50th
ANNIVERSARY
CELEBRATION
Event Information
Join us for our 50th Anniversary Celebration
SATURDAY, JULY 12, 2025
LEADERSHIP, TODAY AND TOMORROW
IN THE DAVID RUBENSTEIN FORUM
ON THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO CAMPUS
The Lincoln Academy of Illinois is celebrating the 50th Anniversary of the Student Laureate program with a one-day event on Saturday, July 12, 2025. The full day will be structured as a symposium with Lincoln Laureates as featured panelists. There will be opportunity for key interactions as well as breakout sessions where your input will help shape future student initiatives.
Our Distinguished Speakers
Meet Our Distinguished Laureate Speakers
MORNING: LINCOLN LAUREATE PANEL

John W. Rogers, Jr. (2023)
In 1983, John founded Ariel Investments at 24 to focus on patient value investing in small and medium-sized companies. Today, he serves as Chairman and Co-CEO. John is on the board of directors of Nike, The New York Times Company, and Ryan Specialty, and the board of Trustees of the University of Chicago and the Obama Foundation. He received an AB in economics from Princeton University, where he was captain of the varsity basketball team.

Paula Wolff (2022)
Policy advisor at the Illinois Justice Project. Earlier in her career, she worked as policy director for Illinois Governors Richard Ogilvie and Jim Thompson and served as president of Governors State University. She serves on numerous boards, including Ariel Investments, the Johnson Foundation, and the Irving B. Harris Foundation. She has also served as chair of the Illinois Tollway and City Colleges of Chicago. With an undergrad degree from Smith College, she holds an MA and PhD from the University of Chicago.

Moderator: Lincoln Academy Rector Michelle Collins, President, Cambium LLC. She serves on the board of Ulta Beauty, CIBC, CIBC Bank US, and Ryan Specialty Holdings, Inc. A South Side native of Chicago, she graduated from Yale University and Harvard Graduate School of Business.
AFTERNOON: LINCOLN LAUREATE CONVERSATION

Carol Marin (2025)
A Peabody award-winning journalist and news anchor at WMAQ-TV, she is also a correspondent and investigative reporter for 60 Minutes and the Evening News with Dan Rather. She has received multiple Emmy Awards as well as two Alfred I. DuPont-Columbia Awards for exceptional reporting. An alumna of the University of Illinois, she is a Senior Faculty Fellow of the Center for Journalism Integrity & Excellence at DePaul University.

Interviewer: Lincoln Academy Regent Dennis Lyle, President and CEO, Illinois Broadcasters Association.
Schedule for the Day
Schedule for the Day
8:30am
Check-in and Registration with continental breakfast
9:00am
Welcome Session - Chancellor Todd Shapiro
10:15am
Break
10:30am
Panel discussion with Lincoln Laureates John Rogers, Paula Wolff
- Lincoln Academy Rector Michelle Collins, moderator
11:45am
Break
Noon
Lunch - Tables with seating by universities
1:30pm
A conversation with Lincoln Laureate Carol Marin led by Lincoln Academy Regent Dennis Lyle
3:00pm
Interactive Breakout Sessions:
- "Linking the Past (previously awarded student laureates) to the Future (new student laureates)"
- "Sharing the Word with the Public"
- Special Session for Academic Representatives
4:30pm
Closing session
5:30-7:30pm
Reception
Venue, Parking, & Accommodations
Venue, Parking, & Accommodations

THE VENUE
The David Rubenstein Forum, 1201 E. 60th St, Chicago, provides a meeting space that promotes an open exchange of ideas and flexible event spaces. The convenient location on the University of Chicago campus allows easy access to a broad range of activities in the city before and after the one day Anniversary event.
PARKING
Free daily parking is available on the streets along East 60th Street and Midway Plaisance.
ACCOMMODATIONS
A block of hotel rooms has been reserved at The Study, next door to the David Rubenstein Forum at 1227 E. 60th Street, Chicago, IL. 773-643-1600.
To reserve a room at the special discounted rate of $229/night, please use this link to make your reservation by May 25th: https://shorter.me/DO8WV.
Overnight valet parking for hotel guests is available for $50 per day.