Gov. Pat Quinn announced two appointments to the UI Board of Trustees on Aug. 26, the first replacements of seven trustees who voluntarily resigned at the conclusion of a state commission’s investigation into influence-based admissions practices at the Urbana campus.
Quinn named Christopher G. Kennedy, president of Merchandise Mart Properties Inc., and Lawrence Oliver II, chief counsel in charge of investigations for Boeing Co., as his first two appointees to the revamped board. Kennedy replaced board chair Niranjan Shah, whose term expires in 2015, and Oliver replaced trustee Lawrence Eppley, whose term expires in 2013.
Kennedy, a resident of Chicago, has served in numerous positions with Merchandise Mart Properties Inc. since joining the company in 1987 as a research analyst. He sits on the boards of numerous companies and civic and philanthropic organizations, including Children’s Memorial Hospital, the Chicago Alliance to End Homelessness and the Citizens Energy Corp. He was a past chair of the board of the Chicago Convention and Tourism Bureau.
Kennedy earned a bachelor’s degree in political science in 1986 from Boston College and a master of arts degree in management from the J.L. Kellogg Graduate School of Management at Northwestern University in 1994.
Kennedy, one of the 11 children of the late Sen. Robert F. Kennedy, is the father of four.
Oliver is a member of the Illinois Reform Commission, an independent advisory group that Quinn created by executive order in January 2009 and charged with examining government practices and ethics and making recommendations for cleaning up state government. Oliver is also commissioner and vice chair of the Executive Ethics Commission, which provides guidance on ethics laws, investigates complaints and makes recommendations in disciplinary cases for the executive branch of state government.
An ordained minister and frequent national speaker on corporate compliance, Oliver is a former assistant U.S. Attorney (1998-2003). He has served on several federal magistrate review panels and is a member of the American Bar Association.
Oliver earned a law degree from the Detroit College of Law in 1991 and a bachelor of science in industrial engineering from Purdue University in 1984. He resides in Orland Park with his wife and three children.
“With the appointment of these two strong and accomplished public servants, the rebuilding of the UI Board of Trustees begins,” Quinn said. “Each will work tirelessly to restore the university’s integrity and reputation for being one of the world’s foremost institutions of higher learning.
“This is a very special university to the people of Illinois, and its reputation always must be protected and preserved. … It’s important that we name to the UI Board of Trustees our best men and women, who reflect the best of Illinois.”
Eppley and Shah voluntarily resigned after the commission concluded its investigation and announced its recommendation that all of the trustees should voluntarily resign, but before the panel submitted its report to Quinn. Five more trustees – Devon Bruce, David Dorris, Edward McMillan, Kenneth Schmidt and Robert Vickrey – voluntarily resigned after Quinn received the commission’s report and said that he supported its recommendations.
Quinn said while announcing the new appointments that he had met with trustees Frances Carroll and James Montgomery and had asked them once more to step down but that they had declined.
Quinn said that he would not pursue their resignations further because he did not want to engage in a potentially costly court battle, creating “a cloud of litigation” that would be hanging over Illinois when “our main focus should be repairing the damage caused to the university.”
Quinn said Tuesday that he would announce the other five appointments to the UI Board of Trustees on Friday. The board’s next scheduled meeting is Sept. 10 at Urbana, which Quinn plans to attend.
As governor, Quinn is an ex officio member of the board, and he appoints nine members to the board for staggered six-year terms. Three student trustees are elected by student referenda to represent each of the three campuses for one-year terms. All trustees serve on a voluntary, unpaid basis.
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