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Edgar team shapes up

Gov. Jim Edgar's new administration quickly took form after the first of the year with the appointment of top staff members and a number of executive agency directors.

Heading up Edgar's staff is Kirk Dillard. An attorney with the Chicago law firm Lord, Bissell & Brook since 1987, Dillard spent six years on Gov. James R. Thompson's staff, first as a Senate liaison (1981-84) and then as director of legislative affairs (1984-87). He served as a Court of Claims judge from 1987-91 and is currently a member of the Bi-State Policy Committee which is to decide where to develop a third regional airport to serve northeastern Illinois and northwestern Indiana.

Other top staff members were announced in January:

• Edgar's chief legal counsel is Arnold Kanter. Legal counsel to Edgar's transition team, he had been with the Chicago law firm Altheimer & Gray for six years. Prior to that Kanter was with Freeman, Atkins & Coleman.

• Edgar named four individuals who will serve as his top assistants with supervisory responsibilities over various executive agencies: Michael Belletire, Erhard R. Chorle, George Fleischli and Alien D. Grosboll.

Belletire will be responsible for program development in the Edgar administration. Issues coordinator for Edgar's 1990 campaign, he is a former director of the Department of Mental Health and Developmental Disabilities (1983-86) and special assistant to Gov. Thompson (1982-83). From 1977-82, Belletire was with the Department of Public Aid, first as deputy director for social services and later as the agency's chief of operations.

Chorle will coordinate the administration's business and financial policy. He has been with Edgar since 1984, most recently as the secretary of state's legal counsel in Chicago. He has also served as head of the securities department. Chorle previously was with the Department of Labor (1980-83) and the Department of Mental Health and Developmental Disabilities (1979-80).

Fleischli will be responsible for the areas of agriculture, conservation and capital improvement projects. He directed physical services for the secretary of state's office throughout Edgar's tenure in that office. He previously served in the Department of Conservation (1979-81).

Grosboll, Edgar's deputy secretary of state since 1984, will be responsible for environmental issues and other key areas of government. Prior to joining the secretary of state's office as director of vehicle services in 1981, Grosboll was executive director of the Abandoned Mined Lands Reclamation Council (1978-81) and a member of the House Republican staff (1973-77).

• At the Bureau of the Budget, Joan Walters is now director. The Chicago native was Edgar's first chief of staff when he was named secretary of state in 1981. She returns to Illinois from Seattle, Wash., where she served as senior budget analyst in the city's Office of Management and Budget and most recently as manager of an effort to improve productivity. Robert Mandeville, who became the state's first taxpayer ombudsman last July, directed the Bureau of the Budget during all of Gov. James R. Thompson's tenure as the state's chief executive.

• Edgar's new director of government operations is Sally Jackson. She headed Thompson's Department of Employment Security for its first eight years. (Thompson created the department by executive order in 1983 from a bulky division within the Department of Labor.)

Prior to that she was Thompson's assistant for government administration and reorganization.

• Handling executive personnel, labor and other related matters as Edgar's special assistant is Janis Cellini. She had served Edgar in a similar capacity in the secretary of state's office since 1983. Cellini was assistant personnel director for Gov. Thompson's office from 1980-83.

• Jim Skilbeck is remaining in his post as special assistant in charge of scheduling and special events. Skilbeck had been with Gov. Thompson for nearly 15 years, starting with Thompson's first gubernatorial race. Before moving into the special assistant post in 1982, he spent five years as the governor's assistant press secretary.

• Gubernatorial appointments to state boards and commissions will be handled by Edgar's special assistant, Kenneth Zehnder. The Springfield resident, who has a background in personnel management, has been an Edgar staffer since 1981, serving in a number of positions.

• Heading up operations at the governor's Chicago office is Mark W. Peterson. An assistant campaign director during Edgar's run for governor, Peterson had previously served as a key assistant in the secretary of state's Chicago office.

• Serving as Edgar's executive assistant is Felicia F. Norwood. The Chicago attorney will oversee government agencies that deal with human services. She is returning to public service after attending law school. From 1983-86, she served as an assistant specializing in health and human services in Gov. Thompson's office.

