Chicago Illini of the Year

2010 Recipients

Ronald W. Bess ’69 BUS, ’72 MEDIA
President and CEO, Euro RSCG Chicago

Ron Bess has been described as the “total package,” and here’s why: His nearly four decades in the advertising world have been marked by a reputation of dramatically turning companies around and attracting clients the likes of McDonald’s, Anheuser-Bush and Kraft; he served as co-captain of the University of Illinois varsity football team; and Euro RSCG/Chicago, where Bess serves as president and CEO, created a Web site for the Off the Street Club, where visitors can use their computer pointer to “click” a kid off the street and into the club for a mere $10 donation. Bess has been a driving force in the Chicago advertising community for more than 25 years. As president and CEO of Euro RSCG, he manages the Chicago office and the company’s North American operations, and in the five short years Bess has been with there, he has molded it into one of the best performing in the Euro RSCG network. Bess previously worked at Y&R Group and FCB Worldwide and ran his own agency, Bayer Bess Vanderwarker, which built the Gatorade business. In Chicago, he is a member of the Economics and Executives clubs of Chicago and speaks each year at the Chicago Advertising Federation Career Fair. In addition to his company’s Web site work with young people, Bess has also contributed to programs focused on preventing child sexual abuse and on assisting families of children with special needs. At Illinois, he supports University athletics, including the Loyalty Circle, where each member sponsors a single football player throughout his academic and athletic collegiate career. He also participates in numerous University and College of Media activities and helped kick off the Department of Advertising’s 50th anniversary celebration. We are proud to name Ronald W. Bess a 2010 Chicago Illini of the Year. 

Robert D. Kleinschmidt ’63 FAA
President, Powell/Kleinschmidt Inc.

Robert D. Kleinschmidt is an architect who looks to the beauty within. A glass cube lobby appends itself to an SOM skyscraper; a spiral staircase sweeps its way through a Paul Stuart apparel shop; an alluring gift shop within the Art Institute of Chicago beckons us to enter; and the Sky Lobby of the John Hancock Center seems to actually be a part of heaven. The interior design firm of Powell/Kleinschmidt made its name for the attention it gave to what lies beyond the door of a room – the color and texture of walls, floors and furniture; the light and sound of interior space; the soothing movements of shape and line. Kleinschmidt’s interior design work has accordingly been honored with numerous accolades, including a 1989 induction into the Interior Design Magazine Hall of Fame. But Chicagoans may also thank Kleinschmidt for what’s out in the open, as his touch is seen along the Magnificent Mile’s flower beds, light posts and designer trash cans. He has headed the beautification committee of the Greater North Michigan Avenue Association and the Lincoln Park Conservatory Council, as well as served on the Grant Park Advisory Council. As for his Alma Mater, Kleinschmidt works to build links between the city of Chicago and the UI School of Fine and Applied Arts. He recently established the Robert D. Kleinschmidt Professorship in Interior Architecture at the UI School of Architecture and has donated hundreds of titles on contemporary art and architecture to the school’s Ricker Library. In addition, Kleinschmidt has gifted to the Krannert Art Museum on campus items from his acclaimed collection of art. We are proud to name Robert D. Kleinschmidt a 2010 Chicago Illini of the Year. 

Richard C. Romano ’54 LAS
Founder & Chairman, Romano Brothers & Co.

Someone once called Richard C. Romano’s ability to positively affect a community as “unrivaled,” and over the years, that community has broadened to include Chicago’s North Shore, his Alma Mater and his business clientele. Perhaps the roots of that desire to help may be traced to his own family, when a young Richard and his brother decided to assist their father in managing his financial assets. That gesture eventually drew Romano away from his career as a chemical engineer with Monsanto, and in 1962 he founded the investment management firm of Romano Brothers & Co. in Evanston. Since then, Romano has amassed a three-decade affiliation with the National Association of Security Dealers, and his professional accomplishments have led to his induction into the Entrepreneurial Hall of Fame at the University of Illinois at Chicago. A Bronze Tablet scholar of the Urbana campus, he has remained actively engaged with the University’s Cline Center for Democracy and the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, where the Romano Professorial Scholar program resides. In his hometown of Evanston, Romano has supported a broad range of interests, including the Evanston Symphony Orchestra and the Evanston Community Foundation, as well as other fine arts organizations, the YMCA, the Kiwanis Club, charter schools and housing for the mentally ill. In addition, Romano Brothers & Co. has generously supported the Woman’s Club of Evanston, whose history project aims to draw women’s history scholars from all over the world. Even the 40th anniversary of Romano’s firm was celebrated in a community-minded way – his company distributed $40,000 among local charities, leading the Evanston Chamber of Commerce to grant him its 2004 Community Leadership Award. We are proud to name Richard C. Romano a 2010 Chicago Illini of the Year.

