Richard and Pat Wilson

Richard F. Wilson, 57, has devoted his professional career to higher education.

Dr. Wilson earned the B.S. degree in mathematics from Alderson- Broaddus College in Philippi, W.Va., where he earned honors in both academics and athletics. After a year teaching high school mathematics, he returned to his alma mater to serve four years as director of admissions.

Dr. Wilson pursued advanced degrees at the University of Michigan, earning both the M.A. and Ph.D. degrees in Higher Education. At Michigan, he was a Research Associate in the Office of Academic Planning and Analysis from 1976 to 1978.

In August 1978, Dr. Wilson was named Assistant Director in the Office of Planning and Evaluation at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, beginning a 26-year tenure during which he assisted in virtually every area of that university.

Dr. Wilson was appointed Assistant Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs in January 1981 and directed the activities of the Council on Program Evaluation, which was responsible for evaluating all academic units on the Urbana campus.

After an 11-month appointment as Interim Director of Corporate and Foundation Relations, Dr. Wilson became Associate Chancellor, a position he held from August 1986 to March 1994. In this role, he led campus efforts to incorporate computing technologies into instruction and provided oversight of intercollegiate athletics. He was a member of the Chancellor’s Cabinet and Budget Committee, the Campus Planning Committee, and the Instructional Technologies Board.

In April 1994, he moved into the development area as Associate Chancellor for Development at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and Deputy Director of the University of Illinois Foundation. Two years later he was elevated to Vice President of the Foundation. He was responsible for all private fund-raising on the Urbana campus. This included leading campus efforts to achieve its $1 billion goal as part of the university’s comprehensive campaign.

Since 1981, Dr. Wilson has held an adjunct teaching position in the College of Education, most recently as Adjunct Professor of Higher Education.

Dr. Wilson and his wife, Pat, have two children: a son, Adam, who lives in San Franciso, and a daughter, Rachel, who lives in Springfield, Ill.

April 2004