• Edgar's assistant for women's issues and Hispanic affairs is Arabel A. Resales of Chicago. She held a similar post with Edgar's secretary of state staff. A strong advocate of the rights of women and Hispanics, Resales served as chairperson of the 1990 Midwest Hispanic Leadership Conference.

Gov. Edgar also named a number of executive agency directors during January and February.

• At the Department on Aging: Victor L. Wirth of Springfield took over from Janet Otwell who had held the top spot at this agency since 1984. Wirth had been executive director of the Illinois Retired Teachers Association since 1984, but he is no stranger to the agency. Between 1976 and 1984, he held several positions with the department, including legislative liaison and manager of the planning and educational development division. Wirth also spent several years during the 1970s as executive director of the West Central Illinois Area Agency on Aging.

• At the Department of Agriculture: In a move that caught many agriculture groups by surprise, a young woman from rural Gillespie was named director of the state's top ag agency, replacing Jack Rundquist who is returning to farming. Reared on a farm in Hancock County, Rebecca Carlisle Doyle and her husband have run a pork production operation in Macoupin County since 1983. A strong advocate of increasing the state's agricultural exports, she participated in the 1990 U.S.-U.S.S.R. Emerging Leaders Summit in the Soviet Union. From 1982-84, Doyle took part in the Illinois Agriculture Leadership Program in conjunction with which she spent several weeks in 1984 meeting with agriculture and trade officials in six European countries.

Doyle is a past chairman of both the Illinois Agriculture Leadership Associates and the

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Macoupin County Farm Bureau's national legislative affairs committee. She has testifed before Congress a number of times on agriculture policy.

• At the Department of Alcoholism and Substance Abuse. James E. Long, executive director of the Illinois Alcoholism and Drug Dependence Association since 1982, replaced William Atkins. He previously held several administrative positions in the Department of Rehabilitation Services (1978-81) and in the Governor's Office of Manpower and Human Development (1974-78).

Atkins is leaving state government to start a private consulting business.

• At the Department of Central Management Services; Stepping into Eugene Reineke's shoes here was Stephen B. Schnorf of Rochester. Schnorf had served in a number of management positions with the secretary of state's office since 1981, most recently as head of its driver services department. He also administered the secretary of state's senior citizens division (1981-83). Prior to that he held the post of executive director with the Illinois Developmental Disabilities Advocacy Authority (1978-81).

• At the Department of Children and Family Services: Sue S. Suter of Springfield replaced Gordon Johnson who left the agency in July to become executive director of Chicago's Hull House. (Jess McDonald had been serving as acting director.) Suter takes over an agency that has been beset by a number of problems, including a lawsuit by the American Civil Liberties Union that charges mismanagement, overloading of caseworkers and mistreatment of the children under its control.

Suter, who lost her bid for state comptroller during the 1990 election, is a former director of both the state's Department of Public Aid (1988-89) and its Department of Rehabilitation Services (1984-88). She served briefly too as commissioner of special education and rehabilitative services for the U.S. Department of Education during the Reagan administration.

• At the Department of Employment Security: Taking Sally Jackson's place was former state Rep. Loleta A. Didrickson (R-37, Flossmoor). Didrickson, who was elected to the House in 1982, was minority spokesperson for the Labor and Commerce Committee and played an active role in shaping Illinois' unemployment insurance legislation.

• At the Department of Energy and Natural Resources: John Moore, a division chief in the state fire marshal's office, replaced Karen Witter. Moore, a geologist, has directed the petroleum and chemical safety division at the fire marshal's office since 1987. Prior to that he spent a number of years as a private consultant. From 1970-81, Moore was with the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency where he was in charge of the agency's land and noise pollution control division.

