Congratulations to Ellen Wandless ‘95 who was hired by (Plainfield, Ill.) Troy Community School District 30-C as Director of Finance.
We hope you are enjoying your new role, Ellen!

Brian Sampias ’95 joined Accel Entertainment as its financial controller in September 2019. Accel is the largest slot machine aoperator in the United States and recently went public on the New York Stock Exchange. The move followed at 13-year career with BP where he most recently served as Director, Record to Report, Global Business Services of Americas. Congratulations!

Congratulations to Laura Orvidas ’95, who became the CEO of Xmaps Inc., a digital mapping company for outdoorsmen and hunters, in 2018, after spending nearly 18 years as an executive at Amazon. Laura was featured in a Wall Street Journal story in November 2019, highlighting the many former Amazon employees who have ascended to leadership roles with other companies.

Thank-A-Giver Day (TAG Day) is Monday, February 10. This day provides the IWU campus community with the opportunity to thank donors who support Illinois Wesleyan. IWU celebrates each year in mid-February because it marks the symbolic point during the academic year – about 70% of the way through – when we rely on support from alumni and friends, our endowment, and external grants.  

If you would like to be celebrated as a donor today, you can make a gift at iwu.edu/give. 

Thank you to Rod Adams ’95 for participating in the Hart Career Center luncheon with students on November 13th, which included alumni of finance, accounting, business, and computer science backgrounds.

Colleen Kennedy ’95 has been busy!

Colleen earned her Ph.D. in Public Policy and Administration with a specialization in Terrorism, Mediation, and Peace from Walden University on August 11, 2019.

Her dissertation is entitled “Evaluating U.S. Counterterrorism Policy on Domestic Terrorism Using the Global Terrorism Database.” She was also inducted into the Golden Key International Honour Society in 2018.

Currently, Colleen is a Visiting Assistant Professor of Sociology and Criminal Justice at Rockford University, where she also serves as the Coordinator of the Peace and Conflict Studies Minor.

Congratulations on all of your accomplishments, Colleen! Keep up the great work!

John Maloney ’95 with legacy graduate son Alex Maloney and his mother Michelle (Priva) Maloney ’94.

Photo: Robert (Trey) Frank ’14

Stan Nord ’95 earned the most votes of the nine running candidates (2,917) in his campaign to be elected to the Normal Town Council. He will take office May 6. To read more about his accomplishment, click here.

Congratulations, Stan!

You did it, Titans! You were the key to our success. On April 11, 2,205 donors collectively raised $518,316. And thanks to the generosity of our pacesetter challenge donors, our grand total is $776,316 (and still counting!)

This video captures a few successes from #AllInforWesleyan.  Check out the social media activity and revisit iwu.edu/all-in to see how your gifts made a difference.

Check out the All In Happy Hours taking place around the country. Show your Titan pride by spreading the word about All In for Wesleyan to your personal networks via social media, calls, texts, emails, etc.

You’ll have a great time while encouraging others to make an additional gift on All In and share stories about how IWU Unlocked Opportunities for each of us. Visit our webpage for more information and registration.