Casillas new director
of Financial Institutions

Frank C. Casillas, 68, of Downers Grove, is the new director of the Illinois Department of Financial Institutions. He replaces acting director Michael Goldman, who took the position in March when former director Gilbert Ruiz resigned (see Illinois Issues, April 1994, page 39). Goldman will return to his duties as supervisor of the currency exchange division. Before joining state government, Casillas was the Chicago director of Central States S.E.R., a national organization that provides employment training for economically dis-advantaged Hispanics and places

them in jobs. Casillas also served as the Assistant U.S. Secretary of Labor. Casillas' salary will be $60,644. His appointment, effective May 9, requires confirmation by the Senate.

Plunk leaves IEMA;
joins Veterans' Affairs

John R. Plunk, 48, of Springfield has joined the Illinois Department of Veterans' Affairs as deputy director of operations.

Prior to joining Veterans' Affairs, Plunk was with the Illinois Emergency Management Agency for 12 years, serving in a number of positions including deputy director and acting director. He was instrumental in coordinating federal, state and local emergency relief efforts during the flood of 1993.

Saying he looks forward to living "without a beeper on my belt," Plunk believes his experiences at the emergency management agency will serve him in furthering the interests of veterans. Plunk, a U.S. Army veteran, served in Korea during the Vietnam era. He is a member of the American Legion, Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States and the American Veterans of World War II, Korea and Vietnam.

State housing chief
Dwars resigns;
Lenane acting director

Peter R. Dwars resigned as director of the Illinois Housing Development Authority (IHDA), completing a 22-year career with the state's housing finance agency. Effective June 1 he joins CS First Boston as a vice president in the Chicago offices.

Dwars, 44, of Lincoln Park, began working for the housing authority in 1972, becoming deputy director in 1977 and then director in 1988. During his tenure, IHDA was involved in $1.22 billion in financing to generate 39,815 housing units for first-time home-buyers and low- to moderate-income citizens. He initiated three major new programs to aid community housing development in the absence of federal subsidy programs.

In April Moody's Investors Service awarded IHDA, for the first time in the authority's history, an Al rating on its general obligations. The high confidence rating was pivotal in securing approval of a demonstration program through the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development that could develop as many as 1,170 new affordable housing units in Illinois.

Named as acting director of the authority was Pamela Lenane, who had been serving as deputy director of the agency. An attorney and member of the Chicago Board of Education, Lenane, 48, specialized in finance, banking and real estate law through her own practice prior to her appointment as assistant director of IHDA in 1993. Since May of 1989 she has also served as vice chairman of the Illinois Savings and Residential Finance Board.

Burke named special counsel
for child welfare services

Anne M. Burke, 50, a prominent Chicago attorney and judge who has been a long-time champion for disadvantaged children, has been named as special counsel to the governor for child welfare services.

Burke, 50, of Chicago, will work with top-ranking members of Gov. Jim Edgar's staff and a team of management consultants to continue the progress of reform already being implemented in the state's child welfare system. She will be paid $76,000 per year.

Well-known and widely respected for her community and civic leadership, Burke was founding director of the Chicago Special Olympics for the Mentally Retarded. She also has played a leadership role in the March of Dimes and has served on the board for the Catholic Charities of Chicago, a major provider of services to abused and neglected children.

Dombrowski reappointed
DMHDD inspector general

Cathleen J. Dombrowski, 35, of Springfield, has been reappointed as inspector general for the Department of Mental Health and Developmental Disabilities. Her term, effective June 15, runs through June 15, 1998.

The inspector general functions within the Department of Mental Health and Developmental Disabilities to investigate reports of suspected abuse or neglect of patients or residents in any facility operated by the agency. Dombrowski was first appointed in 1992.

Dombrowski says one of her main goals is to reduce the time it takes to complete investigations. She says that after the reorganization of the department, she has more staff and that should permit investigations to be completed in 45 days instead of the current 154 days.

The inspector general is paid $74,000. Her appointment was confirmed by the Senate on May 11.