Moore recently received the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Bronze Commend-

Edgar budget conference in Springfield March 15 Most experts agree that Illinois state government's fiscal health is ailing. Gov. Jim Edgar's financial remedies, as presented in his first budget message March 6, will be the focus of a conference. The Budget Crunch 1991: A Briefing and Analysis of the Edgar Administration's Budget, on March 15 at Sangamon State University in Springfield. Sponsored by the university's Legislative Studies Center, the conference will feature a number of panel discussions as well as a keynote presentation by Joan Walters, Gov. Edgar's director of the Bureau of the Budget. Deadline for registration is March 11; the conference fee is $65. For more information, contact Steve Henriksen at SSU's Legislative Studies Center, telephone (217) 786-6574.

able Service award for developing a more environmentally sensitive underground storage tank closure program. The federal agency uses the awards to recognize exemplary service, usually internally. Awards are seldom given to members of the general public.

• At the Environmental Protection Agency: Mary A. Gade of Arlington, Va., replaced Bernard P. Killian. Gade, who had been with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency since 1978, was most recently the federal agency's deputy assistant administrator for its Office of Solid Waste and Emergency Response. From 1987-89, she was in charge of the nation's largest Superfund program ($200 million) in the USEPA's regional office in Chicago. An attorney, Gade has also taught several environmental and environmental law courses at Roosevelt University in Chicago (1980-89).

• At the Department of Human Rights: Replacing Joyce E. Tucker, the agency's only director since its creation in 1980, was Rose Mary Bombela, assistant director of the Department of Central Management Services since 1982. She joined Gov. Thompson's staff in 1978, serving first as assistant press secretary and later as the governor's special assistant for Hispanic affairs. Currently chairperson of the Chicago Latino Cinema, Bombela organized the first Illinois Hispanic Women's Conference in 1981. She is a past president of the International Personnel Management Association's Chicago chapter and a former chairperson of the Illinois Republican National Hispanic Assembly.

• At the Department of Labor: Shinae Chun, director of the Department of Financial Institutions since June 1989, replaced Gwen R. Martin. Gov. Thompson's special assistant for Asian-American affairs for five years (1985-90), Chun helped implement such programs as the Asian-American Truancy Program, the Chinatown Development Project and a number of minority business development seminars. From 1980-83, she was project director of the Title IX Multiethnic Training, Assistance and Dissemination Project for the Chicago Consortium of Colleges and Universities.

• At the Department of Lottery: The president of a Chicago consulting firm, Desiree Glapion Rogers, replaced Sharon Sharp. Rogers, since 1989, ran MOCA Inc., a firm

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offering consulting services to museum retail stores. Prior to that she held managerial positions with the Levy Organization and with AT&T.

• At the Department of Mental Health and Developmental Disabilities: William K. Murphy of Springfield got the nod for the agency's top spot on a permanent basis. He had been serving as acting director since December 1989 when former director Ann Kiley stepped down due to ill health. Murphy has been with the agency since 1963 and has held a number of positions, including assistant superintendent of the McFarland Zone Center in Springfield (1969-74) and superintendent of the Jacksonville Developmental Center (1974-81). When appointed acting director, Murphy had been associate director for developmental disabilities since 1983. He held both posts prior to this appointment.

• At the Department of Mines and Minerals: An industry insider, Ronald Morse, took over from Richard Shockley. Morse had been with Sahara Coal Co. for 22 years and most recently was director of health and safety. He is a certified safety instructor for mines and minerals as well as for the Department of Labor.

• At the Department of Professional Regulation: Chicago attorney Nikki M. Zollar replaced Kevin K. Wright. She was chairman-secretary of the Chicago Board of Election Commissioners from 1987 until January 1990. Prior to that she practiced law in Chicago. Zollar is a past recipient of the Kizzy Award which honors top African-American women achievers in the U.S. and of the Boy Scouts of America's Martin Luther King Award for dedicated leadership.

• At the Department of Public Aid: Moving from the Department of Rehabilitation Services (DORS) was Philip C. Bradley of Springfield, director since 1988. Bradley had been with DORS since 1983. Prior to entering state government, he served as associate director of the Illinois Community College Trustees Association from 1977-83. In 1989, the Coalition of Citizens with Disabilities honored Bradley with its outstanding service award.

