Ramsey Emmanuel Lewis Jr. was an American jazz pianist, composer, and radio personality. Lewis recorded over 80 albums and received five gold records and three Grammy Awards in his career. His album The In Crowd earned Lewis critical praise and the 1965 Grammy Award for Best Jazz Performance. His best known singles include "The In Crowd", "Wade in the Water", and "Sun Goddess". Until 2009, he was the host of the Ramsey Lewis Morning Show on the Chicago radio station WNUA.
Samuel Knox Skinner is an American politician, lawyer, and businessman. Skinner served as U.S. Secretary of Transportation and White House Chief of Staff under President George H. W. Bush. Prior to the Bush administration, Skinner served as the United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois under President Gerald R. Ford from 1975-1977, succeeding James R. Thompson.
James Robert Thompson Jr., also known as Big Jim Thompson, was an American attorney and politician who served as the 37th and longest-serving governor of the US state of Illinois, serving from 1977 to 1991. A moderate Republican who sometimes took more liberal stances on issues, Thompson was elected to four consecutive terms and held the office for 14 years. Many years after leaving public office, he served as a member of the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States.
Leo Melamed is an American attorney, finance executive, and a pioneer of financial futures. He is the chairman emeritus of CME Group.
Michael Richard Beschloss is an American historian specializing in the United States presidency. He is the author of nine books on the presidency.
Adlai Ewing Stevenson III was an American attorney and politician of the Democratic Party who represented Illinois in the United States Senate from 1970 until 1981. A member of the prominent Stevenson family, he also served as a member of the Illinois House of Representatives and Illinois Treasurer. He unsuccessfully ran for governor of Illinois in 1982 and 1986. He had been awarded Japan’s Order of the Sacred Treasure with gold and silver stars and was an honorary Professor of Renmin University, China.
Lester Crown is an American businessman and is the son of Chicago financier Henry Crown, who created Material Service with two brothers in 1919, which merged with General Dynamics in 1959.
Martin Emil Marty is an American Lutheran religious scholar who has written extensively on religion in the United States.
Jack M. Greenberg was Chairman and CEO of McDonald's Corporation from 1999 through 2002, when he was replaced by James R. Cantalupo. He was promoted to CEO in 1998, succeeding Michael R. Quinlan in that role as Quinlan retained the title of Chairman.
Edward A. Brennan was chairman of the board, president (1980–1995) and chief executive officer (1984–1995) of Sears, Roebuck and Co.
Glenn Tilton is a retired American oil and airline industry executive. Tilton spent most of his career working for Texaco, and as CEO guided its merger with Chevron Oil in 2001. He was chairman, president, and CEO of UAL Corporation from 2002 to 2010. He stayed on as non-executive chairman of United Continental Holdings Inc., (NYSE:UAL), the parent company of the merged United Airlines, Inc. and Continental Airlines, Inc. from October 1, 2010, until 2012. Tilton was Midwest chairman and a member of the executive committee at JP Morgan Chase (NYSE:JPM), from June 6, 2011, until his retirement in June, 2014.
R. Eden Martin is an American lawyer. Martin was a partner at the law firm Sidley Austin LLP from 1975 to 2004. Martin has served as President of The Commercial Club of Chicago since 1999. He is a member of the Boards of Directors of the Chicago Board Options Exchange, and Nicor Inc., a Life Trustee of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and a member of the Board of Trustees of Northwestern University. He has been an Aon Corporation director since 2002 and serves as Chairman of Aon Foundation. He has also served on the boards of the University of Illinois Foundation, the Chicago History Museum, and the Ravinia Festival.
Arnold Robert Weber was the president of Northwestern University from 1984–1994. His tenure at Northwestern was remarkable for stabilizing the university's finances and enhancing the Evanston campus environment.
John A. Canning Jr. is a private equity investor and sports executive. He is the founder and chairman of Madison Dearborn Partners, the large Chicago-based private equity firm.
James F. Holderman is a former United States District Judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois.
John Whitfield Bunn was an American corporate leader, financier, industrialist, and personal friend of Abraham Lincoln, whose work and leadership involved a broad range of institutions ranging from Midwestern railroads, international finance, and Republican Party politics, to corporate consultation, globally significant manufacturing, and the various American stock exchanges. He was of great historical importance in the commercial, civic, political, and industrial development and growth of the state of Illinois and the American Midwest, during both the nineteenth century and the twentieth century. John Whitfield Bunn was born June 21, 1831, in Hunterdon County, New Jersey. Although every one of the business institutions co-founded or built by the Bunn Brothers has ceased to exist, and fallen purely into the realm of history, each of these businesses left an important legacy of honorable industrial, commercial, and civic vision for Illinois, the Midwest, and the United States.
John William Rowe was an American attorney and energy executive. He served as the chairman and chief executive officer of the energy corporation Exelon Corporation, a utility holding company headquartered in Chicago that had the largest market capitalization in the electric utility industry.
Alan Schriesheim is the Director Emeritus and the retired CEO of Argonne National Laboratory, one of the U.S. Department of Energy's largest research centers. In a January 2008 announcement issued by Penn State University upon the establishment of the Schriesheim Distinguished Graduate Fellowship, it was noted that "Schriesheim is an internationally acclaimed chemist and technology executive. With a career spanning 50 years in industry, academia, and government, Schriesheim was a pioneer in transforming large and highly complex research organizations to yield productive commercialized technology.
Robert W. Lane, served as chief executive officer of Deere & Company from 2000 to 2009 and retired as the chairman of the board in February 2010. He served on several boards including: The Northern Trust Company, General Electric Company, BMW AG and Verizon Communications. He was ranked 10th by Forbes Magazine’s Top CEOs based on compensation in 2009.
The Lincoln Academy of Illinois is a not-for-profit, non-partisan organization dedicated to recognizing contributions made by living Illinoisans. Named for Abraham Lincoln, the Academy administers the Order of Lincoln, the highest award given by the State of Illinois. Each year several persons are selected as Lincoln Laureates at a ceremony presided over by its president, the Governor of Illinois. The organization gives an annual Student Laureate award to one student from each four-year degree-granting institution of higher learning in Illinois, plus one student from the state's community colleges. Many prominent Illinoisans have received the Order of Lincoln.
