Episode 22: Frank H. Mackaman
Frank Mackaman is Executive Director of the Dirksen Congressional Center, a not-for-profit, non-partisan, educational enterprise devoted to the study of Congress and its leaders. He is also Adjunct Professor of Political Science at Bradley University.
From 1987-1995, Mackaman served first as Deputy Director and then as Director of the Gerald R. Ford Library and Museum. He was also Professor of History and Visiting Lecturer in Political Science at the University of Michigan where he taught courses on White House operations, presidential character and presidential campaigns.
In addition to other community and professional positions, he currently serves as a member of the congressionally-chartered U.S. Department of State's Advisory Committee on Historical Diplomatic Documentation.
Episode 21: John L. Rotz
After graduating high school in 1952, Mr. Rotz worked at Fairmount Park Racetrack in Collinsville, Illinois as a groom, hot walker, and exercise rider. And then he began riding professionally in 1953. Nicknamed "Gentleman John" because of his polite demeanor, he gained a reputation for being able to handle temperamental Thoroughbreds.
During a 20-year riding career, Mr. Rotz rode in 20,286 races and won 2,907 races, i.e., a winning percentage of 14.3%, including 11 major wins. He won more stakes races than any other jockey in American racing. He earned two wins in the American Classic Races, the first coming in 1962 when he rode Greek Money to victory in the Preakness Stakes, A year earlier, he had finished second in the Preakness aboard Globemaster and earned another second place finish in 1968 with King Ranch's Out of the Way. He got his second Classic race win aboard High Echelon in the 1970 Belmont Stakes. Mr. Rotz was inducted in the United States' National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame in 1983.
In 1973, Mr. Rotz was voted the George Woolf Memorial Jockey Award, given to a jockey in North America who demonstrates high standards of personal and professional conduct, on and off the racetrack. He retired from riding that year following surgery for a foot injury, but he remained active in the industry, working for ten years as a racing steward at various racetracks in Louisiana, Ohio, Delaware and New York. While working at Thistledown Racecourse in North Randall, Ohio in 1975, he met his wife, Mary, whose sister was a horse trainer at the track
Episode 20: Charles R. Stamp, Jr.
Charles R. Stamp, Jr. is Vice President, Public Affairs Worldwide, at Deere & Company, a position he has held since September 2002. In his role, Stamp leads a department that manages government and public affairs to provide the company with timely and actionable plans that address issues of risk and opportunities that exist worldwide within key markets and among key audiences.
Stamp joined Deere & Company in 1999, as part of the company's acquisition of InterAg Technologies, Inc., where he was President/CEO. He has also served as President, John Deere Special Technologies Group, and President, Agricultural Division - Global AgSerivces.
Stamp is a native of Missouri. He received a bachelor of arts degree from Southeast Missouri State University, and a law degree from the University Of Missouri School Of Law in Columbia in 1974. He practiced law from 1974 until 1981 in Sikeston, Missouri. He entered the agribusiness industry in 1981 as President of Meyer Agri-Products, which later became a division of Butler Manufacturing Company, where he served as Vice President of Butler's Agri-Products Division. He then served as Vice President of Capital South Inventors and as a partner of Capital Partners, Ltd., which founded InterAg Technologies, Inc.
Episode 19: LeRoy G. Hagenbuch, P.E.
LeRoy G. Hagenbuch, P.E. is Co-Founder and President of the engineering firm Philippi-Hagenbuch, Inc. Hagenbuch's patent for the first commercially available tailgate designed for off-highway haul trucks was only the beginning. He is now credited with 89 patents, 51 in the United States and 38 in other countries. The most recent patent refines rear-ejection technology, allowing operators to push the load from the back of a haul truck instead of raising the bed. To advance the process of mine reclamation, he developed many products to efficiently haul overburden and other materials. Hagenbuch has made outreach and industry progress a mainstay of his career. He has written white papers on vital industry topics, spoken at conferences and trade shows worldwide, and been active with many associations on behalf of the industry. His operating philosophy has been to extend the safety focus beyond training and awareness; each Philippi-Hagenbuch engineer is challenged on the safety of their product designs. In addition, each staff and production meeting at the company starts with a discussion of a critical safety topic. Hagenbuch is a member of many state and national business and industry associations, including the Association of Iron and Steel Technologies (AIST), the Master Mechanics, and the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE).
