Dartmouth Alumni Awards
David Wagner '99: Dartmouth Young Alumni Distinguished Service Award Recipient, 2012-13
David Wagner '99

David Wagner '99 (right) was presented the
Dartmouth Young Alumni Distinguished Service Award
by Marty Lempres '84, president of the Alumni Council,
at the 206th Alumni Council Session on May 17, 2013.


As you considered colleges your junior year in Norton, Massachusetts, your 6th grade English teacher called you up out of the blue and asked "Have you thought about Dartmouth?" Stepping onto the campus, it felt like coming home.

When you arrived at Dartmouth, you heeded the advice of those around you to try new things. Rowing lightweight crew that fall, you found a tight knit group who went on to join Alpha Chi Alpha together and remain friends to this day. Affable and energetic, you volunteered as a Tucker Foundation Big Brother and covered sports as a reporter for The Dartmouth. A DJ for WFRD-FM, you treated your listeners to sets of classic '70's music as your classmate Adrienne Wilson read the news. Choosing to major in Ancient History, your first trip abroad with the Classics FSP brought you to Rome, where you followed the path of The Aeneid and explored Tunisia and Carthage. Your undergraduate experience culminated in co-chairing your Senior Week activities for the great Class of 1999.

Following graduation, you joined a clerk program at the law firm of Baker Botts. At Vantage Partners LLC Consulting, your travel to such exotic locales as Manila and Jakarta gave you the international "bug." Drawn back to your wife's hometown of Dallas to fortify your Southern roots, you earned your MBA from the SMU Cox School of Business. Positions with 7-Eleven, Inc. and Rent-A-Center, Inc. followed as you concentrated on international strategy and planning. Most recently you became Director, International Strategy of Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.

While your professional life has an international focus, your volunteer efforts have focused on Dartmouth, which you still find "just amazing." Ever conscious of how Dartmouth shaped your life during your years on campus and beyond, you endeavor to give back to the College through service. You've led the Dartmouth Club of Dallas as president, joined the committees for the Class of 1999 5th and 10th Reunions, and served on the Executive Committee of the Club Officers Association. As the Alumni Council representative for the Club Officers Association, you participated on the Executive Committee and chaired the Student Affairs Committee. Not content to work solely with alumni, you interview prospective students for the next generation of Dartmouth. You've developed Dartmouth connections around the world, from working with one of your first mentors in consulting, to meeting your classmate for dinner in Hong Kong, to discovering another alumnus in your new workplace.

The dedication you have shown to your career and Dartmouth would not have been possible without the support of your wife and classmate Adrienne. That WFRD pairing was fortuitous; your radio relationship evolved, and you married in 2002. You and Adrienne have missed just two homecomings since graduation, and your children Allison, Austin and Wilson, are falling under your green spell. In fact, Allison brought photos of the Homecoming Bonfire for her classroom "show and tell."

Though truly "round the girdled earth" you've roamed, your years of dedication, enthusiasm and service to your alma mater always keep you close to Hanover in spirit. We are deeply honored to recognize you with the Dartmouth Young Alumni Distinguished Service Award.

Marty Lempres '84
President, Dartmouth Alumni Council
May 17, 2013