BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Executive Committee

( * indicates Life Director)

Wayne W. Whalen, Chair

Wayne W. Whalen is a partner of Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher, & Flom LLP. He is involved in the firm's corporate, financial and business practice. He has counseled, completed transactions and litigated on behalf of businesses, boards of directors, financial institutions, utilities and governments.

Mr. Whalen was an elected delegate and chairman of the drafting committee of the Constitutional Convention that wrote the Illinois Constitution of 1970. In a 1984 poll of lawyers by the Chicago Business Digest, he was named one of the 10 best corporate lawyers in the city. More recently, Crain’s Chicago's Who's Who cited Mr. Whalen as one of 30 leaders, which included two lawyers, who have been on its list every year since the list's inception 20 years ago.

Mr. Whalen was one of four lawyer appointees by the Illinois Supreme Court to its Blue Ribbon Committee, which reviewed and recommended a detailed revision of the court’s procedures for supervising and disciplining Illinois lawyers. 

William Doyle, Vice Chair

William Doyle is a tax partner in Winston & Strawn’s
Chicago office.    

Mr. Doyle is a member of the American Bar Association’s Income Taxation of Trusts and Estates Committee, the Chicago Bar Association’s Trust Law Committee, and the Chicago Estate Planning Council. 

T. Tolbert Chisum, Vice Chair

Tolbert Chisum is the Managing Director of Business Development for Wintrust Financial Corporation and Senior Vice President of Wayne Hummer Trust Company. Mr. Chisum serves as the Vice Chair of the Board of Directors of the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library Foundation.

Mr. Chisum attended Sam Houston State University in Huntsville, Texas and earned his Bachelor of Business Administration Degree after being honorably discharged from the U.S. Marine Corp.

Mr. Chisum has been recognized as volunteer of the year by both the Junior League of Evanston and North Shore Magazine. He received the Wall Street Journal Award and Hall of Honor Award from the College of Business Administration and Distinguished Alumni Award from Sam Houston State University.

Mr. Chisum is immediate past chairman of the Metropolitan Club, immediate past president of the Village of Kenilworth, Township Committeeman of the New Trier Republican Organization, Member of the State Central Committee, Secretary of the Illinois Republican Party, Selection Committee for the Naval Academy, immediate past chairman of the Chicago Sunday Evening Club and vice chairman of Athletes Against Drugs.

Julie Cellini, Secretary

Julie Cellini is active in a range of historical and cultural activities, many of them in her adopted hometown, Springfield, Illinois.  For 20 years she was a driving force behind the creation of the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum which opened in April
of 2005.

Mrs. Cellini was a founding member of the Foundation. She also served on the steering committee for the library's acquisition of the $25 million Taper Collection of Abraham Lincoln memorabilia, considered by historians and archivists to be the single most important privately held collection of Lincoln documents and artifacts. 

Mrs. Cellini is a graduate of Southern Illinois University's School of Journalism, she is a freelance writer and newspaper reporter who received Copley Press's Ring of Truth Award for feature writing; she was named Springfield's Preservationist of the Year and was named a "Woman of Achievement." Mrs. Cellini is in charge of special projects for her family-owned real estate development company with offices in Springfield and Chicago.

Sergio Pecori, Assistant Secretary

Mr. Sergio “Satch” Pecori, P.E., serves as president and CEO of Hanson Professional Services Inc., a national, employee-owned consulting firm providing engineering, architecture, planning and allied services. He directs the company’s senior-level management, develops and implements the firm’s strategic growth, and oversees operations in 20 offices nationwide. 

With 35 years of experience in the engineering industry, Mr. Pecori has a wealth of knowledge designing and managing complex projects throughout the U.S. and abroad. He also is highly regarded in the technical field, serving as an ambassador for the engineering profession in numerous leadership roles.

Throughout his leadership, Hanson has experienced significant growth and numerous recognitions, including recognition as a Top 500 Design Firm by Engineering News-Record and as one of the top 200 fastest-growing firms by ZweigWhite. 

In addition to his professional responsibilities, he is active in many industry and civic organizations at local, state and national levels. 

Craig Schermerhorn, Treasurer

Craig Schermerhorn is currently Managing Director/Branch Manager at Benjamin F. Edwards & Co., Springfield, Illinois branch. Additionally he serves as Chair of the Memorial Medical Center Foundation in Springfield. He resides on a working farm near Springfield with his wife, Gerry, and three children.

Craig earned an MBA in International Finance from Kent State University and a B.S. in Psychology from the University of Illinois and holds the CFP Designation from the College for Financial Planning. Craig served eight years as an Air Force Officer attaining the rank of Major. He also taught Finance, Personnel and Business courses for the University of Maryland. Raised in both Northern Illinois and Ohio Craig moved to Springfield in 1974.