• At the Department of Public Health: Remaining at the helm of this agency was Dr. John R. Lumpkin of Chicago. He had been serving as acting director since last September when Dr. Bernard J. Turnock resigned to return to a more lucrative teaching career at the University of Illinois at Chicago's School of Public Health. Lumpkin is the first African American to hold the top post at IDPH. Prior to taking over for Turnock, Lumpkin had been associate director of IDPH's health care regulation office since 1985. Before joining the agency, he was an emergency physician at several Chicago hospitals and, from 1978-84, was on the emergency medicine faculty of the University of Chicago. He is a member of the emergency medicine faculty at Northwestern University Medical School and also teaches at the University of Illinois' School of Public Health.

• At the Department of Revenue: For years he's stood on the outside and has often been openly critical of state taxing and spending policies. But now Douglas L. Whitley of Springfield, president of the Taxpayers' Federation of Illinois for the last 13 years, is on the inside. In appointing Whitley to replace Roger Sweet as the state's top tax collector, Edgar promised to give him greater revenue policymaking responsibilites than previous revenue directors. Whitley will also be a key player in Edgar's plan to revamp the state's property taxe system.

In addition to his long-time association with the Taxpayers' Federation, Whitley chaired Gov. Thompson's revenue committee which recommended major sales tax reforms in 1987. In 1987-88 he served on the Committee of 50 that studied the feasibility of calling another state constitutional convention. Whitley was the first non-lawyer to serve on the Illinois State Bar Association's state and local taxation committee. At the national level, Whitley is vice chairman of the National Taxpayers' Conference and a member of the advisory committee to the National Institute for State and Local Taxation.

• At the Office of the State Fire Marshal: Replacing Thomas Bestudik was Thomas L. Armstead of Springfield. The former fireman had been facility fire safety coordinator for the Department of Corrections since 1988. Armstead spent 25 years with the Springfield Fire Department (1960-85), the last five as chief.

• At the Department of State Police: The state's top cop is now Terrance W. Gainer who replaced Jeremy D. Margolis. The Chicago native is a former deputy director of the agency (1987-89). Gainer, an attorney, returned to Illinois from Washington, D.C., where he had been special assistant to U.S. Transportation Secy. Samuel K. Skinner (another Illinoisan) and director of drug enforcement and program compliance for the agency. A former Chicago policeman. Gainer is a past recipient of the Superintendent's Award of Merit for outstanding service to the city's police department. Former director Margolis has joined the Chicago law firm of Altheimer & Gray as a partner.

• At the Department of Transporation: In an agency often swayed by the winds of political patronage, Edgar opted for a career employee from the inside. Kirk Brown of Sherman has been the agency's director of planning and programming since 1985. Among his responsibilities has been the preparation of the agency's capital budget. He took over from Michael Lane, the former corrections director (1981-90), who had been transportation secretary since January 1990. A registered professional engineer, Brown has been with the agency for 22 years. He began his career in the department's district office in Paris.

• At the Department of Veterans' Affairs: Robert J. Poshard of Springfield remains as head of the agency that serves the state's 1.3 million veterans. He was appointed to the post last June by Gov. Thompson to replace John Johnston who resigned in March 1990. He moved to the agency from the secretary of state's office where he had coordinated veterans affairs.

From 1986-89 he served as senior army adviser to the adjutant general in the Illinois Department of Military Affairs. He was inspector general for the Kentucky Army National Guard from 1983-86 and, from 1978-83, was a professor of military science at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Poshard served in the U.S. Army from 1962-78.

The appointments of all executive agency directors must be confirmed by the Senate. Directors serve two-year terms.

More new members in the Illinois Senate and House

Faces continue to change in the Illinois General Assembly even after 14 new lawmakers were sworn into office on January 9. The election of Sen. Bob Kustra (R-28, Park Ridge) as lieutenant governor and Sen. Dawn Clark Netsch (D-4, Chicago) as comptroller left two

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Senate vacancies when they were sworn in. The resignation of Sen. Greg Zito (D-26, Melrose Park) created a third Senate vacancy.

