Illini Comeback

Each year since 1980, the Student Alumni Ambassadors of the University of Illinois Alumni Association invite a group of distinguished alumni back to the campus to participate in traditional activities such as the Homecoming Parade and Pep Rally. These alumni honorees also interact with current students and talk about their professional experiences since leaving their Alma Mater.

2010 Illini Comeback Honorees

Bob Epstein ’74 media is the executive producer of “NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams,” the nation’s No. 1 evening newscast. Throughout his 14-year career at NBC, he has provided senior leadership in the network’s coverage of significant news events, including the earthquake in Haiti, the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, Hurricane Katrina, the 9/11 attacks, the war in Iraq and the shootings in Columbine High School. Epstein cut his journalism teeth in the Chicago area, having worked at WBBM-TV/CBS and radio stations WCLR, WMAQ/WNIS and WGN. His work has earned him some of the highest awards in his profession, including three Peabodys, eight Emmys, two Edward R. Murrow awards, as well as induction into the Illini Media Hall of Fame.

G. Robert Hillman ’72 media, senior editor of POLITICO and POLITICO.com, has spent nearly four decades in the business of news reporting. In the course of those years, he has covered major national events, including seven presidential campaigns and the Oklahoma City bombing trials in Denver. Hillman began his career at The Daily Illini and WPGU Radio at the University of Illinois and would go on to Chicago Today, the Chicago Sun-Times and The Dallas Morning News. He has worked as a reporter, bureau chief and national and White House correspondent. Hillman, who grew up on a farm near Flanagan, has been recognized for his feature writing and coverage of the Timothy McVeigh trial and is a member of the Illini Media Hall of Fame.

Jon Khachaturian ’78 eng, head of Versabar Inc., has done some heavy lifting to improve oil and gas operations around the world. He has used his ingenuity to create large and small structures that ease the difficult tasks involved with working in deep waters and high seas, such as the cost-saving “Versabar” rigging system; the “Bottom Feeder,” which can lift up to 4,000 tons of debris from seabed to surface; and the “Versabuoy,” which stabilizes exploration platforms in high wind and waves. Khachaturian’s work has won him numerous accolades, and Engineering News-Record named him one of the “Top 25 News Makers of 2008.” His Illini civil engineering family includes his father, the late UI professor emeritus Narbey Khachaturian ’47 eng, ms ’48 eng, phd ’52 eng, and son Matthew ’07 eng.

Combining a University of Illinois degree in journalism with a master’s in divinity from New York Theological Seminary, Laura Rowley ’87 media writes about personal finance, business and values. Author of the weekly “Money & Happiness” column for Yahoo! Finance, which draws 42 million visitors a month, she posts a blog at www.moneyandhappiness.com and has written “Money & Happiness: A Guide to Living the Good Life,” as well as three histories on successful company values. Formerly a reporter/producer for CNN Business News in New York and the personal finance expert at Self magazine, she has appeared on national radio and television, including the “Today!” show, CNBC, Fox News, Bloomberg and NPR. Rowley, who teaches at Seton Hall University, received the 2009 Clarion Award for Best Online Column.

Past Illini Comeback Guests

 

2009

Mark Filip ’88 las
Robert G. Kennedy ’78 eng
Marvin White ’69 las

2008

Scott W. Atlas '77 LAS
Barry Sabath '74 LAS

2007

Lee Archambault ’82 ENG, MS ’84 ENG
Cathy Larson Koerner ’87 ENG, MS ’89 ENG
Maj. Matthew C. Shortal ’94 BUS

2006

C.O. “Doc” Erickson ’43 ACES
Gregory Paw ’85 MEDIA
Betty Lee Sung ’48 LAS  

2005

Andrea Darlas ’94 MEDIA
Stuart M. Kaminsky ’57 MEDIA, AM ’60 LAS
Ann Davenport McBrien ’82 BUS

2004

Mary Frances Fagan ’76 MEDIA, MA ’83 LAS
Bridget Later Lamont, MS '72 LIS
John David Mooney, MFA ’65 FAA
Grover “Russ” Whitehurst, AM ’68 LAS, PHD ’70 LAS

