THUMBNAIL: JAKE WOODFORD

(Frank Rippl began jazz piano accompaniment.)  Jake was born and raised in Appleton, Wisconsin, the city his father and fellow Rotarian Bob Woodford grew up in. When his dad was a child, his grandparents used to hire a young pianist named Frank Rippl to play at their swanky cocktail parties. A number of years later, he would have Frank as his first music teacher in elementary school, where his poor behavior would routinely force Frank  to send Jake to the back of the room to sit in shame so that he might continue to teach the good children “Oh, Shenandoah.” Upon reflection, doing so was probably harder for Frank than it was for Jake.  Jake had an illustrious career at Appleton North high school, where he managed to both edit the newspaper and chair the student government – a situation he would later learn as a political science major was unusual, highly suspect, and fortunately not replicated in the real world, at least not overtly.  In spite of his best efforts to spare the Fox Cities from yet another Woodford in residence, Jake was pulled into the orbit of Lawrence University, where he matriculated in the fall of 2009. Jake often jokes that he could load up a small wagon and pull his belongings from home to campus when it was time to move in.  Lawrence University afforded him the opportunity to receive a world-class undergraduate education, and to experience the world well beyond the confines of Northeast Wisconsin. He had the opportunity to meet Mitt Romney, Paul Ryan, Michelle Obama, and peers from all across the country and the world. He served in student government and made meaningful and lasting connections with friends and faculty members, and most importantly, he was adequately prepared to write thumbnails and thoughts of the day for Rotary.  Lawrence University has yet again found a way to keep him in his hometown.  After graduation in 2013, Jake was offered the position of  assistant to the president. Jake's primary responsibilities include fostering relationships within the community, supporting research and planning of presidential initiatives, and coordinating communications with their Board of Trustees.