State representatives moved across the rotunda to fill two of the Senate vacancies, in turn leaving two seats open in the House. Then when Gov. Jim Edgar tapped Rep. Loleta Didrickson (R-37, Flossmoor) as his new director of the Department of Employment Security, a third House vacancy was created.

Partisan strength remains unchanged in both chambers, because vacancies are filled by local officials of the party who held the seat. The Democrats continue to enjoy a 3 l-to-28 seat advantage in the Senate and a 72-to-46 advantage in the House.

Martin J. Butler, 66, was named to Kustra's 28th District Senate seat. Butler, the mayor of Park Ridge since 1973, is the Republican committeeman from Maine Township and was a Park Ridge alderman from 1967 to 1971. Sen. Butler was sworn in January 27.

He is president of Distributors Institute Inc., a firm that does economic research for the automotive industry. Butler also chairs the Suburban O'Hare Commission and is cochairman of the O'Hare Advisory Committee.

John Cullerton, 42, left his 7th District House seat to take the 4th District Senate seat representing Chicago's northside. That seat was vacated by Netsch. Sen. Cullerton was sworn in January 31.

Cullerton was a key ally of House Speaker Michael J. Madigan, serving as both floor leader and speaker pro tempore. During his 12-year legislative career, Cullerton sponsored the mandatory seatbelt law and played a key role in developing the Chicago School Reform Act. He was recognized as one of the 10 best legislators in the General Assembly by the Chicago Sun-Times in 1985 and by Chicago Magazine in 1990. A graduate of Loyola University of Chicago and the Loyola University School of Law, Cullerton worked as an assisant public defender before his election to the House. He is a partner in the Chicago law firm of Fagel & Haber.

Ted Leverenz, 49, left his 51st District House seat to assume Zito's Senate seat representing the 26th District in suburban Cook county that includes O'Hare Airport. Sen. Levirenz was sworn in January 31.

Well-known as the sharp-tongued chairman of the House Appropriations I Committee, Leverenz used that post to chide agency heads for their spending practices. He was also in the high visibility post of cochairman of the Legislative Audit Commission. During his 16 years in the House, Leverenz sponsored legislation to allow generic drug use and to create a master plan for suburban flood control. In the Senate he will serve as vice chairman of the Public Health, Welfare and Corrections Committee and will serve on the Appropriations I Committee.

Gary Marinaro, 58, was appointed to the 51st District House seat vacated by Leverenz. Chief deputy clerk of Cook County, Rep. Marinaro was sworn in February 13.

A former teacher, Marinaro has a bachelor's degree in psychology from Louis University at Lockport. From 1979 to 1986, he served as chief deputy sheriff of Cook County and was the Democratic committeeman for Proviso Township for 10 years. Marinaro has been assigned to the following committees: aging, consumer protection, municipal and conservation law, public safety and infrastructure, and veterans' affairs.

Ann Stepan, 47, was appointed to the House seat vacated by Cullerton to represent the 7th District in north Chicago. Rep. Stepan was sworn in February 13.

Stepan, experienced in small business and real estate, was the financial cochair of the "Hartigan for Governor" committee and has helped raise money for other Democratic candidates, including Paul Simon and Adlai E. Stevenson III. She is also a member of the Illinois Public Action Council. Her House committee assignments include: education appropriations, environment and energy, and health care.

Manny Hoffman, 54, was appointed to Didrickson's former House seat representing the 37th District in south suburban Cook County and northeastern Will County. Rep. Hoffman was sworn in February 8.

President of the village of Homewood since 1985, Hoffman served on the village board for eight years before that. He runs the Manny Hoffman Insurance Agency in Homewood. Hoffman has been active in Republican party politics and was an unsuccessful candidate for Congress. He was an alternate delegate to the 1988 Republican National Convention and managed former Gov. James R. Thompson's south suburban campaign office in 1986.

