The clinic marked its 10th anniversary by hosting an event Wednesday, Nov. 16, that included Mike Madigan, speaker of the Illinois House of Representatives.
Madigan was a protégé of the clinic’s namesake, E.J. “Zeke” Giorgi, the longtime Rock River Valley legislator (1965-1993) who was instrumental in bringing the College of Law to NIU.
Opened in the fall of 2001, the clinic provides third-year law students the opportunity to practice law under the supervision of experienced attorneys, learning lessons that cannot be found in textbooks.
“The experience our students gain working in the Zeke Giorgi Legal Clinic is so focused, so intense and so comprehensive that it gets into the DNA of a young lawyer,” says Jennifer Rosato, dean of the NIU College of Law. “They learn not only about the practice of law, but also about empathy and the power of being an advocate. It’s an extraordinary experience.”
Since opening, the clinic has enrolled 274 students who have worked on more than 2,000 cases. Mostly of the work they do is on behalf of the elderly or victims of abuse. One thing all of the clients have in common is that without the clinic they could not afford legal representation.
“People come to us because they have nowhere else to go,” says clinical associate professor Paul Cain, who has overseen students at the clinic for eight years, watching them undergo the transformation from nervous law students to soon-to-be lawyers.
“For all of our students, this is the first time that they have had responsibility for an actual, live client. They handle the case from the initial intake through its resolution. They do all of the paperwork, write all of the motions, and if we go to court, it is the student who addresses the judge and examines the witnesses,” says Cain. “They learn the realities of practicing law as opposed to the academic side. Facts don’t come in neat little packages like they do in casebooks and appellate opinions.”
Along the way, students also gain the realization that the outcome of a case can have a profound impact on the life of a client.
Sometimes their services can even be life saving, says Karen Gill, vice president of Remedies Renewing Lives, a domestic violence shelter and services program serving Rockford and Belvidere.
“Very often we work with women and children who have major safety issues,” says Gill. “Our organization can secure orders of protection, but the Zeke Giorgi clinic can help them obtain custody orders, or get a marriage dissolved – things that can get these women out from under an abuser’s control. We can only put a Band Aid on the problem, but the Giorgi clinic can stitch it up.”
For their help in such instances, Gill nominated the clinic for the Partner in Peace Award, which the clinic received in 2010.
Helping clients in such situations is not always a simple matter, which is where Cain, and clinical assistant professor Wendy Vaughn, figure into the equation. The two work alongside each of the law students throughout each case, reviewing documents, offering advice, sitting in on interviews and having students rehearse courtroom presentations again and again.
That oversight and the light caseload that students carry (five or six cases a semester, as compared to maybe 200 cases at any given time for a public defender) helps the clinic maintain a very high success rate, Cain says.
Still, even with that that kind of support, it is nerve-racking to stand in front of a judge for the first time, says Sara Cavanagh a 2003 graduate of NIU-Law who vividly remembers that experience when she served at the clinic.
Nerves aside, the experience she gained was invaluable.
“I got to interview clients, write memoranda, appear in court – it taught me the basics of things I still do every day. That real life experience made the clinic my favorite part of law school,” Cavanaugh says.
She also found affirmation that she had chosen the correct career path.
“One of my first cases was drafting a will for a woman with some health issues. It felt like I was actually helping someone – and it reaffirmed for me why I wanted to practice law,” says Cavanagh, who currently works in the Winnebago County State’s Attorney’s Office.
Jennifer L. Rosato
Many students leave the clinic with a similar sentiment, as well as a greater appreciation for the important roles a lawyer can play for a client, Rosato says.
“There is a sense of empowerment that comes from standing up and arguing for a victim and serving as an advocate. It provides a tremendous sense of accomplishment that they carry with them as they start their career.”
It also improves the students’ job prospects.
“Employers look for graduates who have some experience working with complex problems and clients – and the clinic provides that,” Rosato says. “These students leave with vastly improved skills and a sense of what it means to be an ethical professional in the legal community.”
The NIU College of Law offers a number of other opportunities for hands-on learning such as internships and externships, but nothing compares to the comprehensive experience that students get at the Zeke Giorgi clinic.
“Right now this is our only clinic,” says Rosato. “Hopefully it won’t be the last.”
