BLOOMINGTON, Ill. – Illinois Wesleyan University annually honors three alumni as part of its Homecoming festivities. This year Lawrence Herbolsheimer, class of 1972 will receive the Distinguished Alumni Award; Chet and Helen Sheldon, class of 1943 and 1940 respectively, will receive the Loyalty Award; and Arman Dabiri, class of 1994, will receive the Robert M. Montgomery Outstanding Alumnus Award. The awards will be presented Saturday Oct. 10, at 11:30 a.m. at the Alumni Awards Lunch in the Shirk Center (302 Emerson St., Bloomington).
The Distinguished Alumni Award recognizes Illinois Wesleyan graduates who have achieved professional distinction, demonstrated civic leadership or contributed to society in a remarkable way. Lawrence Herbolsheimer graduated with an economics degree from Illinois Wesleyan, where he was Vice President of Student Senate, Treasurer of IFC and a member of Phi Gamma Delta (a social fraternity) and Alpha Kappa Psi (a professional business fraternity). Herbolsheimer went on to earn his MBA from Harvard in 1980. From 1983 through 1985, Herbolsheimer served on the staff of President Ronald Reagan. From 1985 through 1991, he worked as the Deputy Assistant Administrator of NASA’s Office of Commercial Programs.
In 1991, Herbolsheimer made a move back into the business world, working as CEO of United Pacific Holdings, Ltd., a holding company for investments in manufacturing companies of China and other East Asian nations. Since then, he has aided in the creation of other businesses in which he continues to play a significant ownership role or participates on the Board of Directors. He was also a director of a management company of third-party direct investment funds with assets in excess of $350 million.
Currently, Herbolsheimer is the Co-Chairman of Comway Capital Group, a Shanghai holding company of 14 Chinese companies. He is also a Managing Director of The McLean Group of Virginia, a middle market investment-banking firm. Herbolsheimer lives in McLean, Virginia with his wife, Pia, and their two children.