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36/June 1994/lllinois Issues

Two new members
for Illinois State Toll
Highway Advisory Committee

Ronald DeFalco, 49, of Chicago and Regina G. Narusis, 57, of Cary have been named to the Illinois State Toll Highway Advisory Committee. DeFalco, owner of Zanies Comedy Clubs, replaces Sheridan McNeair Jr. Narusis, former assistant state's attorney for McHenry County, is a partner in the Narusis & Narusis law practice. She replaces Jeffrey Shapiro.

The committee advises the authority on all matters relating to policy and administration of the toll highway system. Members are paid expenses only, and appointments do not require Senate confirmation.

Six Illinoisans
honored as
Lincoln Laureates

Six Illinois citizens have been named Lincoln Laureates, Illinois' highest award for individual achievement. Each honoree received the Order of Lincoln Medallion for his or her professional accomplishments in the fields of education, science, arts, business and government. Unique to Illinois, the 30-year-old program recognized this year's honorees during the Lincoln Academy of Illinois' convocation ceremony April 16 in the House of Representatives chambers in the state Capitol. Below are the 1994 Lincoln Laureates:

Alan J. Dixon, a U.S. senator from 1981 to 1993, served as Illinois secretary of state, state treasurer and member of both houses of the Illinois General Assembly. A native of Belleville, Dixon holds the state record for the largest plurality in reelections for both the U.S. Senate and Illinois secretary of state.

Robert Galvin directed Motorola's transformation from a multimillion dollar consumer electronics company to a multibillion dollar producer of commercial and industrial high-tech equipment sold throughout the world. Motorola was the winner of the first Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award in 1988. Galvin, a Wisconsin native, is chairman of the executive committee of Motorola's board.

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June 1994/Illinois Issues/37

Col. Steven R. Nagel logged more than 30 days in space during four separate shuttle flights. He served as mission specialist and pilot on two 1985 flights and was mission commander during flights in 1991 and 1993. A native of Canton, he graduated with high honors from the University of Illinois' College of Engineering in 1969.

The Rev. John T. Richardson, chancellor of DePaul University, Chicago, directed the expansion of university programs and facilities, including the purchase and reconstruction of the historic Goldblatt and Black-stone Theatre buildings. These projects helped preserve the community's architectural character while revitalizing Chicago's South Loop neighborhood. Richardson retired as university president in 1993.

Kay Smith, a Van-dalia native, was the first artist to receive the Freedom Foundation's George Washington Honor Medal. Smith, the only living American artist commissioned to paint more than 250 American and Illinois historic events and landmarks, was designated "official artist" of the 1986 New York Statue of Liberty Celebration.

Rear Admiral Anthony J. Watson, a 1966 Naval Academy graduate, has led nuclear submarine missions around the world. He grew up in Chicago's Cabrini-Green public housing project. Having won many awards for community service, Watson is credited with being an inspiration and a positive role model for minority youngsters.

Castillo named
correctional
Officer of the year

Dixon Correctional Center Officer Hector Castillo is the 1994 Correctional Officer of the Year. Chosen from a group of security staff from each of the 24 adult prisons across the state, Castillo received letters of commendation from Gov. Jim Edgar and Department of Corrections Director Howard Peters III in ceremonies the first week of May, proclaimed by the governor as Correctional Officer Week in Illinois. Castillo also received a $500 check from employee benefit funds.

The other correctional officers nominated and receiving recognition are:
Kris Carlock, Dwight; Lamar Coleman, Danville; Mark Darwent, Jacksonville; Marvin Eckenberg, Vienna; Frank Fairless, Taylorville; James Field, Vandalia; Harold Goot, Big Muddy River; Rick Householder, Pontiac; Robert Hughes, Graham; James Kimble, Joliet; Ron Koch, Illinois River; JoAnn Lauer, East Moline; John Morahn, Sheridan; Robert Mueller, Menard; Kyle Oddera, Stateville; Charles Patterson, Hill; Andrew Pronger, Stateville; Bryan Reynolds, Centralia; Michael Robinson, Logan; Susan Sanders, Robinson; Michael Wilburn, Menard Psychiatric; Guy Wood, Western Illinois; Everette Woods, Shawnee; and William Yeazle, Lincoln.