Date posted: November 16, 2011 | Author: Joseph King | Comments Off on NIU’s Zeke Giorgi Legal Clinic honors 10 years of courtroom advocacy for Rockford community
NIU President John Peters joined other university presidents and chancellors from around the state Thursday in signing a letter sent to Gov. Pat Quinn that outlines their objections to proposed changes in the state pension system.
“Senate Bill 512, backed by the Civic Committee of the Commercial Club of Chicago, is but one approach. As leaders of the state’s public universities, we share grave concerns over Senate Bill 512 in its current form,” said the letter, which also was sent to the leaders of both houses and members of the House Pension Committee.
The university leaders acknowledge that the $85 billion unfunded liability in the state’s pension systems is a problem so massive that options to address it are limited. However, they also point out that the root cause of the problem has been a lack of funding by the state, not employees.
The leadership said that they saw some merit in portions of SB 512, but also raised concerns with several aspects of the bill. The primary objection is that the bill would create a significant funding shortfall to cover the normal cost of current benefits that employees would be expected to cover. They also point out that the plan is not likely to yield real cost reductions for decades.
“It is difficult to consider such outcomes to be in the best interests of the state, its colleges and universities, or its employees,” the university leaders said.
The letter concludes with an offer of assistance.
“There is no denying the critical nature of our current fiscal situation. We are certain that higher education employees and institutions are prepared to contribute to a long-term solution. The public higher education community is prepared to participate in the design of options and alternatives that help solve this critical issue. We believe it is possible to complete such work in time for the Spring 2012 session of the General Assembly and we look forward to taking this opportunity to develop a durable, equitable and long-term solution, especially in the SURS sector.”
“I don’t think it is a good solution, because you, the people who are most affected, have not really been involved in its creation,” he added. “But we’ve got to do something different, because staying on the same course is not sustainable.”
It offers current teachers, university employees and state workers three pension options: Stay in the current system but pay significantly more, go into a second tier for workers hired after Jan. 1 that has reduced benefits or choose a 401(k)-style defined contribution plan.
While that bill is unsatisfactory, it is the only idea currently proposed, Pritchard said, noting that he has urged groups and individuals with other ideas to step forward.
“SB 512 is the only option on the table,” Pritchard said. “I have asked representatives from SURS, TRS and the other systems to bring forth ideas, but so far there has been no response.”
That lack of input, Pritchard said, is one reason that sponsors might try to bring the bill back to the floor for a vote during the final three days of the fall veto session, scheduled from Tuesday, Nov. 8, through Thursday, Nov. 10.
Rumors circulated last week that bill sponsor House Republican Leader Tom Cross and Speaker of the House Mike Madigan had struck a deal to each deliver 30 votes, which would be enough to pass the measure.
Pritchard questioned if that was possible.
“At this point, I don’t think he has a chance of it getting passed. Madigan is not pushing support for the bill, and I don’t think Cross can deliver 30 Republicans to vote for it,” Pritchard said.
While not offering a plan of his own, Pritchard did suggest that certain issues should be on the table as bargaining chips. Specifically, he mentioned raising the retirement age, finding a new way to recalculate cost of living adjustments for annuitants, capping pension payments and limiting the ability of retirees to work at the university while collecting a pension.
Members of the audience urged Pritchard to not just vote against SB 512, but also to act as an advocate, relaying the depth of their passion on the issue to his colleagues. Several attendees shared their frustration that solutions under discussion seem only to penalize state employees, who have never failed to make their contribution to the pension plan.
“Nobody in this room has done anything wrong,” said Dave Sinison, a professor of accountancy. “It is the state legislature, going back 25 to 50 years. We don’t see a shared solution here. We see it all falling on us.”
Companies are increasingly turning to credit scores as a way of flagging potentially troublesome employees, but there is little data to support that the practice works, says Northern Illinois University researcher Shannon Taylor.
“People are basing these hiring decisions on their gut instinct as to what these scores mean. There is no statistical data measuring the validity of that metric,” says Taylor, who teaches in the Management Department of the NIU College of Business.
Taylor worked with Jeremy Bernerth and Daniel Whitman, both of Louisiana State University, and H. Jack Walker, of Texas Tech University, to conduct some of the first empirical research on the matter.
According to a 2010 study by the Society for Human Resource Management, 60 percent of companies today use credit reports to help them make some or all of their hiring decisions. Use of the reports is particularly prevalent in the hiring of senior executives, workers with financial responsibilities or access to cash, and workers who have access to confidential information about other employees.
