Joe Ambrose graduated from LeRoy High School in 1975. He and his wife Julie Epperson Ambrose (LHS ‘75) live in LeRoy and have four children, Jake (LHS ’99), Meg (LHS ’01), Ben (LHS ’03) and Brad (LHS ’05).

Joe received a bachelor’s degree in finance from the University of Illinois in 1979, a juris doctorate from Indiana University in 1982, and a masters of business administration from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University in 2001.

Joe is the President and Chief Executive Officer of Horizon Hobby, Inc., which has its corporate headquarters in Champaign, Illinois. Horizon Hobby is an international company that develops and distributes radio controlled hobby products, model trains and a wide range of educational, toy and other hobby products. Before his career with Horizon Hobby, Joe was an attorney concentrating in business law. While practicing law, Joe received peer recognition as a leading lawyer and was a lecturer and author on business and legislative issues and for continuing legal education programs. Since 1993, Joe has served on the board of directors of First Busey Corporation, a publicly traded financial holding company.

Joe is also one of the organizers, a past president and a director of the LeRoy Education Advancement Foundation.