SIU - Key Persons
Job Titles:
- Accessible Campus Community & Equitable Student Support ( SIUE )
- Member of Committee
Job Titles:
- Government & Public Affairs
Job Titles:
- Provost and Vice Chancellor / Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs ( SIUE )
Ed Hightower was appointed to the SIU Board of Trustees by Gov. J.B. Pritzker on March 22, 2019. He previously served from 2001 to 2014. He also served on the Lewis and Clark Community College Board of Trustees for more than 26 years.
In 2015, Dr. Hightower retired as superintendent of the Edwardsville School District 7. In the 19 years he led the district, it grew from 5,000 students to more than 7,000 students and became one of the top districts in the state, with remarkable accomplishments in academics, athletics and in the performing arts.
Job Titles:
- Secretary
- Fellow of the Midwest Econometric Group
- Professor Emeritus of Economics at Southern Illinois University Carbondale
Dr. Subhash C. Sharma was appointed to the SIU Board of Trustees by Gov. J.B. Pritzker on March 22, 2019.
Dr. Sharma is professor emeritus of economics at Southern Illinois University Carbondale. During his 35-year teaching career, he served as the department's director of undergraduate studies, director of graduate studies and department chair.
Dr. Sharma chaired or co-chaired dissertations of 40 Ph.D. students and served on other 85 Ph.D. dissertation committees across campus, supervised 18 master's research papers and served on another 23 master's research paper committees.
An active researcher, Dr. Sharma is a Fellow of the Midwest Econometric Group, an executive editor of the Journal of Asian Economics, and an editorial board member of the Applied Economics Journal.
His research interests concentrate on economics, finance and statistics, and he has published 85 papers in these areas. Much of his research appeared in top journals such as the International Economic Review, Journal of Econometrics, Journal of Development Economics; Journal of Productive Analysis; Journal of Asian Economics; Journal of Banking and Finance; Journal of Money, Credit, and Banking; Journal of Multinational Financial Management; Australian Journal of Statistics; Communications in Statistics-Theory and Methods; and Communications in Statistics-Simulation and Computation.
During his tenure at SIU Carbondale, Dr. Sharma has been involved in civic service both at the local and state levels and co-authored multiple Economic Impact studies for the State of Illinois.
Dr. Sharma received his bachelor's (Honors) in mathematics and master's degree in mathematical statistics from the University of Delhi and his Ph.D. in statistics from the University of Kentucky in 1983. He and his wife, Kusum, have two children and are proud residents of Carbondale for more than 35 years.
Job Titles:
- Financial & Administrative Affairs - Tax Compliance and Treasury Services
Job Titles:
- Interim Vice Chancellor / Research ( SIUC )
J. Phil Gilbert, a lifelong resident of Carbondale, was appointed to the SIU Board of Trustees by Gov. Bruce Rauner in 2015 and reappointed by Gov. JB Pritzker in 2021. Gilbert served as a member of the Illinois State Board of Elections and was chairman from 1981 to 1983 and vice chairman from 1983 to 1985. Former Gov. James Thompson appointed Gilbert to the Election Reform Commission in 1984 and he also served on the National Council on Governmental Ethics Laws from 1983 to 1987.
Gilbert was a partner in the firm of Gilbert, Kimmel, Huffman & Prosser, Ltd. from 1983 to 1988 when he was appointed by the Illinois Supreme Court as a circuit judge in the First Judicial Circuit and served as a state court judge until his appointment to the federal bench. He was appointed United States district judge for the Southern District of Illinois in September 1992 by President George H. W. Bush. He served as chief judge of the Southern District of Illinois from October 1993 to September 2000. While on the federal bench, Gilbert served a six-year term on the Judicial Conference Committee on Criminal Law.
In March 2014, Gilbert assumed Senior Status but continues his public service by rendering substantial service as a senior judge.
Among his many honors, Gilbert received the Silver Gavel Award for his dedication to justice from the criminal defense bars of the Southern District of Illinois and the Eastern District of Missouri in 2008; the SIU School of Law Founders' Medal for distinguished service to the law school in 2009; and Loyola School of Law's Distinguished Jurist Award in 2010.
He is a graduate of the University of Illinois and Loyola University of Chicago School of Law in 1974. He and his wife, Gail, have two children, Jennifer and John, and two grandchildren.
Job Titles:
- Financial & Administrative Affairs - Senior Vice President
Job Titles:
- Financial & Administrative Affairs - Budget / Institutional Reporting
Job Titles:
- Financial & Administrative Affairs - Tax Compliance and Treasury Services
Job Titles:
- Interim Vice Chancellor / Student Affairs ( SIUC )
Job Titles:
- Assistant Provost for External Affairs
Job Titles:
- Provost and Vice Chancellor
Job Titles:
- President and Chief Executive Officer of Memorial Health System
Edgar Curtis has served as president and chief executive officer of Memorial Health System since January 2008. He provides leadership for the strategic direction of the health system which delivers comprehensive health services to the central Illinois region. Curtis began in 1975 as a registered nurse and has served in a variety of administrative positions. Curtis is a Fellow of the American College of Healthcare Executives and past chair of the Illinois Health and Hospital Association Board. He serves on the board of the BJC Collaborative, the American Hospital Association's Regional Policy board, and is Vice-Chair of the Sangamon County Economic Development Commission. He previously served on the Illinois Board of Higher Education's Commission on the Future of the Workforce, and the Advisory Board of the University of Illinois Chicago's College of Nursing. Curtis is past-chair of the boards of the Springfield Urban League, United Way of Central Illinois and Central Illinois Foodbank. He has been named the Grassroots Champion by the AHA and awarded the Order of Lincoln by The Lincoln Academy of Illinois. The Springfield resident received an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters and his Master of Business Administration from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and his Bachelor of Science in Nursing from Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville, and was inducted in to the School of Nursing Hall of Fame.
