At our August 31, Club meeting, Stacy Kelly and Travis Magoulias helped induct two new members to our Club. The induction provided a wonderful conclusion for our Membership Month.
 
Dr. James Applegate's (image to left) career in higher education and philanthropy focuses on developing policies and practices to increase college success especially for underserved groups. He is currently a Visiting Professor in the Center for the Study of Education Policy at Illinois State University and the Editor of Grapevine, one of the longest-lived and influential data sources for trends in higher education finance. He is also a senior partner of ForwardHigherEd, an organization that helps clients improve equity, student success, and advocacy with stakeholders. He served as the Executive Director for the Illinois Board of Higher Education from 2014-2017. He received his M.A. and Ph.D. as a University Fellow from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. Bill Sturm is serving as his Rotary mentor.
 
 
Mark Pierce (image to right) is a Wealth Advisor for Thrivent Financial. A Certified Financial Planner, he has in depth experience as a wealth advisor, including over 25 years experience with Thrivent. He previously worked at Marine Bank. He has a B.A. in Accounting from University of Illinois Springfield, and an M.B.A. from Texas Christian University (Forth Worth, TX). He is a graduate of Lanphier High School and considers himself to be a "Northender." He used to buy grapefruit from Jim Theis, and now Jim is serving as his Rotary mentor.