Alumni
Fernando Aguirre, '80 BS - President, Chiquita International
Margaret Blackshere, '65 BS - President, Illinois AFL-CIO
Pete Delkus, '90 BS- Meteorologist, WFAA-TV, Dallas, TX
Paul Galeski, '83 BS - Chairman & CEO, Maverick Technologies
Dave Glover, '87 BS- Radio Talk Show Host, 97.1 FM, St. Louis, MO
Dr. Edward E. Hightower, '74 BS, '77 MSEd, '91 SD- Division I basketball referee, officiating in ten NCAA Final Four tournaments. In 1999, he was named one of the top 100 St. Louis area athletes of the century. He is also Superintendent of Edwardsville District 7 and serves as a Board of Trustee Member for Southern Illinois University.
Thomas Holbrook, '71 BA - Illinois State Representative, 113th District
Ralph Korte, '68 BS - Chairman, The Korte Company
Walter Kross, '74 MS - Retired General USAF, Former Commander in Chief for Scott Air Force Base
Gail Myers Lininger, '68 BS - Co-Founder of ReMax International Realty
Megan Lynch (Beljanski), '92 BS - Special Investigative Reporter, KMOX Radio, St. Louis.
Kathleen Madigan, '88 BA- Comedian (Appearances on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, HBO’s “Women of the Night III”and “Comic Strip Live”, Comedy Central’s “The A List”, “London Underground” and “Growing Up Funny”.
Peter Maer, '70 BA- CBS White House Correspondent, CBS News, Washington, D.C.
Patricia Mercurio, '72 BA - President, Bank of America, Missouri
William (Bill) Plaschke, '80 BS - Sports Columnist for the LA Times
Philip Rarick III, '65 BA - State of Illinois Supreme Court Justice
Gary Schroen, '68 BA- Agent with the Central Intelligence Agency. First U.S. CIA agent on the ground in Afghanistan immediately after 9-11. Author of the book First In relating those experiences.
John Shimkus, '97 MBA - United States Congressman for Illinois, U.S. House of Representatives
John Simmons, '91 BS- Started The Simmons Firm, L.L.C. which has grown from eight to 300 employees and is now known as SimmonsCooper LLC. He also owns a number of other businesses including a minor league baseball team and country music label. Mr. Simmons is also a philanthropist and serves as a Board of Trustee Member for Southern Illinois University.
Dewayne Staats, '75 BA - Play-by-play announcer for the Tampa Bay Devil Rays
Shelby Steele, '71 MA- Author and Research Fellow at the Hoover Institution, Stanford University. Was awarded the Bradley Prize in 2006 and the National Humanities Medal in 2004. He also won an Emmy Award and two awards for television documentary writing. He has written a number of books and articles on race relations and multiculturalism.
Stephanie Weir, former student- Comedian on MadTV from 2000-2006, actress in the films Moonpie, Eden Court, Fun with Dick and Jane, New Port South and Too Much Flesh. She is also a performer for The Second City's main stage comedy group (Chicago based) and the Goodman Theatre. She and her husband own the comedy partnership WeirDass.
Milton Wharton, '69 BS - Circuit Court Judge, 20th Judicial District, Illinois
Do you know of an SIUE Graduate who has achieved recognition for their outstanding contributions and achievements? If so, e-mail kabenne@siue.edu so we can add them to the list.