Episode 18: Peter D. Hannaford
Peter Hannaford, president of Hannaford Enterprises, Inc., has served as an APCO senior counselor since 2001. His clients have included the New York Stock Exchange, General Motors, Citibank and 3M. Before forming his own company, he was assistant to the governor and director of public affairs for then-governor Reagan in Sacramento. In this position, he supervised the governor's press office, speech research office, community relations unit and the office of information.
Mr. Hannaford is best known for his role in assisting President Reagan during the latter's quest for the White house. Form 1975 until his election in 1980, Reagan was a client of the firm that Mr. Hannaford co-founded. In Reagan's 1976 presidential nomination campaign, Mr. Hannaford was the director of issues and research; in the 1980 campaign he was senior communications adviser.
Mr. Hannaford served on the United States Information Agency's Public Relations Advisory Committee (1981-1992); the board of trustees of the White House Preservation Fund (1981-1989); the Commonwealth Fund's Commission on Elderly People Living Alone (1986-1991); and the advisory committee of Mount Vernon, George Washington's home (1990-1996). He is a published author and has written a number of books on U.S. presidents and media relations.
Episode 17: Pat and Bruce White
Pat and Bruce White, professional actors, teachers and motivators, both graduated from Illinois Wesleyan University with Bachelors of Fine Arts Degrees. Pat was the female lead in Annie, Guys and Dolls, Gypsy, Hello, Dolly, How to Succeed in Business, Oklahoma, Once Upon a Mattress, Sugar Babies, Sweet Charity, The Unsinkable Molly Brown and Thoroughly Modern Millie. Both Pat and Bruce have appeared in Peoria Players, Corn Stock, Conklin Players, The Public Theatre Co., Brown Deer Players and Haberdashers Dinner Playhouse.
Pat and Bruce White, professional actors, teachers and motivators, both graduated from Illinois Wesleyan University with Bachelors of Fine Arts Degrees. Bruce wrote, directed and acted in the original musical review, "The Golden Days of Radio," has lectured for the National Agri-Marketing Association, HON Industries, St. Louis Toastmaster's Club and has acted as a facilitator for Caterpillar, Ameritech, Maritz, American Express Incentive Services, Midwest Grain Products, BPI and HON Industries. Both Pat and Bruce have appeared in Peoria Players, Corn Stock, Conklin Players, The Public Theatre Co., Brown Deer Players and Haberdashers Dinner Playhouse.
Episode 16: Gail M. Amundson
Gail M. Amundson, M.D. is president and CEO of Quality Quest for Health of Illinois, Inc. Quest's mission is to achieve exceptional patient outcomes by catalyzing health care transformation, i.e., identify affordable and sustainable solutions, promote partnerships between physicians and patients. Quest, an Illinois not-for-profit 501(c)(3) organization, was formed in 2008; its board is comprised of community leaders schooled in the healthcare industry. Dr. Amundson explored the future of healthcare, the over-regulation of our economy and the method of achieving positive outcomes by educating individuals as to increasingly unproductive health issues, such as obesity and cigarette smoking. Dr. Amundson majored in molecular biology and received her BA and medical degree from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She has published more than 35 articles, is board certified in internal medicine with a certificate in geriatrics and is a fellow of the American College of Physicians. Dr. Amundson practiced internal medicine with her spouse, Peter R. Rothe, M.D., in Tomahawk, Wisconsin, then was associated with Health Partners Medical and Dental Group located in Minnesota and became its medical director. Dr. Amundson and her spouse are the parents of three children, Julia, Aaron and Karl.
