February 11, 2016

Dear friends and colleagues:

I am pleased to announce the appointment of Lindsay Anderson, an Urbana-Champaign graduate and former high-ranking legislative advisor in the state capital, as executive director for governmental relations for the University of Illinois, pending approval by the Board of Trustees.

She will bring more than a decade of public policy experience when she assumes her new role March 1, leading efforts to advocate for the University’s interests with federal, state and local officials and key higher education associations.

Lindsay is currently an attorney with Chicago-based McGuire Woods, where she advises clients on working with government. She rejoined the law firm in 2013, after four years as legislative director and later senior advisor in the administration of former Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn. In those roles, she advised the governor and state agencies on legislation, working closely with legislators on both sides of the aisle, and also oversaw the governor’s Office of Federal Relations. Earlier, she served as assistant counsel in the office of House Speaker Michael Madigan and as a mayoral fellow in the office of former Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley.

Since 2013, she also has chaired two important statewide boards that serve the University and its employees – the Illinois Board of Higher Education and the State Universities Retirement System. She was appointed to the boards by Quinn, and has continued to serve on both under Gov. Bruce Rauner; she will resign from both positions before joining the University.

Lindsay earned a bachelor’s degree in psychology from the Urbana-Champaign campus in 2001, and a law degree from the Chicago-Kent College of Law in 2005. In 2015, she was an Edgar Fellow, an executive leadership training program developed by former Gov. Jim Edgar and the U of I Institute of Government and Public Affairs (IGPA).

Her knowledge of the University and years of legislative experience will serve us well as we continue to ramp up advocacy efforts to support our students, our world-class academic and research programs, and our crucial role in driving progress and economic growth.

I am grateful to the committee that assisted in the search, headed by IGPA Director Christopher Mooney, and to interim Director of State Relations Jennifer Creasey and interim Director of Federal Relations Melissa Haas for their talents in helping to guide our legislative advocacy efforts in the interim.

Please join me in congratulating Lindsay, and welcoming her to the University of Illinois.

Sincerely,
Tim