Alumni Interview: Kevin Jackson
When I arrived at Illinois in 1990, a kid out of a tough neighborhood south of Chicago, I had no idea I’d become a research scientist. I was a football player who felt blessed...
Alumni Interview: Karen Layng
The Seventh Circuit Bar Association was founded in 1951. But it had never had a woman president before me, in 2001. If you go up to the ceremonial courtroom in the Dirksen Center, there’s...
Alumni Interview: Dan Petrella
I report on state government and politics. My primary focus is covering the Pritzker administration, especially when the governor appears in public here in Chicago. I always wanted to work at the Tribune. I...
Alumni Interview: Newton Cheng
I believe in the power of health and well-being. Corporations have a special opportunity because healthier employees make the business more successful. I believe if we help people at Google, other companies may follow,...
Alumni Interview: Kerry Joels
Growing up as a child actor in New York, I won a role in the animated movie The Space Explorers. That hooked me on astronomy, so I soon retired from acting and wound up...
Alumni Interview: Bill Geist
I’m very much a Midwesterner, and I think of myself that way. Very practical. Standard. I’d say I’m normal, but I’m actually from Champaign, and Normal is about 50 miles further west. (That’s an...
Alumni Interview: Thomas M. Siebel
The information technology business has grown from virtual nonexistence in 1950 to a $50 billion industry in 1980 to a $3.5 trillion market today. In five to six years, that market will be $9...
Alumni Interview: Temple Grandin
I got my master’s degree in animal science at Arizona State University. I went there to study cows. I had come a long way in my development by then. I didn’t speak until I was...
Alumni Interview: Scott Altman
I always wanted to fly: It was my passion from the time I was 3 years old. I got an appointment to the Air Force Academy. Unfortunately, at the pre-induction physical, they measured my...
Alumni Interview: Gene Honda
I like to joke that I graduated from the U of I in four terms: the Nixon, Ford, Carter and Reagan administrations. It’s not that I was a slow student, though I’ll admit I never...
