EIU Media Relations

Governor Appoints Three to EIU's Board of Trustees

When Eastern Illinois University 's Board of Trustees meets for its next meeting on Sept. 10, it will do so with a full eight-member board.

It was announced today that Roger L. Kratochvil of Mt. Olive, Robert D. Webb of Mattoon and Leo Welch of O'Fallon have been temporarily appointed EIU trustees, effective Wednesday, Aug. 18, by Gov. Rod Blagojevich.

The appointments will become permanent upon confirmation by the Illinois Senate later this fall.

President Louis V. Hencken said he was pleased to hear that EIU, having gone nearly a year three trustees short, has a full complement of board members. Former trustee Robert Manion resigned in September 2003 for personal reasons, while Betsy Mitchell and Julie Sullivan, both lobbyists by trade, resigned later in the year after Illinois' new ethics law was passed, forbidding lobbyists from serving on state commissions.

Remaining trustees include Nathaniel Anderson of Belleville, Dr. Roger Dettro of Mattoon, Jeffery Lezotte of Chicago and Julie Nimmons of Litchfield.

In addition, Adam Howell of Decatur is just beginning his one-year term as the Board of Trustees' student member. He replaced Bill Davidson, the 2003-2004 student trustee from McHenry.

"Our current board members have done an outstanding job as Eastern Illinois University 's governing body," Hencken said. "But I think even they would agree that it will be nice to have a full eight-member board. There's certainly enough responsibility to go around, and I believe each trustee values as much feedback as possible in the decision-making process."

Hencken expressed his pleasure with Kratochvil, Webb and Welch's appointments, noting that each of the three new trustees will bring a wealth of knowledge and experience to the board. All three have backgrounds in the field of education, he added.

Kratochvil, who received his bachelor's degree in education from Eastern, taught at Mt. Olive High School from 1960 to 1984; he served as principal of the school for 10 years thereafter, until 1994. Kratochvil was inducted into the Illinois High School Coaches Hall of Fame in 1981, and into the Eastern Illinois University 's Athletic Hall of Fame in 1998. He also served as treasurer for the city of Mt. Olive from 1996 to 2001, and has actively participated in several other governmental and community organizations.

Webb, who has taught at both the elementary school and college levels, served as president of Lake Land College in Mattoon from 1972 to 1984. More recently, he served nearly 20 years as vice president for personnel of Johnston Super Markets, a supermarket chain with 650 employees and $50 million in annual sales. He is past chairman of both the Coles County Board and the Coles County Regional Planning Commission, and most recently served as a visiting professor at the Chiang Mai University in Thailand as a recipient of the Rotary International University Teacher Grant.

Welch, who taught biology at both ROVA High School in Oneida and at Southwestern Illinois College in Belleville for 32 years, received both his bachelor's and master's degrees from EIU, and his specialist's degree in education from Southern Illinois University. In addition to having served on several committees of the Illinois Community College Board and on the Faculty Advisory Council of the Illinois Board of Higher Education, Welch served as both president and vice president of the Illinois Community College Faculty Association. He received an Award for Outstanding Faculty Member from Southwestern Illinois College 's Board of Trustees.