“The assumption is that if you are conscientious about your personal credit you can be trusted in such jobs, whereas those with a poor credit score would be less trustworthy,” Taylor says.
To test those assumptions, the research team created a study that recruited volunteers who were willing to grant access to their credit reports and allow their supervisors to fill out a performance review. The researchers also interviewed the subjects and had them take a personality profile test.
After analyzing the data, the research team discovered that the assumptions employers made based upon credit reports proved to be only partially true.
“We found that credit reports were an excellent predictor of task performance: those with good credit reports received good reviews from their bosses,” Taylor says. “That finding made sense to us. Credit reports track financial responsibility over time – paying off debt, making timely payments. Those who were reliable about that in their personal lives were viewed as similarly conscientious when it came to performing their jobs.”
However, the data did not support the assumption that individuals with poor credit reports were more likely to be untrustworthy.
“We did not find any relationship between poor credit scores and employee deviance,” Taylor says. “Those individuals got less positive reviews from their supervisors, but they were no more likely to steal, have poor relationships with co-workers or to intentionally show low effort.”
That is somewhat troubling, because the SHRM survey found that for more than half (54 percent) of employers who used credit reports, the primary reason for doing so was to prevent or reduce theft, embezzlement and other criminal activity.
Shannon and the rest of the research team are not advocating for companies to adopt or abandon the use of credit reports in hiring decisions. “This is the first study of its kind that we know of,” Taylor says, “so there needs to be much more research before we can be confident in the full scope of its implications.”
Date posted: November 1, 2011 | Author: Joseph King | Comments Off on NIU researcher: Credit scores not perfect means of measuring trustworthiness of job applicants
The Republican legislator from Hinckley will gather with the group in the Carl Sandburg Auditorium of the Holmes Student Center to address issues related to the ongoing debate in Springfield regarding pension reform. This meeting was previously scheduled for the Sky Room but was moved to a larger venue.
Jim Lockard, legislative chair of the NIU Annuitants Association, will join Pritchard as part of the program. The event is open to the public.
Illinois lawmakers are expected to resume their debate over pension reform from Tuesday, Nov. 8, through Thursday, Nov. 10, during the final three days of the fall veto session.
The bill proposes a three-tiered session that would give state workers, teachers and university employees the choice of paying more for the current benefit plan, paying the same for reduced benefits or entering 401(k)-type system. The deal is a bi-partisan one, Cross told the newspaper, with both Democrats and Republicans expected to put an equal number of voters toward approval.
A pair of NIU business students, Austin Schulte of Dixon and Sam Kunde of Marengo, enjoyed success at the annual Collegiate Ethics Case Competition.
The Eller College of Management at the University of Arizona hosted the event from Thursday, Oct. 20, through Saturday, Oct. 22, in Tucson, Ariz.
NIU’s duo earned a second place finish in the main competition for their approach to a business case scenario involving how to deal with a family on the verge of foreclosure in Arizona. State laws there allow mortgagees to walk away from their contractual commitments without fear of lawsuit from the mortgager.
Schulte and Kunde had three weeks to design a presentation, which was delivered before a panel of corporate-level judges.
They also took top honors in the optional Bright Line Essay competition, in which students presented the philosophical positioning of their approach to the case. Judges praised their “practical and ethical approach” to the dilemma.
“We’re thrilled with our finish, considering the strong field of participants that competed,” Kunde said, noting that the competition drew teams representing nearly 30 universities from across the country. “Most of all, we’re proud to have represented NIU so well on the national stage.”
The NIU College of Businessis consider a leader in ethics for its development of the BELIEF (Building Ethical Leaders using an Integrated Ethics Framework) program. The program consists of three main components: a faculty group, a corporate advisory board, and a student group. Schulte and Kunde are a part of the student group known as “LEAD” – Leaders in Ethics and Academic Discipline.
Northern Illinois University has launched yourpension.niu.edu, a website designed specifically to help employees stay informed on the debate in Springfield regarding employee pensions.
“There are few issues with potentially greater consequences, and we want to ensure that employees, annuitants and others have easy access to the most up-to-date information and resources to help them understand proposed changes,” said NIU President John Peters.
The site will also provide a “Share Your Stories” link where employees can write about how the proposed changes will affect their lives.
“Lost in the rush to address this issue is the fact that this the proposed solutions will have a profound impact on the lives of thousands of state employees and annuitants,” Peters said. “It is important to put a face on this issue, so we hope employees will take this opportunity to remind lawmakers that it is more than just the state’s bottom line that will be affected; it’s the lives of those of us who work on behalf of the people of Illinois.”
