Anyone who has ever watched Saturday morning cartoons, celebrated a Saluki touchdown or been encouraged to “have your break today” is familiar with the work of Glen Daum.

Daum, a 1964 SIUC School of Music graduate, is the Grand Marshal of Saturday’s Homecoming Parade, which kicks off at 9:30 a.m. in downtown Carbondale.

Daum has arranged hundreds of familiar tunes, ranging from the theme songs for “ABC World News Tonight” to “Chip ‘n’ Dale Rescue Rangers.”

He won an Emmy award in 2002 for his compositions for “Sesame Street.”

“We always look to honor somebody with the Grand Marshal that has contributed to SIU and also had great success in representing us in whatever career field they’ve been in out in the world,” said Donald Castle, assistant director of the Student Center.

Daum credits his time as a student at SIU with giving him the grounding he needed for his career.

He began arranging music for the Marching Salukis as an undergraduate, creating over 100 arrangements and compositions that remain staples for the band today, including “Go Southern Go” and “Go You Salukis.”

“I cannot stress what an opportunity it was for me to do arrangements,” Daum said. “It was just a thrill to be able to write.”

Daum is conducting a portion of the Marching Salukis’ halftime performance during Saturday’s Homecoming game. He said the opportunity reminds him of his student days.

After viewing a foreign film at the former Varsity Theater in the early 1960s, Daum said he was inspired to write a samba tune for the marching band to perform at the Homecoming parade.

“I think people were a little baffled, like, ‘What the hell are they playing?’ But it turned out pretty well. I’m very proud of that, actually,” Daum said.

Mike Haynes, retired director of bands at SIUC and a classmate of Daum, said Daum’s arrangements for the marching band were unique then and have endured time.

“When he started back in the early 1960s, most marching bands didn’t play very interesting or difficult music,” Haynes said.

In addition to being Grand Marshal, Daum is one of five “Distinguished Alumni” being honored today by the Alumni Association.

“You want to recognize alumni that do great things after graduation so that current students here have things to aspire to,” said Tuesday Ashner, assistant director of Alumni Services. “You want the students to say, ‘Oh my goodness, that person walked these halls before me, and look what they’ve done. This person won an Emmy.'”