April 16, 2010

Allen Lepke selected as director of development at DWU

Allen Lepke

MITCHELL — Allen Lepke, Mitchell, will become the new director of development at Dakota Wesleyan University on May 1. Lepke will replace Jackie Davis who has served DWU since 1991.

Lepke comes from a strong background in community service, as well as fundraising. During his four years as director of development for the Abbott House, he secured funds to expand and renovate the current facility. He also helped to create the Abbott House’s Festival of Lights, a six-week holiday light show involving hundreds of volunteer hours.

Lepke is a 1997 graduate of Mitchell Technical Institute with an Associate of Arts and Sciences degree in computer systems technology. He then went on to earn his Bachelor of Science degree in business management in 2006 from Indiana Wesleyan University in Marion, Ind. He also served in the South Dakota Air National Guard from 1993-2002 as an aerospace propulsion specialist, repairing and maintaining the operation of F-16 jet engines.

He earned a certificate in fundraising management from University of Nebraska at Omaha; is a member of the Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP); and was an invitee and graduate of the 2005 South Dakota Governor’s Leadership Institute.

Lepke previously worked at Dakota Wesleyan in the information systems department. He left DWU in 2000 to work as a network administrator/telecommunications support specialist for Innovative Systems in Mitchell, where he was employed until 2006 when he began at the Abbott House.

Lepke has served as finance chairman and committeeman for the Davison County Republican Party since 2008, and he served two consecutive two-year terms as chairman of the Davison County GOP from 2005-2008. He also served two three-year terms as a Mitchell City Councilman from 2003-2009, where he served as mayor-appointed liaison to the Events Center Task Force, charged with researching the feasibility of a projected $25-million events center.

Lepke and his wife, Sara, have two children.