Stories shared via that link might be featured in NIU Today or used as part of university efforts to demonstrate – to media, legislators and other audiences – the far-reaching effects of this issue.
In addition to that feature, the page will include many of the aspects familiar to employees who have relied upon the State Pension & Budget Update website for the past year.
Resource Page – A collection of reports and analyses that provide background on the pension issue and proposed solutions.
Latest News – Links to news stories from websites and newspapers around the state covering the pension issue.
Campus Updates – Messages from President Peters, university lobbyists and others who will provide analysis of issues as they pertain specifically to NIU employees and annuitants.
Legislation – Links to the latest legislation being discussed.
Legislators – Links to tools that allow employees to find contact information for their legislators.
“While well-intentioned, I do not believe it is a viable solution to the challenges facing the state in regard to the long-term solvency of its public employee pension system, the state budget, and our university community,” the president wrote.
“Tens of thousands of Illinoisans who have never failed to make their contribution to their retirement plan stand to have their futures irrevocably and detrimentally altered with the passage of SB 512,” the letter continued. “While change is necessary, we owe it to those who have depended on the State meeting its obligation to find a long-term, rational approach to pension funding that will pass the constitutional litmus test.”
Date posted: October 25, 2011 | Author: Joseph King | Comments Off on NIU launches website to track pension issues
Less than one month after the announcement that Northern Illinois University benefactors Dr. Kenneth and Ellen Chessick will donate $3 million to the University to name the Kenneth and Ellen Chessick Practice Center, the new indoor training facility for Huskie Athletics, NIU President Dr. John Petersand Associate Vice-President and Director of Athletics Jeff Compher announced the project’s official launch and campaign details.
Saturday prior to Northern Illinois’ 105th Homecoming football game Peters, Compher, NIU Vice-President for University Advancement Mike Malone and Dr. and Mrs. Chessick were joined by several of the 17 leadership donors for Saturday’s official campaign announcement. Leadership donors have each committed at least $100,000 to the Chessick Practice Center and the total from the leadership group, which includes the Chessicks, stands at $7.6 million. The current projected cost of the building, which will be located on the north side of the Jeffrey and Kimberly Yordon Center, is $9.5 million.
The Keneth and Ellen Chessick Practice Center will benefit all Huskie athletes.
The 83,500 square foot facility will house a full-size, 120-yard artificial surface football practice field with buffer space surrounding the field on all sides. It will stand 65-feet tall in the center and 45-feet at the sidelines. Preliminary plans feature a four-lane track, batting cages and a retractable center net, allowing multi-sport use throughout the winter months. Other planned features include a long jump pit, storage cages, field goal nets and a play-clock system.
Architectural renderings, reactions from Huskie athletes and coaches and information about fundraising opportunities can be found on the official project website.
Peters said he is excited to formally launch the fundraising campaign for a project that has been discussed for many years.
“This practice center has been planned as part of a north end zone sports complex for almost 10 years,” Peters said. “I could feel the momentum building as we stood in the snow of Boise last year after winning the Humanitarian Bowl. Since Ken and Ellen Chessick stepped forward with the naming gift, the pieces have started to fall into place. Our leadership donors have given us a great start to the campaign, and I am excited to see the project move forward.”
The leadership donor group includes familiar names. Jeffrey and Kimberly Yordon, who will provide $1.15 million to name the Jeffrey and Kimberly Yordon Huskie Pride Plaza, the main entrance to the Chessick Practice Center on the east side of the building. Dennis and Stacey Barsema’s $1 million gift will name the “Hall of Champions” area connecting the Yordon and Chessick centers.
The list of leadership donors recognized Saturday (does not include anonymous donors):
Kenneth and Ellen Chessick
Jeffrey and Kimberly Yordon
Dennis and Stacey Barsema
Jerry and Jinny Andres
Gary and Gloria Baumgartner
Bill and Priscilla Boston and The Kirch Foundation
Castle Bank
Jeff and Doreen Eckmann
Stephen W. Kalber
The National Bank and Trust Company
David and Linda Nelson
David and Lyn Rasmussen
Doug and Lynn Roberts
Jerry and Laurie Steinborn
Chet and Teresa Young
Midwest Orthopaedic Institute, Offi cial Team Physicians
As the Chessick Practice Center project enters the next phase in its development, Compher thanked the leadership donors on behalf of Northern Illinois student-athletes and coaches.
