Governor appoints four to NIU Board of Trustees

by Melanie Magara

Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich has announced four appointments to the governing board of NIU.

Board newcomers Cherilyn G. Murer of suburban Homer Glen and Marc J. Strauss of DeKalb begin new terms this month, while veteran trustees Barbara Giorgi-Vella of Rockford and Myron E. Siegel of Bannockburn were reappointed to the eight-member board. All four appointments are subject to Illinois Senate confirmation.

Murer is president and CEO of the Murer Group, a legal-based healthcare consulting group headquartered in Joliet. A former director of rehabilitation medicine at Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago, Murer and her colleagues now represent hospitals and health systems throughout the United States, providing strategic planning services and assistance in complying with complex state and federal regulations. Murer is an alumnus of the NIU College of Law, serves on its Board of Visitors, and in 2003 received the College’s Distinguished Alumnus award. She also is a member of the NIU Foundation Board of Directors, and chairs that group’s development committee.

"This appointment is very meaningful to me," Murer said. "I am a great admirer of public higher education, and I consider it a huge privilege to be in a position to help advance that cause. I’ve had a very longstanding and diverse relationship with NIU – as a student, an alumnus and an active volunteer – and I hope that background will be a benefit to this board and this university."

Strauss is general counsel for First Rockford Group, a real estate company involved in the development and leasing of commercial, industrial and office space, as well as the development and sale of residential real estate. He was formerly a managing partner and attorney in law firms in Sycamore and Chicago. Strauss attended Northwestern University, where he earned a bachelor’s degree, a master’s in management and a law degree. He has been active on numerous boards, commissions and task force groups in DeKalb County, and previously served as assistant city attorney for the City of Sycamore.

"I’m thrilled at the opportunity to provide a service to a major institution located in the communities where I both live and work," Strauss said. "I’m most interested in issues related to quality, and by that I mean those things that enhance the NIU ‘product’ and the value people attach to that product. I think my involvement in DeKalb and Rockford may provide some insight on ways to keep the university relevant to those communities, and I look forward to sharing that as well."

Giorgi-Vella begins her second full term on NIU’s governing board, having first been appointed in 1999. She is an attorney with Vella, Sparkman, Wheeler & Lund in Rockford, and serves as a certified mediator in the Winnebago County 17th Judicial Court. Giorgi-Vella holds both master’s and law degrees from NIU. She has served this past year as vice chair of the Board of Trustees.

"I’m very gratified at being offered another term on the board," she said. "I’ve enjoyed working with my fellow trustees, and have learned a great deal from all of them. NIU is a very well-run university with excellent leadership, and I’m confident that this board will continue to pursue goals with the same cohesiveness and focus that we’ve enjoyed from the beginning."

Siegel is among NIU’s longest-serving trustees, having been among the first group appointed to the newly formed board in 1996 and serving as that group’s first chair. Prior to that, Siegel served for two years on the former Board of Regents, a three-university governing system that included NIU. He is owner and founder of the law firm Myron E. Siegel & Associates in suburban Bannockburn, and serves as a certified arbitrator in the 18th and 19th Judicial Circuit. Siegel holds both bachelor’s and master’s degrees from NIU, as well as a J.D. from the John Marshall Law School in Chicago.

"My goal as a trustee has always been to enhance the value of an NIU degree," Siegel said. "We are located in the most dynamic region in the Midwest, and that region has a growing need for high quality, public higher education. NIU is the institution of choice to meet those needs – both on our main campus and in other locations throughout the region. Our challenge is to obtain the funding needed for NIU to fully carry out this role."

NIU President John Peters said he was extremely pleased with the governor’s appointments.

"Since NIU received its own, independent governing board in 1996, we have been very fortunate in terms of the quality of individuals chosen to serve as trustees," Peters said. "These appointments certainly continue that tradition, providing both the continuity of experienced trustees and the fresh perspective of new members – both of which are needed to meet the challenges that lie ahead. I am very much looking forward to working with these individuals and all of the members of our board in the months and years ahead."

All four appointments announced this week are for six-year terms ending in January 2011. Murer, Strauss, Giorgi-Vella and Siegel join ongoing trustees Bob Boey, George Moser and Manny Sanchez, as well as newly elected student trustee Andrew Nelms. The new and reappointed trustees will be sworn in at the next full board meeting June 16.

5-12-05