By Ryan Keith 22

SIUC Alumni Association Executive Director Ed Buerger sees SIUC as a springboard to a career in any field, and he hopes recognition of the school’s most successful alumni can prove that point to SIUC students.

Ten of the most successful people ever to graduate from SIUC will be honored for their achievements as the inaugural Distinguished Alumni Class by the SIUC Alumni Association this weekend.

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The 10 alumni will be honored with a plaque on a memorial wall in the Recreation Center following an official ceremony at 2:30 today in the Alumni Lounge at the Recreation Center.

Buerger said the choice to honor this class of alumni was one that was long overdue.

The Association has always taken great pride in the accomplishments of its alumni, Buerger said. But we’ve never honored them (the distinguished alumni) at the level we hope to now.

Included in this year’s class of SIUC Distinguished of Alumni are:Marcia Bullard Bullard graduated with a bachelor’s degree in journalism in 1974. She is the president and CEO of USA Weekend magazine in Washington, D.C.

Roland W. Burris Burris graduated with a bachelor’s degree in political science in 1959. He served as the attorney general for the state of Illinois from 1991 to 1995. He is a managing partner in the Jones, Ware and Grenard law firm in Chicago.

Ted Cunningham Cunningham graduated with a bachelor’s degree in management in 1968. He is the executive vice president of Chrysler Corporation and CEO and president of Chrysler Mexico.

Dennis Franz Franz graduated with a bachelor’s degree in theater. He is a two-time Emmy-award winning actor who portrays Det. Andy Sipowicz on ABC’s NYPD Blue.

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Walt Frazier Frazier entered the NBA in 1968. He was honored as one of the league’s 50 greatest players last winter. He is a broadcaster for the New York Knicks.

Bob Gower Gower graduated with a bachelor’s degree in 1958 and a master’s degree in chemistry in 1960. He is the president and CEO of Lyondell Petrochemical Co. in Houston.

Arnette Hubbard Hubbard graduated with a bachelor’s degree in chemistry in 1957. She was only the second woman in modern history to serve as president of the SIUC Alumni Association. She is a former commissioner with the Chicago Board of Elections. She is a circuit court judge in Chicago.

L. Eudora Pettigrew Pettigrew graduated with a master’s degree in 1964 in rehabilitation counseling and a doctorate degree in education psychology in 1966. She is president of State University of New York College at Old Westbury.

Ken Pontikes Pontikes graduated with a bachelor’s degree in marketing in 1963, and he died in 1994. He was the founder, president and CEO of Comdisco, Inc. of Chicago.

Judith Roales Roales graduated with a bachelor’s degree in journalism in 1965. She is the executive vice president and general manager of the St. Petersburg Times.

This group was selected by a committee of five members, including three members of the Association’s national board of directors, an alumni chapter representative and a Student Alumni Council officer. Beginning next year, five members will be honored annually.

While the induction is intended to honor and respect each inductee, Buerger said the wall should have a positive effect on the student population.

You say to yourself, They got their start here,’ Buerger said. They walked through Thompson Woods just like I did.’

This will let them come back and remind the students of today that if you work hard, Southern can be a launch pad for you.

The honor also is intended to give the school’s faculty a sense of appreciation and to motivate them to help produce additional successful alumni, Buerger said.

The idea for the recognition began last winter, largely because of the efforts of the Association and Bill McMinn, director of Intramural-Recreation Sports at the Recreation Center.

The association set up a display for Homecoming in the Recreation Center two years ago, and McMinn saw a great amount of interest and decided to work on a permanent display.

Four of the 10 inductees will be returning for the ceremony. Greg Scott, director for public and alumni relations for the association, said Pettigrew, Hubbard, Burris and Bullard will return to Carbondale.

We talked to several people on the phone and they can’t wait to get back here, Scott said. They’re very excited and really looking forward to it.

Buerger said the inductees’ return shows that they care about the school.

The one thing about an alum is that you’re always going to be SIU, Buerger said. There may even be days when you wish you weren’t, but you’re always going to be SIUC. And these people are SIU.