“There is no doubt the Kenneth and Ellen Chessick Practice Center will become another cornerstone facility for Huskie Athletics,” Compher said. “Like the Yordon Center, it will benefi t every student-athlete in each of our 17 sports programs as they strive to bring championships to Northern Illinois University.
The Jeffrey and Kimberly Yordon Huskie Pride Plaza will be the main entrance to the new practice facility.
“The response from the leadership donors who have committed to the building so far has been amazing and we cannot thank them enough. There is still a lot of work to be done, and there will be an opportunity for donors and fans at all levels to join us to make the Chessick Practice Center a reality. I cannot overstate the excitement that has rippled throughout our department over the last several weeks as we have prepared for today’s announcement.”
Malone noted that the Chessick Practice Center will be the fourth privately-funded building to be constructed at NIU in the last decade, and is the first building campaign that has attracted three gifts of $1 million or more.
“The tremendous support this project has already received speaks to the breadth and depth of the commitment of our alumni and friends to NIU and their belief in a bright future for the Huskies and the University,” Malone said.
“In football terms, these leadership donors have gotten the ball to the 20-yard line; we are in the red zone. From this point, it will take all of our fans, former student-athletes, and alumni to drive in for the final score.”
With 80 percent of the projected cost of the 82,000-plus square foot facility already secured thanks to the generosity of the leadership donors, Compher said the fundraising campaign next will enter the “major gift” phase, targeting donors at the $25,000 and above level. When that phase is near completion later this year, Northern Illinois will open a “Brick and Paver” walkway effort which will invite fans and supporters at several levels to contribute to making the Chessick Practice Center a reality.
Kenneth and Ellen Chessick, whose long legacy of philanthropy toward Northern Illinois University was extended to intercollegiate athletics with the Sept. 17 announcement of their $3 million naming gift for the Kenneth and Ellen Chessick Practice Center, were thrilled that their initial commitment has spurred so many to come forward in support of the building.
“We are so happy that these generous donors have stepped up so quickly and share our passion for this project,” the Chessicks said. “We firmly believe that education is the gateway to a full and satisfying life and that a successful collegiate athletic program does more to enrich the experience of the student than any other single factor. We want to give NIU’s dedicated student-athletes every tool to become the best they can be. We are confident that their future performances will bring Northern Illinois students, alumni and faculty, as well as the community, together in a way that will benefit many generations of Huskies moving forward.”
As with the three previous privately-financed building at NIU (Barsema Hall, Barsema Alumni and Visitors Center, and the Jeffrey and Kimberly Yordon Center) the NIU Foundation will serve as the developer of the project, working closely with the university’s Division of Finance and Facilities.
The projected timeline for the fundraising campaign, a detailed construction plan and complete architectural drawings for the Chessick Practice Center are under development. Fans can get the latest updates on the project, see renderings of the inside and outside of the CPC, watch videos, read quotes and more online at www.niuchessickpracticecenter.com. In addition, you can like the project on Facebookand follow updates on Twitter @ChessickCenter.
Date posted: October 15, 2011 | Author: Joseph King | Comments Off on NIU unveils plans for Kenneth and Ellen Chessick Practice Center
Central Management Services has announced a Special Enrollment Period that will allow employees to switch their insurance coverage if they so desire.
During the Special Enrollment Period, from Monday, Oct. 10, through Friday, Oct. 28, members wishing to change their health plan must complete the Special Enrollment Form, available on the benefits website, sign it and return it to their Group Insurance Representative or Human Resources Services no later than Friday, Oct. 28.
Members cannot add or drop dependents during this Special Enrollment Period nor may active state employees enroll in MCAP or change their MCAP election at this time. Also, members will be required to meet any and all deductibles under the new health plan (prescription and medical) regardless of whether the deductibles had already been met under the previous health plan.
For more information regarding plans available, managed care plan availability by county and the cost of coverage, refer to the FY2012 Benefit Choice Options booklet on the benefits website.
Date posted: October 6, 2011 | Author: Joseph King | Comments Off on Insurance changes accepted Oct. 10 to Oct. 28
With the Illinois General Assembly’s Fall Veto Session less than a month away, look for the issue of state employee pension plans to start creeping back into the headlines, says Steve Cunningham, NIU vice president for Administration and Human Resources.