Boyd heads Illinois office
of The Nature Conservancy

Bruce W. Boyd has joined The Nature Conservancy, an international nonprofit conservation organization, as director of its Chicago-based Illinois Field Office. He replaces Al Pyott, who left to start The Wetlands Initiative, a not-for-profit Illinois corporation dedicated to restoring midwestem wetlands.

Before joining the conservancy, Boyd was vice president of Expert Corporation, a Chicago-based manufacturer of fluid pumping products, a company he and a partner bought out of bankruptcy and sold in 1991 to a Fortune 500 company. As an attorney with the Chicago law firm of Schnoff & Weaver, Ltd., for seven years, Boyd brings legal and corporate experience to an organization whose general philosophy toward conservation is: in order to save it, buy it. The Nature Conservancy has 740,000 members nationwide and 30,000 in Illinois dedicated to preserving natural habitats for rare plants and animals by protecting the lands and waters they need to survive.

Senator Sam dies

State Sen. Sam Vadalabene, 79, of Edwardsville, known by most people simply as "Senator Sam," died May 1 of a heart attack in a Maryville nursing home where he had been undergoing kidney dialysis since last year. He had not been able to attend legislative sessions for over a year due to the illness. Chairman of the Democratic caucus in the Illinois Senate, Vadalabene began his legislative career in the General Assembly in the House in 1967. He was elected to the Senate in 1971. He was chairman of the Senate's Committee on Executive Appointments and Veterans' Affairs. He was most proud of the legislation

he had introduced in favor of veterans and Southern Illinois University. He also introduced legislation in the Senate that created bike trails throughout the state, including the one that bears his name connecting Pere Marquette State Park and Grafton in Jersey County.

Evelyn M. Bowles, 72, of Edwardsville was sworn in May 9 to complete Vadalabene's term. Prior to her appointment, Bowles had served as Madison County clerk since 1974.

Former state
Rep. Nelson Rice dies

Nelson G. Rice, 61, died April 28 at his home in Chicago. Elected to the Illinois House of Representatives in 1982, he served for five terms. He counted among his accomplishments the Neighborhood Youth Committee, General Assembly scholarships and funding for the rehabilitation of the Ada Park Recreation Center, Chicago.

Naturalist George B. Fell dies

George B. Fell, 77, a pioneer nature con-servationist, died March 5 in Rockford. The first director of The Nature Conservancy, Fell developed and promoted legislation that created Illinois' Nature Preserve System, the first of its kind in the nation. Illinois currently has 236 nature preserves that protect 32,664 acres of natural habitat.

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38/June 1994/Illinois Issues

Young Illinois artists
win national and
state competitions

Jason Parsons, 16, of Canton submitted the winning design in the first national competition for the Federal Junior Duck Stamp. His colored pencil drawing of a male redhead duck won "Best of Show" out of 1,045 entries in the 1993 Illinois design competition of the Junior Duck Stamp Program, which advanced him to compete at the national level. Accompanied by his parents and art teacher, Scott Snowman, Parsons was honored at a reception in Washington, D.C.

Carey Hale, 15, of Freeport won best of show honors in the Illinois competition for the 1994 design contest that will enable her to so on to the national competion. Hale's winning entry was a watercolor depicting a pair of lesser scaup in a scene she entitled "Sensing Danger."

The Junior Duck Stamp Program introduces conservation and management topics, wildlife art and stamp collecting through a curriculum that can be tailored to students K-12. Parsons' drawing will be depicted on stamps, limited edition prints and first-day covers, and it will be offered for sale to collectors and conservationists. The nonprofit Junior Duck Stamp Program uses proceeds from the sale of its duck stamp products to further conservation awareness.

Julie Detrick and Beverley Scobell