lou liay spirit award
Each year, the University of Illinois Alumni Association bestows the Lou Liay Spirit Award upon UI alumni who have consistently demonstrated extraordinary loyalty, commitment, dedication and service to the Alumni Association and related groups. The award, established in 1997, is named after Lou Liay, executive director of the UIAA from 1983 to 1998.
The 2009 recipient is John Menees ’52 ENG, of Olympia Fields, whose unbounding enthusiasm for the University of Illinois hasn’t diminished for more than half a century. A member of the UI Alumni Association for 56 years, he has contributed a great deal of his time and effort to numerous University-associated groups – the UI Dads Association, the University of Illinois Foundation, Illinois Connection, the Chicago Illini Club, the mechanical engineering alumni association and Engineering Open House among them – and received the Alumni Association’s Loyalty Award in 1996. John and his wife, Pat, have two children who are also members of the Illini family – Gillian ’86 FAA, ’86 FAA; and Rob Jr. ’89 AHS. Congratulations to John Menees for exhibiting his indomitable Illini spirit.
Congratulations to John Menees for exhibiting his indomitable Illini spirit.