Hoffman is a former reporter and editor with the Daily Calumet and City News Bureau and was news director at a Hammond, Ind., radio station. He is a member of the Illinois Audubon Society, the American Legion and a director of the South Suburban Arts Council.

Human Rights Authority

The Guardianship and Advocacy Commission in December and January made a number of appointments and reappointments to its Human Rights Authority.

In the Carbondale region, Stephen Marvel of West Frankfort, an employee of Bacon's Nursing Home in Harrisburg, was appointed.

In the Champaign region, retired teacher Nelda DuPress of Clinton and Helen Gorini of Urbana, an adult outpatient clinician at the Mental Health Center of Champaign County, were appointed.

In the Elgin region, Margaret Ortinau-Simons of Elmhurst, a past president of the

(Concluded on back cover)

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(Continued from page 38)

Chicago Council for Exceptional Children and of the Illinois Association of Private Schools, was appointed.

In the Metro East region, Karen Kelly Schutzenhofer of Granite City, director of the Center of Nursing Excellence in St. Louis, Mo., was appointed. Reappointed in this region were Mardra Y. Banks of Glen Carbon and Edward C. Fitzhenry Jr. of Granite City.

In the Springfield region, Linda Bailey of Springfield, program director at Latham's Country View Living Center, was appointed.

Created in 1979, the authority is one of three divisions within the commission. Nine volunteers in each of nine regions investigate alleged rights violations of disabled persons in public or private facilities. Members may serve no more than two consecutive terms.

Three school districts decertified

1991 appears much brighter for school districts in Dixon, Lincoln and Lockport. The three districts were the first to be removed from the State Board of Education's (SBE) "In Financial Difficulty" list in mid-December. Lincoln Community High School District 404 had been on the board's list since December 1988, Dixon Unit School District 170 and Lockport Township High School District 205 since April 1989.

The decertification action came largely as a result of the districts' being able to maintain balanced budgets for the previous two years, according to Pat Toomey, manager of the SBE's finance section. Improved financial health in two of the districts — Lincoln and Lockport — reflected voter approval of property tax increases for education.

Toomey and his staff of four are responsible for reviewing school districts that violate section 1A-8 of the Illinois School Code, especially those that have shown a budget deficit for two consecutive years. Currently, that means about 25 districts. Section staff work with these targeted districts to help them better manage their finances. But, according to Toomey, "School districts basically have only three options: cut costs, increase revenues or consolidate."

Those school districts found to be "In Financial Difficulty" face no real punishment from the state, but "it is a serious designation,'' said Toomey. Districts on the SBE list must develop multiyear financial plans aimed at lifting them out of the red, and since last year, they are precluded from borrowing money while on the list.

Fifteen school districts remain on the SBE list: Balyki Community Unit School District (CUSD) 125, Crete Monee Unit District 201, DeKalb CUSD 428, East St. Louis School District (SD) 189, Goreville SD 1, Grand Ridge Community Consolidated School District (CCSD) 95, Limestone Walters CCSD 316, Livingston CCSD 4, Mattoon CUSD 2, Meridian SD 223, Milne-Kelvin Grove SD 91, Mount Morris SD 261, Sunbury Elementary SD 431, Troy CCSD 30C and West Frankfort SD 168.

Cook County Judiciary

The Illinois Supreme Court recently announced a number of new judicial officers in the Cook County Judicial Circuit, as well as a number of other appointments, assignments and retirements.