The topic dominated much of the discussion at the end of the spring legislative session, but no action was taken on any proposals.
However, look for discussion on proposals similar to both Senate Bill 512 and Senate Bill 175 to reemerge during the two-week veto session, which begins Tuesday, Oct. 25.
As presented in the spring, Senate Bill 512, would dramatically alter pension contribution rates for current employees, while Senate Bill 175 would require some annuitants to start contributing toward their health insurance.
Lawmakers set aside both bills, thanks in no small part to objections by current and former state employees who raised a variety of issues – from the constitutionality of changing the pension plan for current employees to the fairness of requiring long-time current and future retirees on modest pensions to start shouldering a substantial portion of their health insurance costs.
There were a number of meetings held during the summer to explore those issues, but no substantive changes emerged.
At the veto session, the bills could be reintroduced as they stood in May, they could be altered, or entirely new proposals could be put forth, Cunningham said. Any plan would require a three-fifths majority for approval. If that cannot be achieved, the issue likely will be taken up again in the next legislative session.
“Speaker of the House Mike Madigan and Minority Leader Tom Cross have made statements that they plan to continue pursuing pension reform, so this is going to remain a major issue,” Cunningham says.
The topic is crucial to the financial health of the state.
Currently, Illinois has the largest unfunded pension liability of any state in the country – in excess of $80 billion. That shortfall is primarily due to decisions of lawmakers in the past to skip payments or make partial payments. The state signed on to a plan to cover 90 percent of that gap by 2045, but some experts say that doing so will consume so much of the state budget in years ahead that it will cripple the state.
“The magnitude of this problem is enormous – the scale of it is difficult for individual employees to respond to because they rely on the state for their pension benefits,” Cunningham says. “But for our employees it is crucial that they stay up to speed on these issues and engaged in the conversation.”
To assist in that process, the university’s State Pension and Budget Update website provides links to recent news articles, copies of legislation and analysis of the issues. The Resources section includes an excellent overview of the issue provided by the Institute of Government and Public Affairs at the University of Illinois.
“Last spring demonstrated the value of an informed university community, and the impact they can have on this crucial issue,” NIU President John Peters says. “I urge all of our employees to take advantage of the resources provided by the State Pension and Budget Update website, and to engage thoughtfully in this discussion. Few things on the horizon have the potential for a more lasting impact on our lives.”
Date posted: October 4, 2011 | Author: Joseph King | Comments Off on Pension issues likely to resurface in veto session
Kimball’s research, teaching, administrative, industrial and military accomplishments span 60 years.
After obtaining his B.S. degree in engineering physics in 1950, Kimball joined Argonne National Laboratory as an assistant physicist, working on design of heavy-water and enriched-uranium prototypes of the breeder reactor.
He held several associate and consultant positions there while working on important construction projects such as gamma-ray spectrometers, intermediate-energy neutron physics, time-of-flight electronics for neutron spectroscopy and development of the Mossbauer technique for the study of magnetic and electronic properties. He also served as a radiation safety officer for the United States Army and as a scientist for the aviation industry designing laboratories for materials research.
Kimball joined the NIU Department of Physicsin the fall of 1964 while continuing professional appointments at Argonne National Laboratory.
Over the years, he has taught almost all departmental undergraduate and graduate courses. He has formally supervised more than 30 research students. He has supported hundreds more from his research grants, which earned tens of millions of dollars for NIU. He also continuously conducted vigorous research resulting in nearly 300 publications.
Beyond his teaching and research responsibilities, Kimball conceived numerous initiatives and partnerships with Argonne National Laboratory and developed inter- and intra-college collaborations, such as serving as a bridge between the College of Engineering and Engineering Technology and the Department of Physics.
He created research centers such as the Consortium for Advanced Radiation Sources and the Institute for NanoScience, Engineering and Technology. He also served as science adviser to the president of NIU and worked twice as program director at the National Science Foundation, providing vital guidance at the national level while building important recognition for NIU.
Despite this extraordinarily busy schedule of accomplishments, Kimball has always exhibited collegiality, taking personal interest in the work of others, setting up meetings, arranging introductions, and dedicating constructive attention to new faculty.
He exemplifies how to successfully combine a love of science, intellectual accomplishment, a caring attitude toward people and an ability to get things done.
For more information about Friday’s symposium, call (815) 753-9400.
Date posted: September 22, 2011 | Author: Joseph King | Comments Off on Symposium, dinner will honor Clyde Kimball
