Illini Comeback

Each year since 1980, the Student Alumni Ambassadors of the University of Illinois Alumni Association invite a group of distinguished alumni back to the campus to participate in traditional activities such as the Homecoming Parade and Pep Rally. These alumni honorees also interact with current students and talk about their professional experiences since leaving their Alma Mater.

2011 Illini Comeback Honorees

Emmy-nominated sports reporter Ryan Baker ’91 media currently serves as sports director and lead sports anchor for WBBM-TV/CBS 2 in his native Chicago. He previously worked at WMAQ-TV/NBC 5 in Chicago, where he hosted “Sports Sunday” and the Chicago Bears pre- and post-game shows; at WKMG-TV in Orlando, Fla., where he was twice voted “Best Sportscaster” by Orlando Magazine; at KFMB-TV in San Diego; and at WCIA-TV and WICD-TV in Champaign. He has also hosted the Bruce Weber Coach’s Show on the Big Ten Network. Career highlights include reporting from Greece during the 2004 Olympics, covering both the Fighting Illini men’s basketball race to the Final Four and the historic White Sox World Series win in 2005, and reporting live from Miami during the Chicago Bears 2007 Super Bowl run. Baker has followed the Cubs, Blackhawks and Bulls in the playoffs and interviewed superstars from Michael Jordan to Tiger Woods. While at the University of Illinois, he was a student manager for the “Flyin’ Illini” 1989 Final Four men’s basketball team. He is a member of the Illini Leadership Council and is active with the Chicago chapter of the American Diabetes Association and various other local charities.

Paul Schrage, ms ’59 media, joined McDonald’s Corp. in 1967, founding the company’s marketing department and introducing its famous Golden Arches logo. He is credited with spearheading many of the fast-food giant’s other key innovations, including drive-through service, breakfast, play areas for children, extra-value meals and creation of signature clown character Ronald McDonald. In 1982 and 1992, Schrage accepted the prestigious American Marketing Association Achievement Award for McDonald’s. In 1988, he was the first non-agency member to be recognized by the Chicago Advertising Club as “Advertising Man of the Year.” Through the efforts of Schrage and his team, the McDonald’s brand was recognized in 1996 as the No. 1 brand in the world. In 1997, he was elected to the American Advertising Federation Advertising Hall of Fame, retiring from McDonald’s that same year as senior executive vice president and a member of the board of directors. He is a past and present board member for numerous corporations and is chairman of Ronald McDonald House Charities, one of the world’s largest children’s charitable organizations. He also serves as a trustee for Valparaiso University, where he received the Distinguished Alumni Award in 1976 and an honorary doctorate in 1996. The University of Illinois honored him with the Alumni Achievement Award in 2003.

Orphaned at the age of 15, retired Brig. Gen. Bud Strom ’54 ahs began his life as a working cowboy near Red Lodge, Mont. He joined the Army in 1955 and composed his first poems in 1973, during combat duty in Vietnam. Strom returned to the cattle business after a 30-year military career, and now owns the 1,500-acre Single Star Ranch in Hereford, Ariz., raising Angus cattle with his wife, Joan Strom ’54 ahs. He has performed his cowboy poetry from coast to coast, and was instrumental in the development of southern Arizona’s Cowboy Poetry Gathering, which annually draws 6,000-8,000 visitors to the Sierra Vista area. A captivating performer, Strom fills his verses with, in the words of a nominator, the “hard times, great pride, tongue-in-cheek humor and satisfaction that comes with living the cowboy dream,” and visits schools around the country to teach students about cowboy poetry and the history, culture and lore of the West. He has been selected as both citizen and artist of the year in Sierra Vista, and in 2009 was named to the Sierra Vista Tourism Hall of Fame. His published works include “Dry Lightning” and “Cowboys and Angels,” and he has also recorded a CD, “Lightning and Angels.”

