Bob Pritchard has been a big part of DeKalb County's history over the past couple of decades; he moved from agriculture into politics, becoming chairman of the DeKalb County Board...then stepped into the vacancy left by the sudden passing of David Wirsing, to become a State Representative. Now, he has left Springfield to use his expertise on behalf of Northern Illinois University, as a member of the Board of Trustees.
Through his time in state politics, he has certainly seen the gains which can be possible when legislators work together; but he has also seen the failings of state government, including Illinois' mounting debt, the impeachment of Gov. Rod Blagojevich and the two-year budget standoff which left so many without the state funding they were expecting. In spite of it all, he worked to find solutions and to try and bring the parties together -- not an easy task in an increasingly hard-line bipartisan atmosphere.
The problems of corruption also reared their head, not only downstate but at Northern Illinois University; the controversial administration of now-former President Doug Baker not only stained the university's reputation, but left it directionless while fighting to maintain enrollment. He believes Lisa Freeman, who has shifted from acting as President to taking on the post full-time, has the necessary long-term vision that NIU needs; Pritchard says she is capable not only of getting the institution's finances and enrollment back on track, but she can provide the necessary transparency and organizational reform which the Baker administration lacked.