Alumni

2007 Distinguished Alumni Award

Charles P. Carey and James M. Clary

The outstanding accomplishments of Charles P. Carey and James M. Clary were recognized Saturday, May 12 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.

Carey, a 1975 finance graduate and 2005 WIU College of Business and Technology Distinguished Alumnus, is currently serving his second consecutive two-year term as chairman of the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT), a leading global futures exchange. Previously, Carey served on the CBOT Board of Directors for 11 years, including terms as vice chairman, first vice chairman and full member director.

An independent futures trader, he also is a partner in the firm Henning and Carey. Carey has been a member of the Chicago Board of Trade since 1978, and began his career in futures trading as a member of the MidAmerica Commodity Exchange from 1976 to 1978.

The CBOT has achieved consecutive annual volume records during each year Carey has served as Chairman. He also spearheaded the move of the CBOT from a non-profit, member-owned organization to a for-profit, NYSE-listed public company. Carey is a third-generation CBOT member. His grandfather was chairman in 1933 and his uncle also served in that same position in 1963.

In May 2006, Carey was presented the Ellis Island Medal of Honor by the National Ethnic Coalition of Organizations (NECO) Foundation, Inc. NECO provides a valuable service by recognizing the contribution that immigrant ancestry has made to the spirit and fabric of America. In 2004 he received the Gold Medallion Award by the International Visitors Center of Chicago. IVCC bestows this honor on an individual identified with Chicago who has made a distinguished contribution to promoting citizen diplomacy within the international arena. An avid sports enthusiast and former WIU Leathernecks football player, Carey holds the position of president of the Chicagoland Sports Hall of Fame.

In November 2006, Carey was the recipient of the Rerum Novarum Award. This prestigious award honors lay men and women who uphold and promote the Catholic Social Teaching, which includes respect for the dignity of the human being and human labor, upholding the right to organize and the right to a living wage. Rerum Novarum is a letter issued by Pope Leo XIII in 1891 that was sent to all bishops that addressed the condition of the working classes. The encyclical discussed the relationships between government, business, labor and the church.

Carey, who has been featured in Chicago area newspapers, radio and television and the Wall Street Journal, has consistently supported Western Illinois University with gifts to athletics, alumni programs and the College of Business and Technology.

He has been a member of the College of Business and Technology Advisory Board and is a charter member of WIU President Al Goldfarb’s National Advisory Board.

Clary, a 1979 Western Illinois University finance graduate and Macomb native, is the president of MullinTBG, the nation's largest firm specializing in all aspects of executive benefits, retirement income and compensation planning. Clary and a staff of 300 professionals counsel major corporations on state-of-the-art executive benefit plan design, funding and benefit security options, communications strategy and ongoing plan record keeping and management. He has more than 25 years of experience in this specialized field.

In 1981, Clary entered the industry with Northwestern Mutual Life, and two years later he joined industry pioneer John Todd in the Chicago office of The Todd Organization. When Todd retired in 1986, Clary was named his successor. In 1993, he merged The Todd Organization of Chicago with Management Compensation Group - Chicago, and was named president and CEO.

In 2001, Clary merged MCG/Chicago with Mullin Consulting, and continued as president and CEO of the combined firm. Mullin Consulting joined forces with TBG Financial in 2006 to form MullinTBG, creating the nation’s largest independent executive benefits firm. MullinTBG has headquarters in Los Angeles with regional offices in Chicago; Baltimore; Dallas; Minneapolis; New York; Newport Beach, CA; Pittsburgh; and Washington, D.C.

Clary serves on the Board of Directors of the Association for Advanced Life Underwriting (AALU) and is chairman of the Nonqualified Plan Issues Committee. He is also a member of World at Work, the Society for Human Resource Management and the Chicago Compensation Association.

He has written and lectured extensively on executive compensation and nonqualified benefits plans. Clary has been featured in The Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Business Week, CFO Magazine, Compensation and Benefits Review, Corporate Board and Journal of Compensation and Benefits. He has also appeared on national television programs to discuss the subject of executive compensation and benefit planning.

Clary has established the James M. Clary Scholarship Endowment, which awards scholarships annually to College of Business and Technology students' and he, along with his wife, Sheila, contributed $100,000 to purchase equipment for the new student-athlete weight room. Clary has been a consistent supporter of the Western Athletic Club.

He has been a member of the College of Business and Technology Advisory Board and is a charter member of WIU President Al Goldfarb’s National Advisory Board. In 2000, he was named the College of Business and Technology’s Outstanding Alumnus.