2003

John Burgstone ’95 ENG
Londa Jorgensen Dewey ’82 LAS
Carol Hillsman Sagers ’79 MEDIA

2002

Scott Altman ’81 ENG
Temple Grandin, PHD ’89 ACES
Laura McInerney Jennings ’83 BUS  
Barbara Baxter Pillinger ’56 AHS
Andrew A. Sorensen ’59 LAS

2001

Daniel J. Balz ’68 MEDIA, MS ’72 MEDIA
Henry Givens Jr., EDM ‘61
Edward L. McMillan ’69 ACES
Sheldon B. Rubin ’64 LAS, ’66 VM, DVM ’68 

2000

Dr. Scott Anderson MS ’36 ENG, PHD ’40 ENG
Carol Ross Barney ’71 FAA
Dianne Sautter Campbell ’71 ED
Merle Gilmore ’70 ENG
Mary Kay Kretch Haben ’77 BUS

1999

Cheryl R. Berman ’74 MEDIA
Lu Ann Walker Maddox ’74 AHS, MS ’76 AHS
Peer Pedersen ’47 DSSWV, LLB ’48 LAW
Fred A. Rubin ’72 FAA
Lt. Gov. Corinne J. Giese Wood ’76 LAS

1998

Doris Kelley Christopher ’67 ACES
Eileen F. Fisher ’72 ACES
Fred F. Guyton Jr. ’61 FAA
John A. Johnson ’64 ENG, MS ’65 ENG
Arthur Ramer Wyatt ’49 BUS, MS ’50 BUS, PHD ’53 BUS

1997

Rowine Hayes Brown-Truitt ’38 MEDIA, MD ’39 MEDIA
Julia J. Henderson ’36 LAS, AM ’37 LAS
David F. Linowes ’41 BUS
Park C. Livingston ’30 LAS, MED ’81
Charles B. Shuman ’28 ACES, MS ’29 ACES

1996

James M. Benson ’68 LAS
Judge Maynard Glitman ’55 LAS
Debra L. Mitchell ’75 FAA
Cordell Reed ’60 ENG
Dr. Katie Harper Wright ’44 LAS, EDM ‘59

1995

Judge Eugene N. Hamilton ’55 LAS, LLB ’59 LAW
R. Rolando Hinojosa-Smith, PHD ’69 LAS  
Carol Ann Keiser ’68 ACES
Robert D. Novak ’52 LAS, HON ’98 
Gary K. Wolf ’63 MEDIA, MS ’69 MEDIA

1994

K. Kenn Allen ’71 LAS
Samuel T. Balen ’57 FAA
Steven H. Gerdes ’77 ACES  
Nada J. Rowand ’58 FAA
Joyce E. Tucker ’70 LAS

1993

Emiel Hamberlin, EDM ’77, EDD ’83  
Mannie L. Jackson ’60 AHS
Robert B. Levin ’65 MEDIA
Terri L. Ludwig ’85 LAS
David A. McConnell ’54 VM, DVM ’56
Eleanor H. Moty ’68 FAA

1992

Jacqueline Triche Atkins ’69 LAS, JD ’73 LAW
Herbert Y. Chang ’60 ENG, MS ’62 ENG, PHD ’64 ENG
George M.C. Fisher ’62 ENG, HON 96
Graham C. Grady ’80 LAS
John G. “Red” Kerr ’54 UIUC
Cecilia McCane “Ceil” Kuzma ’70 LAS
Miriam J. “Jess” Marlow ’58 DSSWV
Lester H. McKeever Jr. ’55 BUS

1991

William F. Kirk ’64 ACES
Landon Parvin ’70 BUS
Roger L. Plummer ’64 ENG
David A. Powless ’66 BUS
Christina Walton Tanner ’86 LAS
Eddie N. Williams ’54 MEDIA

1990

Stewart D. Daniels Jr. ’49 LAS
Stanley L. Elkin ’52 LAS, AM ’53 LAS, PHD ’61 LAS, HON ’86 
Laura Barber Fraley ’77 LAS, MS ’79 BUS
William E. Geist ’68 MEDIA
Charla M. Krupp ’75 MEDIA
Robert “Bob” Martinez AM ’64 LIR
William F. Mellberg ’75 BUS
Dora Dougherty Strother AM ’53 ED
Barbara Seaquist Williams ’49 BUS

