The Outstanding Young Alumni Award recognizes a recent graduate who has distinguished him or herself through service to people, community or church, or who has made significant contributions in his or her career. The recipient must have graduated from Bluffton University within the last 10 years.
This year's recipient:
Judson Laipply '98
Professional speaker
Major: recreation management
Dancing into the spotlight
Judson Laipply has put a new twist, quite literally, on what one does with a degree in recreation management. After graduating from Bluffton in 1998 and earning a master’s degree from Bowling Green State University in 2000, Jud began working as a public speaker—an “inspirational comedian” of sorts—combining his ability to make people laugh and think. In considering the messages he wanted people to remember, Jud began thinking about how life is change.
Those thoughts sparked Jud’s creation of “Evolution of Dance,” a six-minute skit that shows him dancing his way through 32 songs that span 40 plus years of music. Encouraged by his friends to post a video of the skit on the Web, Jud’s dance became an overnight sensation. Since late April of 2006, more than 57 million viewers have watched Jud’s performance on YouTube.com, and it remains the most-watched YouTube video to date, garnering him numerous appearances in the media spotlight.
Drawing inspiration from his many life experiences, including time spent working on a cruise ship, working at camp, being a certified aerobics instructor, teaching college courses and working as a part-time auctioneer, Jud has performed for various high schools, colleges and media outlets. He is a member of the National Speaker Association and has won the Speaker of the Year award presented by campusawards.com. Jud attributes much of his success to his time at Bluffton, where he says he was pushed to not only achieve in the classroom but also in life.
Jud lives in Lakewood, Ohio.
— Jill A. Duling and Andréa Ressler ’09
