I am the Chancellor and Vice President of the University of Illinois Springfield. I served in senior leadership roles at two public regional universities prior to my arrival at UIS.
Wednesday, February 27, 2013
An exceptional example of "Leadership lived"
It's been a privilege
today for UIS to host Junior Bridgeman as a featured speaker for Black History
Month. Mr. Bridgeman is a retired NBA basketball player (with a solid
12-year career mostly with the Milwaukee Bucks) who went on to found Bridgeman
Foods, a multi-million dollar business that owns 160 Wendy's restaurants and
over 100 Chili's restaurants across the country It was inspiring to hear
Mr. Bridgeman talk about his life story and about his career. I was
especially interested to listen to him talking about his upbringing in East
Chicago, Indiana, where his family had three rules: you attend church,
you go to class, and when you join a team – you don't quit. My thanks to
the UIS Diversity Center and to our many student leaders who have done such a
tremendous service for the university this year, organizing and promoting Black
History Month events. It has been a resounding success. That's what I
call "Leadership lived".