2016 Alumni Achievement Awards
District 128 Foundation for Learning Alumni Achievement Awards, established in 2014, are presented annually 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/her field and to his/her community. Nominations are accepted on an ongoing basis and remain active for three years. The Foundation for Learning Board of Trustees comprise the selection committee.
2016 Honorees
Y. Ralph Chu, M.D.
Libertyville High School Class of 1986
Y. Ralph Chu, M.D., Founder and Medical Director of Chu Vision Institute and Chu Surgery Center, is recognized as an international leader in cataract and refractive surgery. Dr. Chu received his medical degree from Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine as part of their Honors 6 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 non-profit 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, Minn., with his wife and daughter. He is an accomplished violinist and as a young person performed for the Vatican, at Carnegie Hall and the Oprah show to name a few. He enjoys music and the arts, traveling, biking and serves on the Board of The Minnesota Orchestra as well as the Walker Art Center and The Children’s Theatre Company.
David Margules
Vernon Hills High School Class of 2004
David 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 Masters in Security Policy Studies with dual concentrations in Transnational Security Threats and Weapons of Mass Destruction from the George Washington University. After twelve years in Washington, David is pleased to announce he remains a lifelong and unrepentant fan of Chicago sports teams.