Episode 15: Thomas Osborne
Host Ed Sutkowski talks with Thomas Osborne, C. Mfg. E., Senior Vice President of Engineering Development, Training and IP Development for Cook Group Incorporate.
William A. and Gayle Cook incorporated Cook Incorporated in 1963 for $1,500; it began to manufacture wire guides, catheters and percutaneous needles used by radiologists for angiography in a 3-bedroom apartment located in Bloomington, Indiana. Bill Cook sought the advise of Richard Osborne, a local jeweler, as to the methods employed to manufacture Cook Incorporated products. When asked if Richard knew anyone who might possess Richard's skills, Richard suggested his son, Tom Osborne, then barely 18. Bill, Gayle, the bookkeeper/quality control inspector, and Tom, the first production employee, worked together in the apartment and produced first versions of the products. Since then, Tom is now Cook Incorporated's Senior Vice President, Product Development and Training and is responsible for training all of Cook's new engineers as well as being heavily involved in patent prosecution and litigation.
Cook Incorporated, now the nation's largest private medical equipment manufacturer, consists of 42 separate business organizations, employs 12,500 individuals world wide with 17 locations in 4 continents. It sales exceed $1.7 billion; the $1,500 investment is now worth approximately $6 billion. Bill later described Tom as "...a genius" and one who was just "destined" to succeed. Bill Cook's April 2011 New York Times obituary complimented Tom's achievements and suggested that "His name is on almost every patent."
Tom describes the beginning of his journey with Cook, the Bill Cook characteristics and the man who has given in excess of $200 million to various charities, including the construction of the $15 million facility located in Canton, Illinois, Bill's birthplace, which shall ultimately employ 300 full-time employees. The Tom Osborne, Bill Cook and Gayle Cook's story reflects what is good about the United States of America and its opportunities for individuals to succeed.
Episode 14: Patrick Mark Twomey, Ed.D.
Host Ed Sutkowski talks with Patrick Mark Twomey, Ed.D., who is the superintendent of the Havana Community Unit School District. Effective Fall of 2012, Patrick Mark Twomey implemented the Flip Teaching program in the Havana Community Unit School District #126. The program was first introduced by Eric Mazur, prominent physicist, educator, Area Dean for Applied Physics at Harvard University and author of his best selling book, "Confessions of a Converted Lecturer."
The program is a form of teaching which blends off-site lecturers via the Internet or DVDs and classroom assistance and review of the lecturers, all with a view toward allowing a teacher to spend more time interacting with students - the abandonment of the "sage on the stage" for the one-on-one and group learning process. Specifically, the student first studies the topic by himself, typically using video lessons created by the instructor or shared by another educator. Then, in the classroom, the pupil applies the knowledge by solving problems and doing practical work. The role of the classroom teacher is to tutor the student when they become stuck, rather than to impart the initial lesson.
Patrick discusses and exhibits the passion of his "tipping point" - the event which compelled him to abandon his career in plastics, return to school, secured his Ed.D. and embark upon his educational mission despite critics. Finally, he compared and contrasted the conventional teaching model with the KIPP Program, charter schools, the virtual classroom and Flip Teaching.
Episode 13: James M. Strock
James M. Strock is an American entrepreneur, speaker and citizen servant. He is the author of three books on leadership, management and communication. Based in Scottsdale, Arizona, he is a frequent speaker at conferences and corporate events across the U.S. and in other nations. Strock previously served as the founding Secretary of the California Environmental Protection Agency and as Assistant Administrator for Enforcement (chief law enforcement officer) of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
Strock received a bachelor's degree from Harvard College (Phi Beta Kappa) and a juris doctor from Harvard Law School. While in law school, he served as a teaching assistant to Professor Richard Neustadt of the Kennedy School of Government. He subsequently attended New College, Oxford for a year, sponsored by the Ambassadorial Scholarships program of Rotary International. He served to captain in the reserves, Judge Advocate General of the U.S. Army, 1989-96. He received the Ross Essay Prize of the American Bar Association in 1985.
