HR0823 LRB094 18624 HSS 53973 r

1
HOUSE RESOLUTION

 
2     WHEREAS, It has come to our attention that Norman Walzer,
3 the founding director of the Illinois Institute for Rural
4 Affairs (IIRA), is retiring; and
 
5     WHEREAS, Mr. Walzer started the organization in 1989 in
6 response to a request from the Governor's Task Force on the
7 Future of Rural Illinois to create a permanent agency that
8 would address issues facing rural Illinois; and
 
9     WHEREAS, With more than 30 professional and support staff
10 and an annual budget of $3 million, the IIRA has helped more
11 than 300 communities with projects to improve economic
12 conditions and quality of life; the organization has earned a
13 Lincoln Foundation of Excellence Award and recognition from
14 many other professional organizations and groups; it is
15 considered a model for rural development by other states; and
 
16     WHEREAS, Mr. Walzer is a professor of economics at Western
17 Illinois University in Macomb; while at Western, he has
18 published more than 350 articles, reports, and monographs,
19 including 15 books on local economic development and related
20 issues; he has been involved in attracting more than $12
21 million in grants and contracts to WIU, and he has received
22 awards from several state and national professional
23 organizations and was named WIU Distinguished Faculty Lecturer
24 in 1992; and
 
25     WHEREAS, He chaired Western's department of economics in
26 the 1980s and was interim dean of the College of Business from
27 1993 to 1995; previously, he directed research for the
28 Municipal Problems Commission of the Illinois General
29 Assembly, worked with the Illinois Municipal League, and was on
30 the staff the Institute of Government and Public Affairs,
31 University of Illinois; he also served as a commissioner for

 

 

HR0823 - 2 - LRB094 18624 HSS 53973 r

1 the Illinois Bond Bank, on transition teams for various
2 governors, and as president of several State and regional
3 professional associations; and
 
4     WHEREAS, Mr. Walzer plans to remain professionally active,
5 working with the IIRA and other agencies researching public
6 policy issues and will continue as associate editor of the
7 Journal of the Community Development Society; therefore, be it
 
8     RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE
9 NINETY-FOURTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that
10 we congratulate Norman Walzer on the occasion of his retirement
11 as director of the Illinois Institute for Rural Affairs; and be
12 it further
 
13     RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be
14 presented to Mr. Walzer as an expression of our esteem.