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Kenton County’s Jon Draud to be inducted into Eastern Kentucky University Hall of Fame


NKyTribune staff

Kenton County Commissioner and former state legislator Jon Draud is being inducted into the Eastern Kentucky University Athletics Hall of Fame.

Jon Draud photo

Draud at EKU

Draud played baseball for four seasons at EKU from 1957-60 and was the starting catcher on back-to-back Ohio Valley Conference Championship teams.

His .473 batting average from the 1958 season is just two points below the all-time EKU mark.

Draud is serving his second term as Kenton County Commissioner since being elected in 2010.

Prior to his involvement on the Fiscal Court, Draud dedicated over 50 years of his professional career to working in the education field. He served as Kentucky’s Commissioner of Education from 2008-2010.

In 1963, he coached Covington Holmes High School to the state baseball championship.

In addition to his education service, Draud’s former civic involvement includes serving five years on Crestview Hills City Council and 10 years as a Kentucky State Legislator.

Jon and his wife Beverly Ann reside in Edgewood and have three children and six Grandchildren.

Draud will be inducted with eight others at the Perkins Building on the EKU campus on Saturday, Oct. 8.

His introduction for enshrinement into the EKU Hall of Fame provides additional details about some of his career accomplishments:

Draud played baseball for four seasons at EKU from 1957-60 for coach Turkey Hughes where he was the starting catcher on back-to-back OVC championship teams in 1959 and 1960. He is still listed in the EKU baseball record for the .473 batting average he attained in 1958, a record which is only two points away from the all-time EKU single season batting mark. 

He ended his playing career by serving as co-captain of the 1960 Maroons, a season that saw him named to an All-OVC team. 

This inductee has had a very distinguished career, most notably in the field of education, serving as the state of Kentucky’s Commissioner of Education from 2008-2010.  He was chosen as EKU’s Most Outstanding Alumnus in 2000 and delivered the Commencement address at EKU in the spring of 2009.

He was a Kentucky state legislator from 1998-2008. 

Upon graduation from EKU in 1960, he spent the next as a teacher in the Covington school system before spending the 1962-66 years at Covington Holmes High School where he coached that school to the 1963 state high school baseball championship.

He has received numerous awards in the Northern Kentucky/Cincinnati area and has had buildings in Edgewood and Ludlow named in his honor. He was Superintendent of the Ludlow public school system from 1978-1997 and received the Paul Mason Legislative Advocate for Children Award from the Kentucky PTA in recognition for his ardent support for the Commonwealth’s children during his time as a legislator for the Kentucky General Assembly.


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