SPRINGFIELD - Tom Lamont has resigned from the University of Illinois Board of Trustees, and Gov. Rod Blagojevich is nominating a veteran of the Chicago public school system to replace him.
Frances Carroll will be the only black member of the board of trustees and one of two women on the board.
Lamont has served on the board since 1991. His term was to expire last January, but when former board Chairman Gerald Shea resigned in November, then-Gov. George Ryan appointed Lamont to serve the remainder of Shea's term, which will end in January 2005.
Carroll's appointment must be confirmed by the Senate, but if it is, she will serve until January 2005.
Blagojevich's appointment and Carroll's oath of office were filed with the Secretary of State's index division on Saturday. The appointment is effective Thursday, when the board is to meet in Urbana. Her oath of office was signed and notarized April 30.
Blagojevich appointed three new trustees to the board early this year, but only two have been confirmed. The appointment of Robert Sperling, a Chicago attorney, has been held up by Sen. Rickey Hendon, D-Chicago.
Hendon wanted a black woman named to the board to create more diversity. All the other board members are white, with the exception of Niranjan Shah, who is Indian.
Carroll worked in the Chicago public schools for 35 years and taught at the elementary and high school levels.
She taught graduate education classes for 20 years at Roosevelt University. She is currently coordinator for the School Achievement Structure Program at DePaul University and vice president of Group17 Educational Consultants.
Carroll has served as president of the Chicago Council and the Illinois Council for Exceptional Children, and as the national president of the Black Caucus of Special Education.
She was appointed as a Cook County commissioner on women's issues in 1995. She also serves on the executive board of the Chicago Alliance of Black Educators.
Carroll has a bachelor's degree from Roosevelt University, a master's degree in special education from Chicago State University and a doctorate in education from the University of Sarasota.
You can reach Jodi Heckel at (217) 351-5216 or by e-mail at jheckel@news-gazette.com [2].
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