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1 | HOUSE RESOLUTION
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2 | WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois House of | ||||||
3 | Representatives wish to congratulate Al Bowman on the occasion | ||||||
4 | of his retirement as President of Illinois State University; | ||||||
5 | and
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6 | WHEREAS, Al Bowman earned his bachelor's degree in speech | ||||||
7 | pathology from Augustana College and his master's degree in | ||||||
8 | speech-language pathology from Eastern Illinois University; he | ||||||
9 | later chose the University of Illinois-Urbana for his graduate | ||||||
10 | work, where he earned his Ph.D. in speech and hearing science; | ||||||
11 | and
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12 | WHEREAS, Al Bowman served as a staff speech pathologist at | ||||||
13 | the Veterans Administration Hospital in Danville prior to | ||||||
14 | joining Illinois State University in 1978 as a faculty member | ||||||
15 | in the Department of Speech Pathology and Audiology; in 1994, | ||||||
16 | he was appointed to serve as chairperson of the department; he | ||||||
17 | held the position for 8 years, while also serving as director | ||||||
18 | of the Down Syndrome Speech-Language Clinic and continuing to | ||||||
19 | teach a course each semester; and
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20 | WHEREAS, Under Al Bowman's leadership, the Department of | ||||||
21 | Speech Pathology and Audiology (now the Department of | ||||||
22 | Communication Sciences and Disorders) was awarded |
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1 | accreditation by the Council on Academic Accreditation of the | ||||||
2 | American Speech-Language Hearing Association, faculty and | ||||||
3 | staff scholarly productivity doubled, and the master's program | ||||||
4 | rose in prestige to its current ranking as number 1 in | ||||||
5 | Illinois; a doctoral program in audiology was added to the | ||||||
6 | program during Bowman's presidency, one of only 5 in the State | ||||||
7 | of Illinois; and
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8 | WHEREAS, In the 2002-2003 academic year, Al Bowman left the | ||||||
9 | chair position to serve as ISU's interim provost; he served as | ||||||
10 | interim president of ISU from June 2003 until he became | ||||||
11 | Illinois State University's 17th president on March 1, 2004; | ||||||
12 | and | ||||||
13 | WHEREAS, Under Al Bowman's leadership, ISU has been | ||||||
14 | transformed into a first-choice Illinois public university, | ||||||
15 | ranking in the top 100 public universities nationally according | ||||||
16 | to U.S. News & World Report; during his tenure as president, | ||||||
17 | ISU achieved historic highs in freshman ACT average (24.3), | ||||||
18 | freshman-to-sophomore retention rate (85%), and standard | ||||||
19 | measure graduation rate (70.4%); ISU also constructed a $50 | ||||||
20 | million Student Fitness Center/McCormick Hall, opened a new | ||||||
21 | Alumni Center, renovated many classroom buildings, and | ||||||
22 | completely remodeled 6 residence halls; he initiated the | ||||||
23 | University's first-ever public/private student housing | ||||||
24 | partnership, leading to a 900-bed, privately-owned, student |
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1 | apartment complex constructed on University-owned land; he | ||||||
2 | instituted a salary enhancement plan in September of 2005 to | ||||||
3 | close the gap with peer institution salaries in order to | ||||||
4 | recruit and retain high quality faculty and staff at Illinois | ||||||
5 | State University; since 2005, more than $3.7 million has gone | ||||||
6 | into the initiative, on top of annual merit-based salary | ||||||
7 | increases; privately raised funds and grant funding have also | ||||||
8 | increased dramatically during Bowman's tenure; and
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9 | WHEREAS, Al Bowman was honored with the Distinguished | ||||||
10 | Alumni Award from the College of Applied Health Sciences at the | ||||||
11 | University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 2007; and | ||||||
12 | WHEREAS, Al Bowman is an avid outdoorsman; he enjoys | ||||||
13 | mountain climbing, hiking, skiing, golf, and running 5 miles | ||||||
14 | every day; and
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15 | WHEREAS, Al Bowman and his loving wife, Linda, have 2 | ||||||
16 | daughters, Natalie and Laura; and | ||||||
17 | WHEREAS, Al Bowman serves as a model of hard work, | ||||||
18 | integrity, and dedication for the people of the State of | ||||||
19 | Illinois; therefore, be it
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20 | RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE | ||||||
21 | NINETY-EIGHTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that |
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1 | we congratulate Al Bowman on the occasion of his retirement and | ||||||
2 | wish him continued success and happiness in the future; and be | ||||||
3 | it further
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4 | RESOLVED, That suitable copies of this resolution be | ||||||
5 | presented to Al Bowman as a symbol of our esteem and respect.
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