1989

Nancy Goodman Brinker ’68 LAS
Richard B. Fink ’50 VM, DVM ’52
Rita Bell ’65 BUS
Jacquelyn Knight Gates ’71 UIUC
H. Richard McFarland ’52 ACES
Susan Sowle Suter ’72 LAS

1988

Gary K. Bielfeldt ’58 ACES, MS ’59 ACES
Lee H. Falk ’32 LAS
Richard H. Frank ’65 BUS
Grover G. Hankins, JD ’72 LAW 
Hachiro “Buddy” Koyama, AM ’80 LIR, HON ’95 
Kathy Olesker Pounds ’71 LAS
Gail Shapiro Steinberg ’69 LAS

1987

Max Abramovitz ’29 FAA
Barton A. Cummings ’35 MEDIA
W. Leonard Evans. Jr. ’35 BUS
John C. Houbolt ’40 ENG, MS ’42 ENG, HON ’05
George E. Keck ’32 BUS
Jack S. Kilby ’47 ENG
Thomas A. Murphy ’38 BUS
James B. “Scotty” Reston ’32 MEDIA
Alfred B. Swanson ’45 MEDIA, MD ’47 MEDIA
Phillips Talbot ’36 MEDIA, ’36 LAS
Robert C. Underwood, JD ’39 LAW  
Wilma L. Vaught ’52 BUS

1986

Lee L. Morgan ’41 ACES
Steven R. Nagel ’69 ENG
Lou Proana ’66 LAS
Edith Ann Stotler ’68 LAS
John L. Strohm ’35 MEDIA

1985

Michael Colgrass Jr. ’56 FAA
Donald C. Johanson ’66 LAS
Barbara Miller Knuckles ’70 LAS, MS ’71 MEDIA
Prentice H. Marshall ’49 DSSWV, JD ’51 LAW
Lynn Morley Martin ’60 LAS
Sherman Ted Rice ’43 ACES, MS ’48 ACES, PHD ’50 ACES
B. Kenneth West ’55 LAS

1984

Andrew Barr ’23 BUS, MS ’24 BUS
Richard A. Campbell ’49 ENG, MS ’50 ENG
Roger J. Ebert ’64 MEDIA
Richard A. Greenberg ’70 FAA, MFA ’72 FAA
Charles Marshall ’51 ACES
Cesar Pelli, MS ’54 FAA
Meredith Pleasant Sparks PHD ’36 LAS

1983

James S. Brady ’62 MEDIA
Harry J. Gray ’41 MEDIA, MS ’47 MEDIA
Gardner W. Heidrick ’35 BUS
Herbert H. McKenley ’49 UIUC
Godfrey Sperling Jr. ’37 MEDIA  
Marion Morse Wood, PHD ’65 MEDIA 

1982

John B. Anderson ’42 LAS, JD ’46 LAW
Arnold Orville Beckman ’22 LAS, MS ’23 ENG
Carole Kamin Bellows ’57 LAS
Earl B. Dickerson ’14 LAS, HON ’84 
Malcolm C. Todd ’34 LAS
Craig S. Virgin ’77 MEDIA

1981

Harold R. “Hal” Bruno Jr. ’50 MEDIA  
Arthur S. “Arte” Johnson ’49 MEDIA
Kathleen K. Kellaigh ’76 FAA
Alfred N. Koplin ’49 DSSWV
Lester G. Leutwiler ’29 ENG
Timothy J. McCarthy ’72 BUS
Nina Temple Shepherd ’55 LAS
Larry A. Werries ’62 ACES

1980

John S. Coleman ’57 MEDIA
Sheldon F. Good ’55 BUS
Alan M. Hallene Sr. ’51 ENG
Nancy Thies Marshall ’79 LAS
Cirilo A. McSween ’54 LAS
Judith Ford Johnson Nash ’73 AHS
Jane Hayes Rader ’54 LAS