2012 Distinguished Service Citation

Arthur Thexton once said, “Life is long. Go ahead and try something.” He has lived that advice, too, serving his church, working for the police force, practicing law, and even overseeing a grocery co-op.

As a Beloit student, he was the moderator of the Community Senate, serving as liaison between the student body and the college president. He went on to become a police officer, a Unitarian lay preacher, a district attorney, the president of a Madison grocery co-op, and, now, a prosecutor for the State of Wisconsin. Arthur has not only tried many things in life – he has also made his mark in countless ways.

Arthur graduated from Beloit with honors in 1972 with a double major in sociology and economics and business. In addition to moderating the Community Senate, he participated in soccer, theatre, The Round Table, WBCR, and band. He was elected to the Omicron Delta Kappa honor society and received two prestigious awards: the Economics Department Assistantship and the Sociology Department Research Assistantship.

After Beloit, Arthur continued his education, earning his master’s degree in religious studies from the University of Chicago Divinity School and his juris doctor from the University of Wisconsin Law School.

Arthur has 35 years of law experience, including serving as an assistant city attorney in La Crosse, Wis., the district attorney of Taylor County in Wisconsin, and a private practitioner in Madison. He has participated in roughly 100 trials and more than 1,000 other court hearings, and he has more than a dozen professional presentations and publications to his credit.

Today, Arthur prosecutes medical license violations as an attorney for the Wisconsin Department of Regulation and Licensing, a position he has held since 1991. He is also presently the vice-president of the Wisconsin Coalition Against the Death Penalty Fund, Inc., and a lay preacher, regularly conducting services at congregations in Manitowoc, Wis., and Elkhorn, Wis., as well as his own congregation, the James Reeb Unitarian-Universalist Congregation in Madison.

Despite his many involvements, Arthur still makes time for Beloit. He is a consistent supporter of Beloit’s annual fund, the alumni soccer fund, and the Beloit College Chapter of Habitat for Humanity. He also has shared his expertise with Beloit students by participating in several alumni career fairs.

For his broad definition of service and his expansive dedication to the greater good, the Beloit College Alumni Association is proud to bestow upon Arthur Thexton its highest honor, the Distinguished Service Citation.