Strock served as a special assistant to U.S. EPA Administrator William Ruckelshaus (1983-85). From 1985-86, he served as special counsel to the United States Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works, reporting primarily to Senator Alan K. Simpson. He practiced environmental and corporate law for Davis Graham & Stubbs in Denver, Colorado in 1986-88. He served in the Reagan and George H.W. Bush administrations as general counsel of the United States Office of Personnel Management under Director Constance Horner (1988-89). He was appointed Assistant Administrator for Enforcement, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency by President Bush in 1989.
In 1991, California Governor Pete Wilson appointed Strock to his cabinet as the founding Secretary for Environmental Protection. Strock served through May 1997. Among the honors accorded the agency was an Innovations in American Government Award selected by the Ford Foundation and the Kennedy School at Harvard. During this time, he served as a member of the Intergovernmental Policy Advisory Committee, Office of the U.S. Trade Representative. Strock founded Serve to Lead, Inc. in 1997, which provides services in leadership development, as well as in the environmental, social and governance space. He is an independent member of the Board of CVR Energy, a trustee of the Theodore Roosevelt Association and a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and the Authors Guild. Strock appeared in the Showtime television series, American Candidate. He has appeared on Fox, CNN, C-Span and other networks and has written for or been quoted in many newspapers, including the Los Angeles Times, New York Times, USA today and San Jose Mercury News. Strock has published three books: Serve to Lead: Your Transformational 21 Century Leadership Systems, Winner, Business Category, and Third-Place Non-Fiction Grand Price, New Generation Indie Book Awards; Reagan on Leadership: Executive Lessons from the Great Communicator, Reagan Centennial Edition, foreword by Tom Peters; and Theodore Roosevelt on Leadership: Executive Lessons from the Bully Pulpit.
Episode 12: Shaun Livingston
Host Ed Sutkowski talks with Shaun Livingston, an American professional basketball player.
Episode 11: Nancy J.Mermelstein, Esq.
Host Ed Sutkowski talks with Nancy J. Mermelstein, Esq., First Assistant State's Attorney for Peoria County, Illinois.
Episode 10: Neil E. Harl Ph.D.
Neil is the Charles F. Curtiss Distinguished Professor in Agriculture and Emeritus Professor of Economics at Iowa State University in Ames, Iowa. He received his BS from Iowa State in 1955, his JD from the University of Iowa in 1961 and his Ph.D. in Economics from Iowa State in 1965. Neil has authored 29 books, more than 400 professional articles and bulletins, 850 publications, a 2 volume Farm Income Tax manual, single volume ag law manual and a 15 volume Matthew Bender estate tax and ag law series - a comprehensive treatise covering virtually every aspect of law that relates to farmers, ranchers and other agricultural interests. Neil has presented more than 3,300 lectures in 43 states, 19 foreign countries, People's Republic of China, Australia, England, Moscow, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Ukraine, and Yugoslavia.
He currently serves on the following advisory boards: Commissioner of Internal Revenue Service, US Department of Treasury, USDA farm structure task force, Office of Technology Assessment, Advisory Committee on Agricultural Biotechnology, and Commission of Payment Limitations in Agriculture.
Neil has received more than 30 major awards, including USDA Superior Service Award, Iowa State Bar Association, Distinguished Service to Agriculture, Speaker of the Year, National Society of Accountants, Service to American and World Agriculture.
Neil's view of the most pressing global challenge: "reduce conflict among nations, advancing peace in the world and boosting per capital income/low income countries. Poverty is the root of many evils: starvation, warfare, disease, reduced life expectancies, and civil unrest. A well-fed and prosperous people are far less likely to be mischief makers than those who are perpetually hungry and see little hope for a better life ahead. Biggest challenge: Africa continent/rational legal system, functioning market economy and efficient and effective system of government."
