Department of Intercollegiate Athletics Award Recipients
M Club Hy Popuch Memorial Service Award
Michael P. Sucharda, Bus Ad '69
Racine, Wis.
Mike’s ties to Marquette and the athletics department run deep. He has been a men’s basketball season ticket holder since before he graduated and is a past member of and officer in the M Club and Track Club.
Born and raised in Racine, Wis., Mike is a 1965 graduate of St Catherine’s High School and a lead runner on the school’s undefeated 1964 and 1965 cross country teams.
At Marquette, Mike ran intercollegiate track and cross country and was captain of both teams his senior year. He received four Marquette monograms in each sport as an ROTC participant, was commissioned upon graduation and served as a lieutenant aboard the USS Guadalcanal from 1969–73.
Upon his discharge from the Navy, Mike began his successful business career in marketing with Tenneco Automotive and received an executive degree from the Wharton Business School. He was inducted into the Automotive Hall of Fame for his marketing success.
Now, Mike is president and owner of Bellwether Associates, a full-service marketing and communications company, providing strategic planning and problem-solving dealing with all forms of communication.
“Marquette helped my social development and social development skills immensely and taught me the power and satisfaction of giving back,” he says.
He and his wife Beth, Med Tech ’71, also have women’s season basketball tickets. They have two children: Amanda, Arts ’03, Grad ’07, who was a member of Marquette’s track and cross country teams; and Michael, an alumnus of Loyola University Chicago who is a managing partner at Bellwether.
Mike is active in the Racine community. He is a member of the board of directors and past president of the Racine Zoological Society; chairman of the Racine Catholic School consolidation committee; a youth soccer coach with the Racine Area Soccer Association; and parochial school basketball coach for many years. He also is involved with the United Way.
