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.

2007 Illini Comeback Guests

Col. Lee Archambault ’82 ENG, MS ’84 ENG, astronaut with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration and pilot of the space shuttle Atlantis’ trip in June 2007 to the International Space Station. A distinguished graduate of the Air Force Officer Training School, he was commissioned as a second lieutenant in 1985 and earned his pilot wings a year later. Archambault flew 22 combat missions in 1990 and 1991during the first Gulf War and graduated first in his class from the Air Force Test Pilot School in 1995. A decorated military pilot, Archambault has earned the Distinguished Flying Cross and Meritorious Service Medal, among other awards, and has logged more than 4,250 flight hours in more than 30 different aircraft. Selected as a pilot by NASA in 1998, Archambault has served as the lead astronaut support person for two shuttle flights in 2002 and 2005 and in October 2004 was assigned as CAPCOM, the lead capsule communicator. He has logged a total of 14 days and 5.8 million miles in space. At the University of Illinois, from which he graduated with honors, the Department of Aerospace Engineering named him Outstanding Recent Alumnus Award in 1993. He is also an inductee of the Proviso West (Illinois) High School Hall of Fame.

Cathy Larson Koerner ’87 ENG, MS ’89 ENG, a flight director at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston. At present, she serves as the shuttle program manager of the Missions Operations Directorate, where she oversees support to NASA’s space shuttle program. Koerner holds the distinction of being one of just 69 flight directors that the space agency has produced in its 48-year history; of that select number, only nine have been women. Having joined the Johnson Space Center in 1991 following a stint at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., she worked 43 missions as a certified flight controller and later managed 16 flight controllers as the lead of the Space Shuttle Propulsion Systems Group. Since 2000, Koerner has been a flight director, trained in leading both space shuttle and International Space Station missions. She has received numerous NASA honors, including its Outstanding Leadership Medal and the Space Flight Awareness Team Award. At Illinois she received the 1999 Outstanding Recent Alumna award from the University of Illinois Department of Aerospace Engineering. While Koerner was a UI student, she was a member of what is now called Student Alumni Ambassadors at the UI Alumni Association, where she escorted Illini Comeback guest Steve Nagel ’69 ENG, a NASA astronaut, in 1986.

Maj. Matthew C. Shortal ’94 BUS, former member of the U.S. Navy Blue Angels high-performance flying team and currently the program manager for the U.S. Marine Corps Forward Air Controller Airborne Ground School and flight instructor at San Diego. Shortal, who joined the Marines in 1994, was an honor graduate and Iron Mike Award winner for physical fitness at The Basic School in Quantico, Va. He earned his wings of gold for advanced flight training in 1997, attended TOPGUN and in 2003 flew 36 combat missions in support of operations Southern Watch and Iraqi Freedom. On the same day – July 9, 2004 – Shortal learned he had earned two prestigious honors: a spot on the Blue Angels team (where he served from 2004-06) and the winner of Marine Corps Aviator of the Year. He has received several military recognitions, including the Meritorious Service Medal. In addition to accumulating more than 3,100 flight hours, Shortal has been a member of the All-Marine Triathlon Team and represented the United States at the World Long Course Triathlon Championships in Nice, France, in 2002. An honor graduate of St. Pius X High School in Atlanta, Shortal attended the University of Illinois on a Naval Reserve Officer Training Corps Scholarship, ran varsity track and graduated in accountancy, earning a Certified Public Accountant designation.

Past Illini Comeback Guests

2006

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

2005

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

2004

Mary Frances Fagan ’76 COM, MA ’83 LAS
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 COM

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 COM, MS ’72 COM
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 COM
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 COM, MD ’39 COM
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 COM, MS ’69 COM

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 COM
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 G. Powless ’75 BUS
Christina Walton Tanner ’86 LAS
Eddie N. Williams ’54 COM

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 COM
Charla M. Krupp ’75 COM
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 COM
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 COM
Alfred B. Swanson ’45 COM, MD ’47 COM
Phillips Talbot ’36 COM, ’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 COM

1985

Michael Colgrass Jr. ’56 FAA
Donald C. Johanson ’66 LAS
Barbara Miller Knuckles ’70 LAS, MS ’71 COM
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 COM
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 COM
Harry J. Gray ’41 COM, MS ’47 COM
Gardner W. Heidrick ’35 BUS
Herbert H. McKenley ’49 UIUC
Godfrey Sperling Jr. ’37 COM  
Marion Morse Wood, PHD ’65 COM 

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 COM

1981

Harold R. “Hal” Bruno Jr. ’50 COM  
Arthur S. “Arte” Johnson ’49 COM
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 COM
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