Episode 09: Royce Elliott and Roger Monroe
Royce Elliott, a nationally known and respected comedian, has opened for Barbara Mandrell, Lou Rawls, Conway Twitty, Bobby Vinton, Gatlin Brothers and Statler Brothers, has roasted Mike Ditka, Frank Sinatra, Buddy Hackett and Rich Little and has performed in Las Vegas, Atlantic City and Branson, Missouri. Royce, a Woodruff High School graduate, has a repertoire of at least 600 jokes, none of which are "blue."
Roger Monroe, likewise a Woodruff High graduate, earned his Bachelor of Science in speech from Bradley University and a Masters in speech while serving in the United States Army. While in the U.S. Army, he was the sports director for the Armed Forces Network, based in Frankfort, Germany and announced before a European audience of approximately 45 million listeners. Roger's brother, Zack, pitched for the New York Yankees. His publication, Get The Word, has over 20,000 readers.
Episode 08: J. William Maloney and Robert W. Schlutz
Bill is from Murrayville, Illinois, population 664 at year 2000, near Jacksonville, and with his spouse, Lois, are the parents of 5 children. He began his entrepreneur career at Neff Co., Inc., a John Deere ag equipment dealer, in Stronghurst, Illinois, first as a salesman, then its manager and in 1973, he purchased Neff Co. Bill and Lois, own and farm a significant number of acres located in Fulton, Knox, McDonough and Warren counties. Bill discussed his entrepreneurial and farming experiences, the cost of capital and related matters. Bob is from Columbus Junction, Iowa, population 1,899 at year 2000, and with his spouse, Marillyn, are the parents of 2 children. He began his career as and continues to farm and raise cattle on a significant number of Iowa acres. At the suggestion of local Peoria businessman icon, Robert Weaver, Bob purchased his first Kentucky Fried Chicken franchise located in Galesburg, Illinois. He continued his KFC acquisition process and ultimately owned 18 additional KFC stores located in both Illinois and Iowa. Bob discussed the pros and cons of owning business organizations. Both Bill and Bob discussed the current state of farming – the number of acres required to make a living, the investment in equipment and the increase in the value of farm land with its impact on the “family farm.” Specifically, in Iowa, assuming a year 2013 per acre value of $8,716 (vs. $88 in 1940), total Iowa farm value is $267,581,200,000; 78% is free of debt; 30% owned by someone over the age of 75; 56% by someone over 65; 21% non-resident; and 62% non-farmers. The Illinois statistics are comparable.
Episode 07: George T. Shaheen and Gerald L.Shaheen
The identical twin Shaheen brothers, George and Gerry, are from Elmwood, Illinois, year 2005 population 1,889; they, together with their elder sister, Charlotte, are the children of foreign born Louis and Charlotte Shaheen. Both twins received their “hands on” undergraduate education by bagging groceries and trimming meat at the Elmwood/Shaheen grocery store; as teenagers, they managed the grocery operation during their father’s medical leave. George, senior to Gerry by 15 minutes, earned his BA and MBA in marketing from Bradley University, and then joined Andersen Consulting – at one time, the world’s largest consulting firm and a subsidiary of Andersen Worldwide. He spent 32 years at Andersen and stood to collect a $10 million bonus, plus additional payouts from the group’s venture investments if he had remained with Andersen for an additional 11 months. But, in September of 1999, before the 11-month period expired, George was recruited by Louis Borders, the founder of the bookseller, The Borders Group, Inc., to head up the WebVan Group with a salary of $500,000 -- a ninth of his Andersen compensation. At WebVan, George held 1.25 million shares of stock in addition to 15 million options. If WebVan succeeded, George’s stake would have been worth at least $100 million. The ultimate economic destination of WebVan is the subject of a Harvard Business School study published on October 17, 2001, No. 9-602-037. George has served as a member of the Board of Advisors of the Kellogg School at Northwestern University, a trustee at Bradley University and as a member of the Board of Directors of 24/7 Customer, Network Appliance, newScale, Inc., Siebel Systems, think3 and Closedloop Solutions. Gerry likewise earned his BA and MBA in marketing from Bradley University and then joined Caterpillar as a staff assistant. He spent his entire career with Caterpillar and was elected as a Vice President of Caterpillar overseas in charge of its Europe, Africa, Middle East and former Soviet Union operations; he ultimately retired as a Group President with responsibilities over more than 12,000 employees. Gerry is a past chairman of the United States Chamber of Commerce, is the lead director of AGCO Corp., a global leader focused on the design, manufacture and distribution of agricultural machinery and serves as a Board member of Ford, Aquila, UtiliCorp United, Association of Equipment Manufacturers and Mineral Information Institute. His charitable activities include Board memberships of OSF, National MS Society and Peoria Next.
