Back in the 1960s, the Illini Union was a favorite hangout for international students like future Global Environment Facility founding CEO and chairman Mohamed El-Ashry, who came here from Egypt.
He spent more time there than anywhere on campus, “eating, socializing, bowling, playing chess” — and meeting the love of his life, Pat, an undergrad studying journalism at the time. (Those are the two lovebirds in the picture).
“We have been married now for 54 years, have two beautiful and smart daughters and four grandchildren,” says El-Ashry ('66), who in 2010 received the UI's Alumni Achievement Award. “And we owe it all to that meeting in 1962 at the Illini Union.”