Craig Culbertson, Assistant Treasurer

Mr. Culbertson is the Managing Partner of the firm's Chicago office of McGuireWoods LLP and has been a member of the firm's six-person Executive Committee. He regularly represents companies, banks, funds, boards of directors and special committees in a variety of corporate/finance matters. His clients include Fortune 100 companies ranging in industries from aerospace to food and beverage to banking/finance to manufacturing to energy. He has been named numerous times by Crain's Chicago Business as "Who's Who in the Chicago Business Community."

Craig is also Chairman Emeritus of Voices for Illinois Children and is actively involved in charter school programs.

Louis (Lou) G. Lower, II, Member At Large

Louis G. Lower, II served as President and CEO of Horace Mann Educators Corporation from 2000 to 2010. Horace Mann is the largest multi line insurance company meeting the retirement and personal insurance needs of K-12 educators in America.

Prior to that, Lower, 65, was with Allstate for 24 years where he served as Chief Executive Officer of Allstate Life Insurance Company for ten years and prior to that was Senior Vice President and Chief Investment Officer for both Allstate and Allstate Life.

Lower currently serves as a director of the PMI Group, a publicly held (NYSE) mortgage insurance company and the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library Foundation. Lower was a director and past Chair of the NEA Foundation and LOMA and has served on the boards of the American Council of Life Insurers, LIMRA and the American College.

Lower is a graduate of Yale University where he received a Bachelor's Degree in 1967. He earned a Masters of Business Administration from Harvard University in 1970. He and his wife Adrienne are residents of Winnetka, Illinois and Vero Beach, Florida.

Mary Yovovich, Audit Committee Chair

Mary Yovovich is a Chicago native and earned B.A. and M.B.A. degrees from the University of Chicago. She is a certified public accountant and started her career with Touche Ross & Co. (Deloitte). 

While raising a family, she focused on community work including service with the League of Women Voters, School District 39 PTO and the Duke University Parents’ Committee. She is active in the North Shore Auxiliary to Lawrence Hall Youth Services where she has served as treasurer and the University of Chicago Woman’s Board.  Mary has a strong interest in the founding of the United States, the Civil War and presidential leadership, especially that of Abraham Lincoln. A lifelong resident of the Chicago area Mary and her husband have two grown daughters.

Raymond F. McCaskey, Development Committee Chair

Ray McCaskey is the retired President and Chief Executive Officer of Health Care Service Corporation (HCSC), which operates Blue Cross and Blue Shield Plans in Illinois, Oklahoma, New Mexico, and Texas. Mr. McCaskey serves as the ALPL Foundation's Permanent Home Campaign Chair.  Mr. McCaskey also serves on the boards of Chicago Shakespeare Theater, Life Directions and the Lincoln Foundation for Performance Excellence. He is actively engaged with the United Way of Metropolitan Chicago, Chicago Leads and Chicago United, and is Vice Chair of the Board of Regents at Wartburg College, Waverly, Iowa.

Mr. McCaskey earned a B.A. in Mathematics from Wartburg College and his Masters of Science degree in Mathematics from DePaul University. He is a Fellow of the Society of Actuaries and a member of the American Academy of Actuaries.

Kevin Callis, Nominating Committee Chair

Kevin Callis is the Vice President of Operations at State Farm in Bloomington, Illinois. 

Mr. Callis received a bachelor's degree in business administration from Illinois Wesleyan University. He is an active supporter of his community and charitable organizations. He currently serves on the Board of Directors of the State Farm Classic, an LPGA tournament supporting charities throughout Central Illinois; Eureka College trustee; Illinois Manufacturers Association board member and
St. Jude-Midwest Affiliate board member.

Carrie J. Hightman, Lincoln Leadership Prize Committee Chair

Carrie J. Hightman is executive vice president and chief legal officer of NiSource Inc. Her responsibilities include all legal functions, as well as compliance, environmental, health and safety. She serves as a member of the company's senior management team.

Prior to joining NiSource, Hightman served as President of AT&T Illinois, (formerly SBC). In that position, she was responsible for all regulatory, legislative, governmental and external affairs activities, as well as community and industry relations, throughout Illinois.

Prior to joining AT&T, Hightman practiced telecommunications and energy law for more than 17 years. She was a partner in the Chicago law firm of Schiff Hardin, where she led its Energy, Telecommunications and Public Utilities practice group. Hightman is Vice Chair of the Telecommunications Committee of the Public Utility, Communications and Transportation Law Section of the American Bar Association and past Chair of the Public Utility Law Section of the Chicago Bar Association.

Hightman earned her B.A. from the University of Illinois and her juris doctor from Florida State University. Hightman serves as Chairwoman of the Illinois Board of Higher Education and the Illinois State Universities Retirement System Board. She also serves on the boards of the Lyric Opera of Chicago, Chicago Urban League and the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library Foundation.