Sanchez re-elected chair of NIU Board of Trustees

Manuel "Manny" Sanchez was elected to a second term as chair of the Northern Illinois University Board of Trustees at the board's June 20 meeting. Sanchez, a resident of Lisle, Ill., was appointed by then-Gov. Jim Edgar as one of the founding members of the board in 1996, and served as vice chair for two years prior to becoming chair. He is the second NIU alumnus to chair the board, having earned his bachelor's degree in political science from NIU in 1970. He later earned his law degree at the University of Pennsylvania and is currently owner and founder of Chicago-based Sanchez & Daniels, the nation's largest minority-owned law firm.

Manny Sanchez

Sanchez is the first Latino to head an Illinois public university governing board, and was one of only two Latinos in the nation to hold such a post at the time of his initial election. He is active in education at all levels. In addition to his duties at NIU, he sits on the board of trustees at Illinois Benedictine College and St. Ignatius College Prep, and is a member of the board of overseers at the University of Pennsylvania Law School.

He has taken a particular interest in issues related to Latinos, and last year convened a conference, titled "Shaping Education Policy for Latinos in Illinois," which brought together some of the nation's brightest minds on the issue of the under-representation of Latino students in higher education.

"At a time in our nation's history when the Hispanic population is growing faster than that of any other ethnic group, we need to look for ways to help our Latino youth overcome obstacles to higher education attainment," Sanchez said.

In addition to his involvement in education, Sanchez sits on a number of corporate and civic boards, including: Metropolitan Bank, Wheelabrator Technologies, the Executive Club of Chicago and the United Way/Crusade of Mercy.

Sanchez has received numerous awards and honors, most notably the Raoul Wallenberg Humanitarian Award (1998) and the John Woodworth Leslie Humanitarian Award (1997). His family was selected as the Illinois Hispanic Family of the Year in 1990.

In other action, the board elected Gary Skoien vice chair, Bob Boey secretary, George Moser the fourth member of the Executive Committee, and Barbara Giorgi-Vella the board's representative to the Civil Service Merit Board.