• Appointed circuit judge: Vincent Gaughan of Chicago, an assistant Cook County public defender, replacing Gerald Murphy whose term expired; Francis X. Golniewicz Jr. of Chicago, an assistant Cook County state's attorney, replacing the late Cornelius Dore; Shelvin Louise Hall of Chicago, general counsel of the Illinois Department of Human Rights, replacing Lucia Thomas whose term expired; Moshe Jacobius of Skokie, an assistant Illinois attorney general, replacing Jill McNulty who was elected to the 1st District Appellate Court; James Kennedy of Chicago, head assistant attorney for the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District, replacing Albert Porter whose term expired; private attorney Dorothy K. Kinnaird of Wilmette, replacing John Tully whose term expired; Stuart F. Lubin of Chicago, an assistant Cook County public defender, replacing David Shields whose term expired; personal injury attorney William Maddux of Chicago, replacing Thomas Rakowski who was elected to the 1st District Appellate Court; John J. Moran of Park Ridge, an attorney with the law firm Rock, Fusco, Reynolds & Garvey, replacing Robert Mackey whose term expired; private attorney Donald J. O'Brien Jr. of Indian Head Park, replacing the late John Breen; private attorney and former public defender William P. O'Malley of Chicago, replacing Thomas Maloney whose term expired; private attorney Donald Pascale of Chicago, replacing the late Thomas Heneghan; and private attorney Morton Zwick of Chicago, replacing Angelo Mistretta whose term expired.

• Appointed by circuit judges as associate judges: William J. Aukstik of Chicago, deputy commissioner in charge of legal affairs for Chicago's Department of Aviation; Assistant Cook County State's Atty. Stephen Y. Brodhay of Riverside; Gloria G. Coco of Chicago, director of the code enforcement bureau within Chicago's Department of Buildings; private attorney John B. Grogan of Chicago; private attorney Jordan Kaplan of Morton Grove; Assistant Cook County State's Atty. Lynne Kawamoto of Tinley Park; Thomas E. Nowinksi of Palos Park, formerly an aide to former Cook County Sheriff Jim O'Grady; Mary Katherine Rochford of Chicago, an associate with Pope & John Ltd.; Marcus R. Salone of Chicago, a partner with Salone, Salone, Simmons, Murray & Associates; and Timothy J. Szwed of Flossmoor, a partner with Gasperec & Szwed Ltd.

• Assigned to duty: Retired circuit Judges Robert J. Collins and Jon McGury, both of Chicago, effective January 1 until July 1.

• Assignments extended to July 1: Retired circuit Judges Morton C. Elden, Hyman Feldman, Philip A. Fleischman, Martin G. Luken, John A. McElligott, Benjamin J. Nelson, Margaret G. O'Malley, Edward E. Plusdrak, Richard L. Samuels, Arthur A. Sullivan, Alfred B. Teton, Dean M. Trafelet, Raymond E. Trafelet, Eugene L. Wachowski and Louis A. Wexler.

• Appointed presiding judge by Chief Judge Harry G. Comerford: In the chancery division, Richard L. Curry; in the law division, Donald P. O'Connell; and in the 1st Municipal District, Ellis E. Reid. All are from Chicago.

• Retired or resigned: Circuit Judge Robert L. Sklodowski of Rolling Meadows, effective February 10. He had been a judicial officer since 1976. Associate Judges John Bowe of Winnetka, effective December 19, and John J. Beatty of Chicago, effective February 6. Bowe had been a judicial officer since 1974, Beatty since 1983.

Longtime education leader Burroughs dies

Thomas Lay Burroughs, chairman of the State Board of Education since 1987, died January 21 in St. Louis. He was 40. His death was caused by complications following surgery.

A life-long resident of Collinsville, Burroughs dedicated most of his life to education. He was a past president (1979-81) of the Collinsville School District 10 Board of Education, and he served on a number of education task forces during the Thompson administration, including the Blue Ribbon Commission on the Improvement of Teaching as a Profession, the Governor's Task Force on the Quality of Education in Mathematics and Science in Illinois and the Governor's Advisory Committee on the Educational Consolidation and Improvement Act of 1981.

Burroughs also carried his efforts on behalf of education outside the borders of Illinois. He was elected secretary-treasurer of the National Association of State Boards of Education (NASBE) in 1990. Prior to that he served on the association's board of directors and on its bylaws and finance committees. Burroughs was instrumental in creating the NASBE Foundation which assists the association in promoting and supporting public education.

Gov. Thompson appointed Burroughs to the State Board of Education in 1981. He was named the board's vice chairman in 1983 and chairman four years later.

Patricia Burtle-McCredie