the establishment of a regional intelligence fusion cell and regularly briefing senior officials, including the ISAF Commander.
David maintains and leverages foreign relationships to determine topics of mutual interest to the United States and allied governments, particularly within the Five Eyes Community. His efforts have increased efficiencies and cooperation between the United States and its closest allies, and he recently returned from an analyst exchange to the United Kingdom.
His awards include the Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, the NATO ISAF Medal, and the Joint Civilian Service Commendation Award.
David earned a bachelor of arts in international affairs with a concentration in conflict and security and a minor in Spanish, as well as a master's degree in security policy studies with dual concentrations in transnational security threats and weapons of mass destruction from the George Washington University.
After 12 years in Washington, David is pleased to announce he remains a lifelong and unrepentant fan of Chicago sports teams.
Established in 2014, the District 128 Foundation for Learning Alumni Achievement Awards are presented to individuals who graduated from a District 128 high school at least five years prior to nomination, and who have made significant contributions and demonstrated leadership and character in his or her field and to his or her community.
Nominations are accepted on an ongoing basis via the foundation's website, d128foundation.org/nomination-alumni-achievement-award, and remain active for three years. The foundation for Learning Board of Trustees make up the selection committee.
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