I've been a Kiplinger reader for years. Now it's great news that UIS has been named in Kiplinger's "100 best values in public colleges." I hope students and prospective students notice this. There are a few legitimate ways to show how we compare, and this is one of them.There's only one other Illinois school on the list -- the U of I at Urbana-Champaign. It's getting us some good media attention, too, even in St. Louis, which is great.

Labels: kiplinger, rankings

My colleague for almost 20 years is retiring at the end of this week. We had a nice reception for her last week on campus. I spoke about her great contributions to UIS, but there is one story I wish I had told: As the year 2000 approached, Charlene and I were both working for Illinois Issues magazine. We were planning a big celebration of the magazine's 25th anniversary. The program featured political stars such as former Gov. Jim Edgar, Attorney General Lisa Madigan and former Senate President Phil Rock, in a conversation moderated by Bruce Dumont. We heard a lot of great stories that day at the Union League Club in downtown Chicago. Charlene had everything to do with making it a festive event full of reminiscence and great story telling. Charlene was a natural at making governors, senators, mayors and 300 guests feel welcome and special. Perhaps the greatest compliment she received came shortly afterward from a group of people planning for the 30th anniversary reunion of Illinois Consitutional Convention delegates. I remember the planners saying they wanted an event as good as the one that Illinois Issues just held. Imitation may be the greatest form of flattery -- and not many people know just how extensive Charlene Lambert's influence was in Illinois. Best wishes to her on a wonderful retirement.

Labels: Illinois Issues

It is gratifying to see alumni come back and visit during Homecoming -- and to hear about them doing so well. Carly Hawkins, who's working in the nation's capital, was on a panel on campus and dropped by the office, and I saw former BOT student trustee Derek Felix last night at the soccer game. He's working for Groupon in Chicago now and really enjoying it. Many others are around,too. Hats off to all of you!

Labels: alumni, Homecoming