Aug. 15, 2023
Contact Chris Sanger at 608-796-3070 or cmsanger@viterbo.edu
VITERBO UNIVERSITY ANNOUNCES 2023 RECIPIENTS OF THE SAINT JOHN XXIII AWARD FOR DISTINGUISHED SERVICE
LA CROSSE, Wis. – The Most Reverend William Patrick Callahan, Joe Kotnour, and Anh Pham, all of whom have a long history of community service and helping others, are the 2023 recipients of the Viterbo University Saint John XXIII Award for Distinguished Service. The awards will be presented at a banquet and ceremony on campus Wednesday, Sept. 6.
The Saint John XXIII Award is the highest non-academic award bestowed by Viterbo University. Recipients are chosen on the basis of contributions in one or several of the following categories: education, business, philanthropy, peace and justice, and religious life.
The 2023 recipients:
The Most Reverend William Patrick Callahan
William Patrick Callahan was named the 10th Bishop of the Diocese of La Crosse in 2010 by Pope Benedict XVI. Bishop Callahan had always loved being a parish priest, but when asked to take on new duties, he answered the call. A member of the Conventual Franciscans of the St. Bonaventure Province in his native Chicago, his service included being spiritual director for the Pontifical North American College in Rome and auxiliary bishop for the Archdiocese of Milwaukee before eventually becoming the first Conventual Franciscan to be named a bishop in the U.S. Known for his love of the Church, his brother priests, and his people, Bishop Callahan ultimately oversees the diocese’s 156 parishes, 56 schools, Catholic Charities, and numerous other entities, departments, and initiatives. He is a member of the United States Council of Catholic Bishops and served on the boards for the Committee of Clergy, Consecrated Life & Vocations, Catholic Relief Services, and the National Religious Retirement Management. He also serves on the board for the Mundelein Seminary, Sacred Heart Seminary, and School of Theology, and is a former member of the Catholic Rural Life Commission. His implementation of a propaedeutic year (prayer and preparation for the priesthood) before seminary was adopted nationally. Bishop Callahan is passionately pro-life and has worked diligently over the years in support of children, marriage, and Catholic schools and education. He enjoys a strong bond with the priests of the diocese, whom he describes as “incredibly gifted and a joy with whom to work.”
Joe Kotnour
Throughout his 42-year career, La Crosse dentist Joe Kotnour made it a priority to provide free and low-cost care to the underserved. Kotnour worked with patients through St. Clare Health Mission, local emergency rooms, nursing homes, the Wisconsin Dental Association Mission of Mercy and Give Kids a Smile programs, which provide free dental care events in various communities. In an initiative he started with the La Crosse Health Science Consortium, Kotnour and his fellow La Crosse District Dental Society dentists treated 5,000 medical assistance patients. His Coulee Family Dental was also one of the very few dental practices to accept medical assistance, the reimbursement rate of which doesn’t cover the overhead. Kotnour was honored with the WDA’s Dental Care for the Older Persons and Dental Care for Special Needs Patients recognition awards. Inspired as a student by the Franciscan Sisters of Perpetual Adoration, part of Kotnour’s desire to do good work in the community comes from his Catholic faith. Kotnour serves on the St. Clare Health Mission Board and he and his wife Ann were volunteers at the La Crosse Catholic Charities Warming Center. He has also served on the boards of a long list of local education and civic organizations. The Kotnours have been longtime supporters of Joe’s alma mater, Viterbo University. They have provided financial support to the Boys & Girls Club Pathway Scholarship, the FSPA Prayer Garden, the Outdoor Athletics Complex renovation, the athletics department, chemistry program, the Ron Amel Mentorship summer research opportunity for faculty members, and the Viterbo fund.
Anh Pham
Anh Pham has spent much of her life “giving back to God what I can.” Escaping her native Vietnam in 1975, Pham, her husband The, and their four children were able to eventually settle in La Crosse, where they were helped by the Catholic Diocese. The couple worked very hard— The at St. Francis Hospital and Anh at St. Joseph Nursing Home and cleaning the Family Radio Building for more than 35 years (where she was an investor in the employee stock plan.) All four of their children would go on to graduate from Aquinas High School, earn college degrees, and have successful lives and careers. Pham built a house for her parents and siblings in Vietnam, and has led trips to the country for her friends to meet and stay with her family. A devout Catholic, nearly every day Pham is at St. Joseph the Workman Cathedral by 5:45 a.m. to prepare the church for daily Mass. Once a year, she makes as many as 3,000 eggrolls for an annual sale, the proceeds of which are given to the church. She has often treated groups of priests and friends to meals and fellowship at local restaurants. Place of Grace Catholic Worker House and the YMCA are also the beneficiaries of Pham’s hard work, where she does everything from making coffee to cleaning to “doing whatever they need.” She is well known in the La Crosse area for her kindness and willingness to help others.
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