University of Illinois | 150 Years & Beyond

Larry Woiwode

N. Dakota’s poet laureate

Award-winning novelist

Nancy Farrell

Reg. dietitian nutritionist

Farrell Dietitian Services

Mei-Mei Chan Kirk

Retired media executive

Started at USA Today

Judson Todd Allen

Chicago chef

‘Architect of flavor’

Colleen Keough Wagner

Fiction author, editor

aka ‘Rumer Haven’

John David Mooney

Chicago-based artist

Mooney Studio

Laura Bush

1990 Dike Eddleman Award

2 Final Fours at UI

Ken Baker

Regional managing principal

Gensler

Rachel Endo

Education dean

U of Washington-Tacoma

Charles Traub

Acclaimed photographer

NY School of Visual Arts

Laura Niklason

Yale professor

Alumni Achievement Award

Deon Thomas

UI's career scoring leader

Basketball radio analyst

Drew Griffin

Peabody-winning reporter

Died in December 2022 at age 60

Erika Harold

Miss America 2003

Executive director, Illinois Supreme Court Commission on Professionalism

Nick Ciffone

Creative director

2 Cannes Lion award wins

Anne Valente

Acclaimed author

Professor, Hamilton College

Donnacha Dennehy

Irish composer

Won Fedora Prize

Bud Cherry

CEO

Eagle Creek Renewable Energy

Larry Gies

$150 million donor

Gies College of Business namesake

Vinay Hiremath

Founder/head of engineering

Loom, San Francisco

Ritu Raman

Forbes’ 30 under 30

MIT postdoctoral fellow

Tiana Tozer

2-time Paralympian

Consultant, speaker

Celene Peurye

Executive director

Hunter Family Foundation

Paul Koch

Chicago-based consultant

Distinguished Alumni Award