David Priess ’93 has been named chief operating officer of Washington, D.C.’s Lawfare Institute, known for the prominent Lawfare Blog that focuses on hard national security problems. David served at the CIA during the Bill Clinton and George W. Bush administrations as an intelligence officer, manager, and daily intelligence briefer. His private sector management experience in the past 15 years has focused on small organizations in and around the national security arena. He is also a writer and speaker on the presidency, intelligence, and foreign policy. His two books are The President’s Book of Secrets: The Untold Story of Intelligence Briefings to America’s Presidents (2016) and How to Get Rid of a President: History’s Guide to Removing Unpopular, Unable, or Unfit Chief Executives (2018).

David Priess ’93 has a new book published last week called How to Get Rid of a President: History’s Guide to Removing Unpopular, Unable, or Unfit Chief Executives. You can read more about David’s book here.

Congratulations, David.

It’s almost game time for our 25th college reunion. On behalf of organizing committee, I hope that you are planning to return to Illinois Wesleyan University on October 5-7th to celebrate the best class in IWU history (the only class to be ranked #1 in the Midwest for four consecutive years).

We have planned a host of great activities for you and your family. We’ll be hosting a special Happy Hour for the Class of ’93 in downtown Bloomington on Friday night from 6:00 to 9:00 p.m. at Tony’s Tacos. This will be a great chance for us to catch up and reminisce about our college days. We’re looking for special pictures from our college days so please send your favorite college photos to Melissa (Gadrinab) Beaver at shesacontender@hotmail.com.

On Saturday, we will have a special reunion tailgate at the football game and our reunion celebration on Saturday evening. A full schedule of reunion activities can be found at here. Please make sure to register and check out the Alumni website to see all of our classmates who are planning to attend. I’d also encourage you to reach out to your IWU friends and encourage them to come back for the 25th reunion.

We are hoping that our class will make a splash by endowing a scholarship in honor our 25th reunion. We need to raise $25,000 to create a scholarship that will be awarded annually to help a student attend IWU but we need your help! I hope you will join me in giving a gift to IWU in honor of our reunion ad to help the next generation of IWU students. To make a gift click here and note the Class of ’93 Endowed Scholarship Fund the notes section.

I look forward to seeing you soon!

Reunion Activities

Pre-celebration: Friday Oct. 5th, 6:00 to 9:00 p.m.
Tony’s Tacos
105 W. Front St., Bloomington 

Dinner:  Saturday October 6th, 6:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m.
McLean County Arts Center
601 N. East Street, Bloomington

See Reunion Information will be posted here.

Gerald L. Buldak, Ph.D. has been promoted to Senior Lecturer of Biology at Loyola University Chicago.  Congratulations Gerry!

Mark Denzler ’93  the current Illinois Manufacturing Association vice president and chief operating officer, will become the IMA’s new leader upon Greg Baise’s retirement effective January 1.

From 2003-2006, Mark oversaw government affairs in Illinois for State Farm Insurance. He focused on a number of issues including insurance, education, taxes and fees, and auto safety legislation. Prior to joining State Farm, Mark worked at the IMA as director of government affairs from 1999-2003 where he concentrated on tax, environmental and educational issues. For more than six years, Mark worked as a legislative analyst for the House Republican Leader. He staffed the education and transportation committees including serving as liaison to Governor Edgar’s Eikenberry Commission on education funding. In addition, Mark worked on a number of elections across Illinois while an employee of the House Republican Campaign Committee. Mark also spent a brief time on the Washington D.C. staff of Congressman Tom Ewing.

 The IMA represents nearly 4,000 Illinois companies and facilities and has been in existence for 125 years.

http://www.sj-r.com/news/20180716/baise-retiring-as-head-of-illinois-manufacturers-association

Angela (Behrens) O’Bryant ’93, MSN, RN, APHN-BC, entered a new job position at the University of IL College of Medicine in Peoria, IL as Clinical Associate Faculty and Director of Academic Programs as of March 2018. Angela will be working with medical students in their clinical experiences and developing community health sites for medical student and residents.  Congratulations to Angela on her new position.

Tuesday, April 3rd is our day of giving at Illinois Wesleyan and this year’s theme is
Think Bigger! 
Not only is today a day for giving, it’s a day to celebrate IWU and all of the things that make it special.  Last year, our class had 29 donors, let’s try for 35 this year!  We contributed an amazing $29,887. Our goal for this year is $33,000! Think of the impact this can make for IWU students and their families!

Click here to learn more and to donate on Tuesday, April 3rd.
Help spread the word using #AllInForWesleyan and take advantage of our social media toolkit.

Mark Denzler will be inducted into the Samuel K. Gove Illinois Legislative Internship Hall of Fame at the University of Illinois, Springfield on March 12, 2018.  The Hall of Fame recognizes former interns of the Illinois Legislative Staff Intern Program whose careers have exemplified distinguished public service.

More information can be found at http://www.cvent.com/events/fy18-samuel-k-gove-illinois-legislative-intern-program-hall-of-fame-reception-and-induction-ceremony/event-summary-1ae055d7395043878ceef8042804b1d3.aspx

Congratulations Mark!

Sebastian Grey was born in November 2017 to Naomi Muirhead (’93) and Walter Olsen.  Congratulations on your new Tiny Titan!