Higher Education Interviews

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Higher Education Interviews

Kathleen Kelly - Higher Education

Kathleen began working at the Illinois Board of Higher Education as an intern in 1984, and earned a Ph.D. in higher education the following year. She continued on at the IBHE and was promoted over time to Assistant Director, Associate Director and Deputy Director of Academic Affairs, retiring from the IBHE in 1999. Afterwards, Kathleen conducted consulting projects in higher education for other states. Kathleen researched the early history of higher education in Sangamon County after retiring from consulting.

Tom Layzell - Higher Education

Tom Layzell's career in higher education spans over forty years. In 1984 he was selected to be Executive Director of the Board of Governors, a relatively new concept for public universities created in 1969. In 1986 the Board of Governors decided that the Presidents of Eastern, Western, Northeastern, Governors State, and Chicago State Universities would also report to Layzell, and his title was changed to Chancellor. He served as Chancellor until 1995 when Governor Jim Edgar and the legislature dismantled the system of systems and abolished the Board of Governors. Thereafter, he continued his distinguished career in higher education in Mississippi and Kentucky.

Paul Lingenfelter - Higher Education

Paul Lingenfelter was the Deputy Director for Fiscal Affairs of the Illinois Board of Higher Education (IBHE) from 1974 to 1985. In that capacity he worked on the IBHE funding models. He discusses higher education funding and budgeting in Illinois, the funding formula for the state's many community colleges, and the Resource Allocation and Management Program (RAMP). After his work at the IBHE, he continued to work in the field of higher education administration and management.

Kenneth 'Buzz' Shaw - Higher Education

Former Chancellor of the Southern Illinois University (SIU) System Kenneth 'Buzz' Shaw discusses his long and distinguished career in higher education after working as a high school teacher in the early 1960s. After earning a Ph.D. in 1966, he served in leadership positions at a series of Universities, including as President of Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville, then in 1979 as Chancellor for the entire SIU system. In 1986 he became president of the University of Wisconsin system, and in 1991 he became chancellor and president of Syracuse University. Years later he returned to Illinois and worked with the Association of Governing Boards.

Dr. Richard Wagner - Higher Education

Dr. Dick Wagner began working at the Illinois Board of Higher Education in 1969, and in 1980 became IBHE's Executive Director, serving in that position until his retirement in 1998, the longest serving head of IBHE. During Dr. Wagner's tenure he assisted in the dramatic growth of the state's community college system, and focused on the enhancement and quality performance of the state's many institutions of higher learning. As the Executive Director, he helped guide the state through a dramatic reorganization of those institutions in 1995.