Dr. Don Daake (MWC ’71) has had an expansive career in education, business, and consulting.
“For most of my career I have had one foot in education and the other in the business world,” he remarked.
However, it all started at Miltonvale Wesleyan College, where Daake attended his first two years from 1969-71.
Daake grew up in Charles City, Iowa. He and his family attended the Wesleyan Methodist Church, and singing teams from Miltonvale frequently would visit to put on performances. Daake’s two older brothers, Richard and Robert, both began their college years at MWC, and Daake followed in their footsteps when the time came.
Daake earned his associate’s degree from MWC, and while he wasn’t exactly sure what kind of career he hoped to build, he credits his time at MWC with preparing him for success. After wrapping up at MWC, he transferred to Kansas State and finished his undergraduate degree in history.
“Going to the state school verified that I had a really good education at MIltonvale,” he said. “I did very well at K-State.”
Daake went on to earn his MBA from the University of Iowa.
“I didn’t know what I was going to do,” he said. “So I went to business school, and there again I found that my solid background from Miltonvale and K-State served me very well.”
While it was a transition to go from the social science background to a business program, Daake actually believes it gave him a perspective that helped him succeed.
“It was a very good transition. I had a lot of experience in writing and thinking that helped me in the MBA program.”
Early Career
After finishing his MBA, Daake worked for Winnebago Industries for two years in market research. He served as department supervisor. He noted that his company was one of the first clients of JD Powers and Associates, which was just getting started in the mid-1970s.
Daake decided to leave the motorhome industry and got a job at Eastern Iowa Community College in 1979. He mainly worked with companies and organizational employees who were continuing their education with non-credit professional development courses. Daake also found himself in the classroom during this period.
“It was a great experience because I was working with highly motivated adults,” he said. “It was a true professional development situation.”
In 1986, an opportunity arose at Florida State University to work in a similar setting. Daake and his family had always wanted to live in Florida, so they moved to Tallahassee, where he served as the Director of Business and Industry Programming at Florida State’s Center for Professional Development.
After four years, Daake decided it was time to pursue a PhD. So he enrolled in Florida State’s College of Business, and over the next five years, he earned his PhD and worked as an instructor/researcher and wrote chapters for several textbooks.
Daake finished his doctorate and took a position at Olivet Nazarene, where his wife had earned her nursing degree. They moved to Illinois in 1995, and Daake would serve at Olivet for the next 23 years as a professor of business.
In 2001, Olivet opened the Donald H. Weber Entrepreneur & Leadership Center and named Daake the Weber Center’s first director. From 2001 to 2016, he continued to teach classes and led community outreach programs through the Weber Center. He facilitated programs and brought in business leaders to come and speak to students.
Always a Teacher
Olivet recognized Daake twice during his tenure. In 2010, he was named Faculty Member of the Year, and in 2017, he was awarded the Richard Jones Teaching Excellence Award. He retired from full-time teaching in 2017, though he continues to be involved in his work as an adjunct professor at the DBA program run by Anderson University, which he started doing in 2004.
Though Daake isn’t in the classroom anymore, he continues to be a voice in his community. For the last 15 years, he has contributed to the Kankakee Daily Journal, writing multiple monthly columns on topics including business, values and ethics, emotional intelligence, and other pertinent issues. It continues to be something he enjoys, and he has had over 400 published columns, many of which are available on his personal website.
He also continues to do scholarly research and has been a contributing writer on several textbooks and journals. Daake has also presented at more than 20 different conferences over the years. He served as the National President of the Christian Business Faculty Association (CBFA), of which OKWU is a member school.
Over the years, thousands of students have sat in Daake’s classes or benefited from programs he helped to implement. But Daake quickly credits his family for helping him choose his Christian-oriented worldview that led him down this path.
“I look at this Heritage Award as if I’m standing on the shoulders of lots of people, including my parents and my wife’s parents,” he said. “All that they did in the Wesleyan Church and the influence they had, that’s kind of what got me started in Christian higher education.”
Dr. Don Daake and his wife, Barb, live in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. He will be honored at Homecoming 2024.