Past Recipients (Occupations listed were current at time of award)

2009
Gail Veasman Kellogg '65 LAS
Retired principal, partner and consultant, Hewitt Associates

Cirilo A. McSween '54 LAS
Owner, Cirilo McSween Insurance Agency
Founder and President, Black McDonald's Operators Association

Avy H. Stein '77 BUS
Managing partner, Willis Stein & Partners LLC

2008
Caroline Becker Joss ’84 ACES
Co-founder and designer, Caroline Rose Inc.

Sheldon B. Rubin ’64 LAS, ’66 VM, DVM ‘68
Former owner and director emeritus, Blum Animal Hospital; author

Paul Schrage, MS ’59 MEDIA
Retired Senior Executive Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer, McDonald’s Corp.

2007
Richard Cline ’57 LAS
Chairman & Director, Hawthorne Investors, Inc.
Managing Partner, Hawthorne Investments, LLC

Robert Falls ’76 FAA
Artistic Director, Goodman Theatre

Roger Plummer ’64 ENG
President & CEO, Plummer & Associates Consulting

2006
Howard Engle ’72 BUS
Partner, Deloitte & Touche LLP

John David Mooney MFA ’65 FAA
Founder and Artistic Director, John David Mooney Foundation

Pamela Bristow Strobel ’74 MEDIA, JD ’77 LAW
Retired Executive Vice President and Chief Administrative Officer, Exelon Corporation

2005
Carol Ross Barney ’71 FAA
Founder and President, Ross Barney & Jankowski

Jack Klues ’77 MEDIA
Chairman and CEO, Starcom MediaVest Group

Thomas Miner JD ’53 LAW
President of Thomas H. Miner & Associates, Inc.
Chair and Founder, Mid-America Committee for International
Business and Government Cooperation

2004
Corinne J. Wood ’76 LAS
Former Lieutenant Governor of Illinois

W. Gene Corley ’58 ENG, MS ’60, PhD ’61 ENG
Senior Vice President for Engineering, Construction Technology Labs, Inc., head of federal investigation into collapse of World Trade Center buildings

Cary D. McMillan ’80 BUS
Chief Executive Officer, Sara Lee Branded Apparel

2003
Doris Christopher ‘67 ACES
Chair and Founder, The Pampered Chef

Dr. Emiel Hamberlin ‘77 EDM, ‘83 EDD
Biology and horticulture teacher at DuSable High School
Inductee, National Teachers’ Hall of Fame; Golden Apple Award

Robert P. Crawford ‘59 MEDIA
Retired “Dean” of Chicago broadcast journalists, more than 40 years with CBS and WBBM

2002
Cheryl Berman ‘74 MEDIA
Chief Creative Officer, Leo Burnett USA

Eli Cohen ‘55 ENG
Principal Engineer, Thornton Tomasetti Engineers

Ralph Johnson ‘71 FAA
Director of Design, Perkins & Will

2001
Mary Dempsey MS ‘76 GSLIS
Commissioner, Chicago Public Library

Mark Tebbe ‘83 ENG
Chair and Founder, Lante Corporation

Thomas Tunney ‘77 ACES
President, Ann Sathers Restaurants

2000
Avis LaVelle '75 MEDIA
V.P. for Government & Public Affairs, University of Chicago Hospitals, former Press Secretary for Mayor Richard M. Daley

Lynn Martin '60 LAS
Chair, Deloitte Touche's Council on the Advancement of Women,
former U.S. Secretary of Labor

Arnold Weber ’50 LAS, AM ’51 LIR, HON ‘97
President Emeritus, Northwestern University

1999
Nicole Hollander '60 FAA
Sculpter, writer, creator of comic strip “Sylvia”

Johnny "Red" Kerr '54 ALS
President, Kerr Financial Services
Announcer for Chicago Bulls basketball team

Sam Skinner '60 BUS
Capital Partner & Co-chairman, Hopkins & Sutter
Former U.S. Secretary of Transportation and U.S. Chief of Staff

1998
Lester McKeever Jr. '55 BUS
Managing Principal, Washington, Pittman & McKeever

Tonise Paul '79 MEDIA, MS '80 MEDIA
President and CEO, BBDO Chicago

Sheldon Good '55 BUS
Chairman Emeritus, Sheldon Good & Company

1997
Roger Ebert '64 MEDIA
Film critic, author

Carol Marin '70 LAS
News anchor, CBS News

Joel Weisman '63 BUS
News analyst and private attorney, Siegman & Weisman, Ltd