Alumni

2005 Distinguished Alumni Award

Michael P. Kelly and Zack Stamp

The outstanding accomplishments of Michael P. Kelly and Zack Stamp were recognized Saturday, May 14 when they were presented the Western Illinois University Distinguished Alumni Award at Spring Commencement Exercises.

The Distinguished Alumni Award, given since 1973, recognizes alumni who have reached the pinnacle of their careers and have brought credit to the University and themselves through their professional accomplishments or community service at local, state, or national levels and have extended meritorious service for the advancement and continued excellence of WIU.

Kelly, a 1970 accountancy graduate, is the vice chair and senior managing director of the Silicon Valley office of Broadview International, a division of Jefferies, a global investment bank and institutional securities firm. Kelly also leads the firm's Asian activities. Kelly has more than 30 years of technology and investment banking experience and specializes in components, subsystems, telecom equipment and capital equipment transactions. Prior to joining Broadview, Kelly was a managing director of Flemings, an international investment bank. Earlier he was a partner with Touche Ross and an executive with Granger Associates. He began his career as an accountancy instructor at the University of Wisconsin, Oshkosh.

Kelly serves on the boards of Adept Technology and the Asia America Multitechnology Association. A Certified Public Accountant, he received his master's of business administration degree from St. Louis University. Kelly is a member of The Family Club in San Francisco, a nonprofit organization that supports the Hospital de la Familia in Central America. He was a co-chair of Western's Centennial Campaign and established the Michael P. Kelly Scholarship Endowment for undergraduate business students at Western. In addition, he has supported projects in athletics and alumni programs. In 1990, Kelly received the WIU College of Business and Technology Distinguished Alumni Award. He was a member of the 1965-69 Leathernecks football teams and the 1966-67 Leathernecks baseball team.

 Kelly and his wife, Myrna, a 1971 Western graduate, are also very generous with their time. They have been instrumental in organizing Western's Bay area alumni gatherings each year. They reside in Palo Alto and have two daughters, Ann and Jackie.

 Stamp, a 1975 political science graduate, is the principal partner in the law firm of Zack Stamp, Ltd. His practice focuses on representing clients with interests before the Illinois General Assembly and Illinois Department of Insurance. Prior to entering into private practice, Stamp served as a member of the Illinois Republican Senate staff, served as director of legislative affairs for Gov. Jim Thompson and directed the Illinois Department of Insurance from 1989-1991. He also was a deputy sheriff in McDonough County. Stamp earned his law degree from Southern Illinois University.

 In 1999, Stamp was selected by Gov. George Ryan to serve as a member of Western's Board of Trustees. Stamp served as the Board of Trustees chair from July 2002 through January 2004. He has served as a member of the Governing Committee of the Illinois Mine Subsidence Insurance Fund and the Illinois FAIR Plan Association. Stamp has served as a judge in the Illinois Court of Claims and as acting president/CEO of Kemper Ins. Group.

 A member of the Illinois State Bar Association, he is vice president of the Federation of Regulatory Counsel, a member of the Board of Directors of the Illinois Channel and the Leading Lawyers Network. Stamp is currently the president of the Pleasant Plains School Board. Stamp has been a member of the Western Illinois University Alumni Council and was a co-chair of Western's Centennial Campaign. In 1989, he received the Western Illinois University Alumni Achievement Award. Stamp was a major contributor to the Centennial Campaign and continues to support the University in many ways.