Laureates

The Importance of

A LINCOLN LAUREATE

The Lincoln Academy of Illinois was established in 1964 to identify and honor exceptional Illinoisans whose contributions have brought honor to the state and have advanced the betterment of humanity. Individuals so honored become Laureates of the Lincoln Academy and receive The Order of Lincoln, Illinois’ highest award for professional achievement and public service. Laureates are presented the Order of Lincoln at a convocation ceremony held in the spring of each year.

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WHAT IS A

LAUREATE CONVOCATION

The first convocation and installation of members of The Lincoln Academy of Illinois was held on Thursday evening, February 12, 1965, at the Chicago Historical Society. The Laureates elected were John Bardeen, scientist and one of the developers of the transistor; Joseph Leopold Block, leader in commerce and industry; John Stephen Boyle, chief judge of the Cook County Circuit Court; Richard Gibbs Browne, executive director, Illinois Board of Higher Education; Avery Brundage, guiding spirit of the Olympic games; James E. Day, president, Midwest Stock Exchange; Rudolph Ganz, composer, conductor, pianist, and music teacher; William Henry Mauldin, Pulitzer Prize-winning cartoonist, creator of the immortal World War II characters, “Willie”and “Joe”; His Eminence Albert, Cardinal Meyer, archbishop of Chicago; Nathan Mortimer Newark, technical genius, pioneer in the world of computers; William Allan Patterson, president, United Air Lines; Ward buiis Quaal, president, WGN Continental Broadcasting System; and Adlai Ewing Stevenson, former governor of Illinois and United States ambassador the United Nations.

Since its founding sixty years ago, more than 350 men and women have been honored by the Academy with the medal of “The Order of Lincoln” the state’s highest award.

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SEARCH SORTABLE LAUREATES

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CONVOCATION BY YEAR

Access video, photo galleries, press releases & more for each year.

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HALL OF FAME ILLINOISANS

View the first fifty honorees of The Lincoln Academy.

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LAUREATE MEMORIAM

Paying tribute to those who came before us.

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SEARCH SORTABLE LAUREATES

Filter and sort through Laureates over the years.

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CONVOCATIONS
BY YEAR

Access video, photo galleries, press releases & more for each year.

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LAUREATE
MEMORIAM

Paying tribute to those who came before us.

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HALL OF FAME ILLINOISANS

View the first fifty honorees of The Lincoln Academy.

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HALL OF FAME ILLINOISANS

View the first fifty honorees of The Lincoln Academy.

sort now

LAUREATE
MEMORIAM

Paying tribute to those who came before us.

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THE LINCOLN ACADEMY OF ILLINOIS

HALL OF FAME OF HISTORIC ILLINOISANS

The Lincoln Academy of Illinois came into existence in 1964, inspired by the interest in the state’s great past and its distinguished sons and daughters created by the Illinois Land of Lincoln Pavilion at the New York World’s Fair of 1964 and 1965. Illinois Day in 1964 at the Fair, with the presence of Robert Todd Lincoln Beckwith, the great-grandson of Abraham Lincoln and such other Illinois luminaries as Adlai Stevenson, Allan Nevins, Benny Goodman, Mercedes McCambridge, Cab Calloway, James T. Farrell, Gwendolyn Brooks, and many others, brought on a desire to establish a structure whereby individuals who were born or rose to fame in the twenty-first state could be honored for their contributions to their state, nation, and the world.

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