Biographies of Our Speakers

Rear Admiral Ann E. Rondeau

Rear Admiral Anne E Rondeau is the Commander, Naval Service Training Command Great Lakes, which includes the Recruit Training Command, the Service School Command, and Naval Station Great Lakes. She is a “Most Distinguished Graduate” of Eisenhower College (1973) and received her commission from Officer Candidate School in 1974. After duty with the U.S. Pacific Fleet she attended Georgetown University, earning a master’s degree in political science (1982).

Rear Admiral Rondeau has been Special Assistant to the Attorney General for National Security Affairs; Second Battalion Officer at the United States Naval Academy; Commanding Officer, Naval Support Activity, La Maddalena, Italy; Deputy Chief of Staff for Shore Installations Management, U.S. Pacific Fleet Staff; and a variety of other posts. She took command of Naval Service Training Command Great Lakes in November 2001. She has subspecialties in political-military affairs, strategy and planning, and military transportation, and is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations. She is also a licensed pilot.

Her personal awards include the Defense Superior Service Medal, Legion of Merit (2), Defense Meritorious Service medal (2), Navy Meritorious Service Medal (2), and Navy Commendation Medal (3). Rear Admiral Rondeau was born in San Antonio, Texas, and grew up in Beacon, New York. For more information, see https://www.ntcgl.navy.mil/bios/admiral.html

Christopher Koch was named Illinois State Director of Special Education on March 16, 2003. Dr. Koch previously served as Director of Teaching and Learning at the State Board from January 2002 through March 2003 and before that as Deputy Superintendent for Special Education. Chris has been with the Illinois State Board of Education since 1994. He has served as a Division Administrator in Special Education where he was responsible for compliance and monitoring of District #299 and implementation of the Corey H. Settlement Agreement.

Dr. Koch has seven years of experience as a special educator having taught in four states in various settings including an Outward Bound program, a college preparatory school, a youth detention center, a psychiatric hospital and a church-sponsored day school. He served with the U. S. Department of Education’s Office of Vocational and Adult Education where he administered programs in correctional education and School-to-Work (STW) transition. As a former policy advisor for ISBE, he helped secure STW funding for Illinois and the City of Chicago and provided leadership in developing partnerships within and outside the agency. Dr. Koch has provided expertise with regard to school improvement, professional development, evaluation, and alternative education.

Christopher Koch is a product of an Illinois public high school and university having graduated from Brown County High School in Mt. Sterling, Illinois and Southern Illinois University in Carbondale. He obtained his master’s and doctorate degrees in Special Education from the George Washington University in Washington, D.C.