Past Illini Comeback Guests

 

2010

Bob Epstein ’74 media
G. Robert Hillman ’72 media
Jon Khachaturian ’78 eng
Laura Rowley ’87 media

2009

Mark Filip ’88 las
Robert G. Kennedy ’78 eng
Marvin White ’69 las

2008

Scott W. Atlas '77 LAS
Barry Sabath '74 LAS

2007

Lee Archambault ’82 ENG, MS ’84 ENG
Cathy Larson Koerner ’87 ENG, MS ’89 ENG
Maj. Matthew C. Shortal ’94 BUS

2006

C.O. “Doc” Erickson ’43 ACES
Gregory Paw ’85 MEDIA
Betty Lee Sung ’48 LAS  

2005

Andrea Darlas ’94 MEDIA
Stuart M. Kaminsky ’57 MEDIA, AM ’60 LAS
Ann Davenport McBrien ’82 BUS

2004

Mary Frances Fagan ’76 MEDIA, MA ’83 LAS
Bridget Later Lamont, MS '72 LIS
John David Mooney, MFA ’65 FAA
Grover “Russ” Whitehurst, AM ’68 LAS, PHD ’70 LAS

2003

John Burgstone ’95 ENG
Londa Jorgensen Dewey ’82 LAS
Carol Hillsman Sagers ’79 MEDIA

2002

Scott Altman ’81 ENG
Temple Grandin, PHD ’89 ACES
Laura McInerney Jennings ’83 BUS  
Barbara Baxter Pillinger ’56 AHS
Andrew A. Sorensen ’59 LAS

2001

Daniel J. Balz ’68 MEDIA, MS ’72 MEDIA
Henry Givens Jr., EDM ‘61
Edward L. McMillan ’69 ACES
Sheldon B. Rubin ’64 LAS, ’66 VM, DVM ’68 

2000

Dr. Scott Anderson MS ’36 ENG, PHD ’40 ENG
Carol Ross Barney ’71 FAA
Dianne Sautter Campbell ’71 ED
Merle Gilmore ’70 ENG
Mary Kay Kretch Haben ’77 BUS

1999

Cheryl R. Berman ’74 MEDIA
Lu Ann Walker Maddox ’74 AHS, MS ’76 AHS
Peer Pedersen ’47 DSSWV, LLB ’48 LAW
Fred A. Rubin ’72 FAA
Lt. Gov. Corinne J. Giese Wood ’76 LAS

1998

Doris Kelley Christopher ’67 ACES
Eileen F. Fisher ’72 ACES
Fred F. Guyton Jr. ’61 FAA
John A. Johnson ’64 ENG, MS ’65 ENG
Arthur Ramer Wyatt ’49 BUS, MS ’50 BUS, PHD ’53 BUS

1997

Rowine Hayes Brown-Truitt ’38 MEDIA, MD ’39 MEDIA
Julia J. Henderson ’36 LAS, AM ’37 LAS
David F. Linowes ’41 BUS
Park C. Livingston ’30 LAS, MED ’81
Charles B. Shuman ’28 ACES, MS ’29 ACES

1996

James M. Benson ’68 LAS
Judge Maynard Glitman ’55 LAS
Debra L. Mitchell ’75 FAA
Cordell Reed ’60 ENG
Dr. Katie Harper Wright ’44 LAS, EDM ‘59

1995

Judge Eugene N. Hamilton ’55 LAS, LLB ’59 LAW
R. Rolando Hinojosa-Smith, PHD ’69 LAS  
Carol Ann Keiser ’68 ACES
Robert D. Novak ’52 LAS, HON ’98 
Gary K. Wolf ’63 MEDIA, MS ’69 MEDIA

1994

K. Kenn Allen ’71 LAS
Samuel T. Balen ’57 FAA
Steven H. Gerdes ’77 ACES  
Nada J. Rowand ’58 FAA
Joyce E. Tucker ’70 LAS

1993

Emiel Hamberlin, EDM ’77, EDD ’83  
Mannie L. Jackson ’60 AHS
Robert B. Levin ’65 MEDIA
Terri L. Ludwig ’85 LAS
David A. McConnell ’54 VM, DVM ’56
Eleanor H. Moty ’68 FAA

1992

Jacqueline Triche Atkins ’69 LAS, JD ’73 LAW
Herbert Y. Chang ’60 ENG, MS ’62 ENG, PHD ’64 ENG
George M.C. Fisher ’62 ENG, HON 96
Graham C. Grady ’80 LAS
John G. “Red” Kerr ’54 UIUC
Cecilia McCane “Ceil” Kuzma ’70 LAS
Miriam J. “Jess” Marlow ’58 DSSWV
Lester H. McKeever Jr. ’55 BUS

1991

William F. Kirk ’64 ACES
Landon Parvin ’70 BUS
Roger L. Plummer ’64 ENG
David A. Powless ’66 BUS
Christina Walton Tanner ’86 LAS
Eddie N. Williams ’54 MEDIA

