Chicago Illini of the Year

2013 Recipients

Ryan Baker ’91 MEDIA
Sports Anchor/Director, WBBM-TV/CBS 2 Chicago

Celene Peurye-Hissong ’74 LAS, MSW ’76
Principal
Focused Philanthropy

Jesse H. Ruiz ’88 LAS
Partner, Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP

Past Recipients (Occupations listed were current at time of award)

2012
The Hon. Timothy C. Evans ’65 LAS
Chief Judge of the Circuit Court of Cook County

SamuelMendenhall ’88 CBA (UIC), JD ’91 LAW
Equity Partner
Winston & Strawn

Carol Hillsman Sagers ’79 MEDIA
Founder and Consultant
CHS Marketing Consultants

2011
G. Thomas Castino ’60 ENG
Retired President and CEO
Underwriters Laboratories

Mary Frances Fagan ’76 MEDIA, MA ’83 LAS
Director, Corporate Communications
American Airlines

Howard M. Katz ’82 ACES
Senior Executive Vice President
Lettuce Entertain You Enterprises

2010
Ronald W. Bess ’69 BUS, ’72 MEDIA
President and CEO, Euro RSCG Chicago

Robert D. Kleinschmidt ’63 FAA
President, Powell/Kleinschmidt Inc.

Richard C. Romano ’54 LAS
Founder & Chairman, Romano Brothers & Co.

2009
Gail Veasman Kellogg '65 LAS
Retired principal, partner and consultant, Hewitt Associates

Cirilo A. McSween '54 LAS
Owner, Cirilo McSween Insurance Agency
Founder and President, Black McDonald's Operators Association

Avy H. Stein '77 BUS
Managing partner, Willis Stein & Partners LLC

2008
Caroline Becker Joss ’84 ACES
Co-founder and designer, Caroline Rose Inc.

Sheldon B. Rubin ’64 LAS, ’66 VM, DVM ‘68
Former owner and director emeritus, Blum Animal Hospital; author

Paul Schrage, MS ’59 MEDIA
Retired Senior Executive Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer, McDonald’s Corp.

2007
Richard Cline ’57 LAS
Chairman & Director, Hawthorne Investors, Inc.
Managing Partner, Hawthorne Investments, LLC

Robert Falls ’76 FAA
Artistic Director, Goodman Theatre

Roger Plummer ’64 ENG
President & CEO, Plummer & Associates Consulting

2006
Howard Engle ’72 BUS
Partner, Deloitte & Touche LLP

John David Mooney MFA ’65 FAA
Founder and Artistic Director, John David Mooney Foundation

Pamela Bristow Strobel ’74 MEDIA, JD ’77 LAW
Retired Executive Vice President and Chief Administrative Officer, Exelon Corporation

2005
Carol Ross Barney ’71 FAA
Founder and President, Ross Barney & Jankowski

Jack Klues ’77 MEDIA
Chairman and CEO, Starcom MediaVest Group

Thomas Miner JD ’53 LAW
President of Thomas H. Miner & Associates, Inc.
Chair and Founder, Mid-America Committee for International
Business and Government Cooperation

2004
Corinne J. Wood ’76 LAS
Former Lieutenant Governor of Illinois

W. Gene Corley ’58 ENG, MS ’60, PhD ’61 ENG
Senior Vice President for Engineering, Construction Technology Labs, Inc., head of federal investigation into collapse of World Trade Center buildings

Cary D. McMillan ’80 BUS
Chief Executive Officer, Sara Lee Branded Apparel

2003
Doris Christopher ‘67 ACES
Chair and Founder, The Pampered Chef

Dr. Emiel Hamberlin ‘77 EDM, ‘83 EDD
Biology and horticulture teacher at DuSable High School
Inductee, National Teachers’ Hall of Fame; Golden Apple Award

Robert P. Crawford ‘59 MEDIA
Retired “Dean” of Chicago broadcast journalists, more than 40 years with CBS and WBBM

2002
Cheryl Berman ‘74 MEDIA
Chief Creative Officer, Leo Burnett USA

Eli Cohen ‘55 ENG
Principal Engineer, Thornton Tomasetti Engineers

Ralph Johnson ‘71 FAA
Director of Design, Perkins & Will

2001
Mary Dempsey MS ‘76 GSLIS
Commissioner, Chicago Public Library

Mark Tebbe ‘83 ENG
Chair and Founder, Lante Corporation

Thomas Tunney ‘77 ACES
President, Ann Sathers Restaurants

2000
Avis LaVelle '75 MEDIA
V.P. for Government & Public Affairs, University of Chicago Hospitals, former Press Secretary for Mayor Richard M. Daley

Lynn Martin '60 LAS
Chair, Deloitte Touche's Council on the Advancement of Women,
former U.S. Secretary of Labor

Arnold Weber ’50 LAS, AM ’51 LIR, HON ‘97
President Emeritus, Northwestern University

1999
Nicole Hollander '60 FAA
Sculpter, writer, creator of comic strip “Sylvia”

Johnny "Red" Kerr '54 ALS
President, Kerr Financial Services
Announcer for Chicago Bulls basketball team

Sam Skinner '60 BUS
Capital Partner & Co-chairman, Hopkins & Sutter
Former U.S. Secretary of Transportation and U.S. Chief of Staff

1998
Lester McKeever Jr. '55 BUS
Managing Principal, Washington, Pittman & McKeever

Tonise Paul '79 MEDIA, MS '80 MEDIA
President and CEO, BBDO Chicago

Sheldon Good '55 BUS
Chairman Emeritus, Sheldon Good & Company

1997
Roger Ebert '64 MEDIA
Film critic, author

Carol Marin '70 LAS
News anchor, CBS News

Joel Weisman '63 BUS
News analyst and private attorney, Siegman & Weisman, Ltd