Episode 06: Retired Circuit Judges Stuart P. Borden and John A. Barra
Retired Judge Borden is from Wyoming, Illinois. He was Stark County’s State’s Attorney then was appointed as an Associate Judge for the Tenth Judicial Circuit. He was elected Stark County Circuit Judge and retained as Circuit Judge again in 2006. He served as chief judge of the Tenth Judicial Circuit from August 2007 through 2010. Judge Borden retired from the bench in 2012. Among Judge Borden’s interesting cases was one relating to Karen McCarron’s attempt to secure a retrial for murdering her autistic daughter, Katie, by reason of alleged incompetence of trial counsel. Judge Borden disagreed, finding that trial counsel’s conduct “did not fall below an objective standard of reasonableness.”
Retired Judge Barra of Pekin, Illinois was an assistant State’s Attorney for Peoria County from 1974-1980, served as the Peoria County State’s Attorney from 1980-1988 and was elected a circuit judge for the Tenth Judicial Circuit in 1988. He served as the chief judge for the Tenth Judicial Circuit from August 2001 until his term ended in 2006. Judge Barra retired from the bench in 2009.
Episode 04: Eddie Sutter
Eddie Sutter is a former professional American football player who played linebacker for five seasons for the Cleveland Browns, Baltimore Ravens, and Atlanta Falcons.
Episode 03: 85’ Chicago Bears
The 1985 season was the Chicago Bears' 66th in the National Football League the 16th post-season completed in the NFL, and their fourth under head coach Mike Ditka.
The Bears entered 1985 looking to improve on their 10–6 record from 1984 and advance further than the NFC Championship Game, where they lost to the 15–1 San Francisco 49ers. Not only did the Bears improve on that record, but they also put together one of the greatest seasons in NFL history.
The Bears won fifteen games, as the 49ers had the year before, and won their first twelve before losing to the Miami Dolphins on Monday Night Football to deny a perfect season. The Bears' defense was ranked first in the league and only allowed 198 total points (an average of 12.4 points per game). The Bears won the NFC Central Division by seven games over the second-place Green Bay Packers and earned the NFC's top seed and home-field advantage throughout the playoffs at Soldier Field. In their two playoff games against the New York Giants and Los Angeles Rams, the Bears outscored their opponents 45–0 and became the first team to record back-to-back playoff shutouts. Then, in Super Bowl XX at the Louisiana Superdome against the New England Patriots, the Bears set several more records. First, their 46 points broke the record that had been set by the Los Angeles Raiders in 1984 with 38 and tied by the 49ers the following year. Their 36-point margin of victory topped the 29-point margin of victory that the Raiders had put up in Super Bowl XVIII and stood as a record until the 49ers won Super Bowl XXIV, also in New Orleans, by 45 points over the Denver Broncos. It was the Bears' first NFL World Championship title since 1963.
The 1985 Chicago Bears are one of the few teams to consistently challenge the undefeated 1972 Miami Dolphins for the unofficial title of the greatest NFL team of all time. In 2007, the 1985 Bears were ranked as the second greatest Super Bowl championship team on the NFL Network's documentary series America's Game: The Super Bowl Champions, ranking behind only the 1972 Dolphins. Other sources rate the 1985 Chicago Bears as the greatest NFL team ever.