CLINTON — Retired Clinton art teacher Donald Gruber has been awarded a lifetime achievement award by Marquis Who’s Who.

Marquis Who’s Who, the world’s premier publisher of biographical profiles, presented Donald Gruber, Ed.D., with the Albert Nelson Marquis Lifetime Achievement Award. An accomplished listee, Dr. Gruber celebrates many years’ experience in his professional network and has been noted for achievements, leadership qualities, and the credentials and successes he has accrued in his field. 

As in all Marquis Who’s Who biographical volumes, individuals profiled are selected on the basis of current reference value. Factors such as position, noteworthy accomplishments, visibility, and prominence in a field are all taken into account during the selection process.

Gruber is a graphic artist and retired educator whose artistic talents began to take shape when he was just a child. Upon attending college, he studied art and education, melded the two, and became a successful teacher for more than 20 years. Teaching visual arts at Decatur Public Schools between 1975 and 1982 and Clinton Community Schools between 1988 and 2004, Gruber additionally contributed his expertise as an art director to C. Bendsen Company in Decatur for several years. 

Today, Gruber maintains his own graphic design business in Clinton, as well as an art enterprise, Moon Dog Studio, for which he focuses his free time as a painter of watercolor, acrylic and oil, and creating unique paper cuts and sculptures. 

His media includes two and three-dimensional formats and includes corrugated cardboard, acrylics, watercolors, oil pastel, colored pencils and oils. In addition to selling his work online, Gruber’s art can be found on display at the Yard Dog Gallery in Austin, Texas, the Smith Studio and Gallery in Geneseo, and Main Gallery 404 in downtown Bloomington. 

An alumnus of Millikin University in Decatur, Dr. Gruber received a Bachelor of Fine Arts in 1975. He later acquired a Master of Arts at the University of Illinois in 1990 and a Doctor of Education at Illinois State University in 1998. He is a certified art teacher and educational administrator in Illinois and holds a private pilot’s license. 

Prior to college, Gruber served four years as a sergeant in the U.S. Air Force between 1966 and 1970. He has shared his expertise with other members of his field through his membership with the educational advisory board for Illinois State University. Gruber is likewise a columnist and member of the board of experts for Traditional Parent Magazine. 

Gruber is a member of the Illinois Art Education Association, where he is a former member of the board of directors. He is a former co-editor of the association’s newsletter, and is a recipient of their 1996 Junior High Art Teacher of the Year Award as well. Further, Dr. Gruber is a member of the National Education Association, the National Art Education Association, a distinguished member of the Illinois Art Education Association, and a former member of the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.

A 1992 Mary Packwood graduate scholar and grant recipient from such organizations as the Decatur Area Art Council, Dr. Gruber has also been the recipient of several awards through the Illinois Art Education Association for his contributions. A celebrated Marquis listee, he has been featured in the fifth and sixth editions of Who’s Who in American Education. Dr. Gruber’s avocations include writing, woodworking, and gardening.