1990

Stewart D. Daniels Jr. ’49 LAS
Stanley L. Elkin ’52 LAS, AM ’53 LAS, PHD ’61 LAS, HON ’86 
Laura Barber Fraley ’77 LAS, MS ’79 BUS
William E. Geist ’68 MEDIA
Charla M. Krupp ’75 MEDIA
Robert “Bob” Martinez AM ’64 LIR
William F. Mellberg ’75 BUS
Dora Dougherty Strother AM ’53 ED
Barbara Seaquist Williams ’49 BUS

1989

Nancy Goodman Brinker ’68 LAS
Richard B. Fink ’50 VM, DVM ’52
Rita Bell ’65 BUS
Jacquelyn Knight Gates ’71 UIUC
H. Richard McFarland ’52 ACES
Susan Sowle Suter ’72 LAS

1988

Gary K. Bielfeldt ’58 ACES, MS ’59 ACES
Lee H. Falk ’32 LAS
Richard H. Frank ’65 BUS
Grover G. Hankins, JD ’72 LAW 
Hachiro “Buddy” Koyama, AM ’80 LIR, HON ’95 
Kathy Olesker Pounds ’71 LAS
Gail Shapiro Steinberg ’69 LAS

1987

Max Abramovitz ’29 FAA
Barton A. Cummings ’35 MEDIA
W. Leonard Evans. Jr. ’35 BUS
John C. Houbolt ’40 ENG, MS ’42 ENG, HON ’05
George E. Keck ’32 BUS
Jack S. Kilby ’47 ENG
Thomas A. Murphy ’38 BUS
James B. “Scotty” Reston ’32 MEDIA
Alfred B. Swanson ’45 MEDIA, MD ’47 MEDIA
Phillips Talbot ’36 MEDIA, ’36 LAS
Robert C. Underwood, JD ’39 LAW  
Wilma L. Vaught ’52 BUS

1986

Lee L. Morgan ’41 ACES
Steven R. Nagel ’69 ENG
Lou Proana ’66 LAS
Edith Ann Stotler ’68 LAS
John L. Strohm ’35 MEDIA

1985

Michael Colgrass Jr. ’56 FAA
Donald C. Johanson ’66 LAS
Barbara Miller Knuckles ’70 LAS, MS ’71 MEDIA
Prentice H. Marshall ’49 DSSWV, JD ’51 LAW
Lynn Morley Martin ’60 LAS
Sherman Ted Rice ’43 ACES, MS ’48 ACES, PHD ’50 ACES
B. Kenneth West ’55 LAS

1984

Andrew Barr ’23 BUS, MS ’24 BUS
Richard A. Campbell ’49 ENG, MS ’50 ENG
Roger J. Ebert ’64 MEDIA
Richard A. Greenberg ’70 FAA, MFA ’72 FAA
Charles Marshall ’51 ACES
Cesar Pelli, MS ’54 FAA
Meredith Pleasant Sparks PHD ’36 LAS

1983

James S. Brady ’62 MEDIA
Harry J. Gray ’41 MEDIA, MS ’47 MEDIA
Gardner W. Heidrick ’35 BUS
Herbert H. McKenley ’49 UIUC
Godfrey Sperling Jr. ’37 MEDIA  
Marion Morse Wood, PHD ’65 MEDIA 

1982

John B. Anderson ’42 LAS, JD ’46 LAW
Arnold Orville Beckman ’22 LAS, MS ’23 ENG
Carole Kamin Bellows ’57 LAS
Earl B. Dickerson ’14 LAS, HON ’84 
Malcolm C. Todd ’34 LAS
Craig S. Virgin ’77 MEDIA

1981

Harold R. “Hal” Bruno Jr. ’50 MEDIA  
Arthur S. “Arte” Johnson ’49 MEDIA
Kathleen K. Kellaigh ’76 FAA
Alfred N. Koplin ’49 DSSWV
Lester G. Leutwiler ’29 ENG
Timothy J. McCarthy ’72 BUS
Nina Temple Shepherd ’55 LAS
Larry A. Werries ’62 ACES

1980

John S. Coleman ’57 MEDIA
Sheldon F. Good ’55 BUS
Alan M. Hallene Sr. ’51 ENG
Nancy Thies Marshall ’79 LAS
Cirilo A. McSween ’54 LAS
Judith Ford Johnson Nash ’73 AHS
Jane Hayes Rader ’54 LAS