John Simmons, an attorney from Alton, was appointed to the SIU Board of Trustees by Gov. J.B. Pritzker on March 22, 2019. He was originally appointed to the board in 2004 and served for more than nine years. During that time, he first served as the board's secretary and later as its chairman. He is a former member of both the SIUE Alumni Association and SIUE Foundation boards.
Simmons grew up in southern Illinois and earned a bachelor's degree in political science from SIUE in 1991. While an undergraduate, he served as president of the SIUE student body and was a member of the Dean's College, a program for honors students. He earned a law degree from Southern Methodist University after leaving SIUE. Before he began his college studies, he served in the U.S. Army as a combat engineer, earning an honorable discharge in 1988.
Simmons founded Simmons Hanly Conroy in 1999 with seven employees and a focus on asbestos litigation. Under his leadership, the firm expanded to a national litigation firm with more than 250 employees, including over 80 attorneys, spread between six offices in New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago, St. Louis and Alton. Today, the firm represents clients from across the country in the practice areas of asbestos and mesothelioma, dangerous drugs and medical devices, prescription opioid litigation, sexual abuse litigation, environmental litigation and other mass torts and class actions.
Simmons started the firm because he believed he could provide a higher level of legal care to clients by combining legal expertise with service-minded values. Simmons's vision expanded when he and the firm made a joint $10.2 million donation to build the Simmons Cancer Institute on the campus of Southern Illinois University in Springfield. The cancer institute is the only one of its kind in downstate Illinois. Physicians there see more than 20,000 patient visits per year, and no matter the financial resources patients may have, they are never turned away from care.
Motivated by Simmons' core belief of giving back to the community, firm employees have donated more than $1 million to local charities and events through the Simmons Employee Foundation. Additionally, under his leadership, the firm has donated more than $20 million to cancer research nationwide and hundreds of thousands of dollars to local non-profits and organizations under his leadership.
Simmons hopes to give back to his alma mater during his term on the board, bringing a fresh perspective to issues and challenges public universities will face. Simmons and his wife, Jayne, have four children and one grandchild.
Job Titles:
- Director
- Member of Committee
Job Titles:
- Financial & Administrative Affairs - Risk Management
Job Titles:
- Financial & Administrative Affairs - Risk Management
Job Titles:
- Financial & Administrative Affairs - Risk Management
An attorney and partner with The Gori Law Firm in Edwardsville, Salger has advocated for individuals wronged by the actions of others, with a particular focus on representing victims of mesothelioma and lung cancer, as a result of exposure to asbestos. She has also handled complex benzene litigation and general personal injury claims.
She received her undergraduate degree from Southern Illinois University Edwardsville, graduating cum laude, in 2004 and for her J.D. in 2008 from Saint Louis University School of Law, where she received an international law certificate and litigation focus. She spent two semesters abroad during law school attending Università Cà Foscari di Venezia in Venice, Italy, and University College Cork in Cork, Ireland.
Working at The Gori Law Firm since the firm's inception, and a partner since May 2016, she is licensed to practice law in Illinois and Missouri, is a member of the American Bar Association, Illinois State Bar Association, Madison County Bar Association, Illinois Trial Lawyers Association, Missouri State Bar Association, Bar Association of Metropolitan St. Louis, American Association for Justice, National Asbestos Mesothelioma Trial Lawyers (member), National Women Trial Lawyers, and is on the Illinois Trial Lawyers Executive Committee and Board.
Actively involved in her community, Salger serves on various philanthropic boards in the area and volunteers her time speaking to local high school and college law classes and groups.
Job Titles:
- Assistant Professor
- Lovejoy Library
Job Titles:
- Edwardsville Alderman and Director
Job Titles:
- Financial & Administrative Affairs - Risk Management
Job Titles:
- Financial & Administrative Affairs - Tax Compliance and Treasury Services
Job Titles:
- Director, Clinical Assoc. Professor / Family Health and Community Health ( SIUE )
Victor Ludwig was elected by the students of SIU Carbondale to serve on the SIU Board of Trustees. His one-year term begins on July 1, 2023.
Ludwig is from Sigel, Illinois, and graduated from Neoga High School in 2020. He is a double major in sociology and Africana studies and expects to graduate, at the latest, by December 2025. He hopes to then further his education in graduate school at SIU Carbondale.
Beginning in fall 2021, Ludwig was treasurer and political education coordinator for the SIU Young Democratic Socialists of America, a registered student organization on campus. He served as the organization's secretary starting in fall 2022. He also began serving in fall 2022 as chair of the Student Health Advisory Board and will maintain membership in both organizations in 2023-24.
Ludwig said he hopes to use his term as student trustee to advance systemic and enforceable antiracism, diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives; center student wellness in student retention plans; collaborate with the city of Carbondale and the region in solidarity with unions to provide for all workers on the SIU campus and communicate student needs to university leaders with honesty and intensity.
Job Titles:
- Government & Public Affairs