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1
HOUSE RESOLUTION

 
2     WHEREAS, Dr. Larry Mortier, Vice President for Advancement
3 and Public Services at Western Illinois University, is retiring
4 on August 1, 2005, by which time he will have completed 34
5 years in higher education, including 28 years at WIU; and
 
6     WHEREAS, He has served as executive director for the WIU
7 Foundation since 1987 and was named vice president for
8 advancement and public services in 1994; he provides
9 administrative leadership for Western's development office,
10 alumni programs, university relations, visual production
11 center, scholarship office, marketing communications, and
12 intercollegiate athletics; and
 
13     WHEREAS, He served as the University's chief development
14 officer during the Centennial Campaign For Western (1995-2000)
15 which generated $24.8 million in private gift support; private
16 contributions to the Foundation in support of the University's
17 programs and services totaled $6.2 million in fiscal year
18 2003-04, and the assets of the Foundation have more than
19 doubled during his tenure as vice president, currently
20 exceeding $20.2 million; and
 
21     WHEREAS, Dr. Mortier has been instrumental in the
22 University and community's relationship with the National
23 Football League's St. Louis Rams, who have held summer training
24 camp at WIU for nine years; he has been Western's
25 representative to the Macomb Area Economic Development
26 Corporation (MAEDCO) since 1994 and currently serves as
27 MAEDCO's vice president; and
 
28     WHEREAS, His 11-year tenure as vice president included the
29 expansion of WIU Alumni Association programming and services,
30 the growth of the WIU Foundation's scholarship program, the
31 development of the University's official web site, the Visual

 

 

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1 Production Center transition of photographic services to
2 digital format and enhanced large format display capability,
3 and a year-long Centennial Celebration; he established the
4 University's first governmental relations office and led the
5 adoption of a formal integrated marketing approach to
6 University communications; and
 
7     WHEREAS, Western athletics programs won five Mid-Continent
8 Conference Commissioners Cups for overall program excellence,
9 including 24 team championships, during Dr. Mortier's
10 administration; the football program won five Gateway
11 Conference titles and made six NCAA Division 1AA National
12 Playoff appearances; he has strongly supported the
13 institution's commitment to gender equity in athletics, which
14 included the addition of women's soccer and golf; and
 
15     WHEREAS, Before being named vice president, he served as
16 director of development at Western from 1986 to 1994 and as
17 associate director of admissions for community college
18 relations from 1983 to 1984; he was a member of Western's
19 football coaching staff as assistant head coach from 1979 to
20 1983; and
 
21     WHEREAS, He earned his bachelor's and master's degrees in
22 education at Western in 1970 and 1971 and his doctorate in
23 educational administration from Southern Illinois University
24 in 1995; and
 
25     WHEREAS, His wife Sandy earned her bachelor's and master's
26 degree at Western; she has been a teacher at St. Paul's Grade
27 School for more than 25 years; the Mortiers have a daughter,
28 Nicole, who is a physician assistant at St. Jude Children's
29 Research Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee, and a son, Joe, who is
30 a teacher and coach at El Dorado High School in Las Vegas,
31 Nevada; therefore, be it
 

 

 

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1     RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE
2 NINETY-FOURTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that
3 we congratulate Dr. Larry Mortier on the occasion of his
4 retirement and we thank him for his dedication and commitment
5 to higher education and his outstanding leadership at Western
6 Illinois University; and be it further
 
7     RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be
8 presented to him as an expression of our respect and esteem.