Where are they now?

Each year, the University of Illinois attracts students with a variety of interests and career goals. Here are some former students and where their degrees from Illinois have taken them:

Edward Hightower graduated with a B.S. in General Engineering in 1988. In the fall of 1993, he returned to graduate school full-time at the University of Michigan, earning an MBA in 1995, with emphases in General Management, Marketing and International Business. He spent 15 years in the automotive industry in a variety of engineering, marketing and general management positions with General Motors, BMW and Ford Motor Company. Most recently he served as the Chief Engineer and leader of the Expedition and Navigator SUV business at Ford. He has also worked as a business planning and development consultant in Ghana, West Africa. In the fall of 2003, Ed Hightower left the auto industry to pursue the path of entrepreneurship. He co-founded The Original Marketing Company, a new product development and marketing strategy consulting firm.
While an engineering student, Ed had a very strong interest in business and expected that would be his ultimate career. To escape the stress of classes north of Green Street, he would often study or read business publications in the Business Library. Ed also enjoyed swimming at IMPE. His mentors at UIUC were Clarence Shelley, who at the time was Dean of Students, and the Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs at that time, Stan Levy. The most valuable lessons Ed learned as a student at Illinois were perseverance and leadership. These lessons have served him well, as he has faced many challenging projects and people in his career. At Illinois, he was involved in Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc., the Black Greek Council - President, Society of Automotive Engineers, and the National Society of Black Engineers. As a Fred H. Turner Fellow, he founded the An 'I' on the Capitol Government Student Internship Program.


Quintin Anderson graduated in 1994 with a B.S. in Accountancy. He joined Deloitte upon graduation from U of I and has been there ever since (with two years out pursuing an MBA at Harvard). Currently, he is a manager in the corporate strategy consulting arm of Deloitte, based in San Francisco, and he has worked with Deloitte in several offices on three continents.
Outside of work, Quintin’s days are dedicated to planning his wedding, spending time with his fiancé and his friends and as much time as possible engaging in outdoor pursuits (i.e., kayaking, backcountry trekking, cross-country skiing, mountain biking, running). He will do his first triathlon this year.
While at the University of Illinois, Quintin enjoyed spending time at Memorial Stadium, Assembly Hall, and the Orange and Blue Golf Course. Besides the Fred H. Turner Fellowship, Quintin was most involved with Vis-à-vis. Vis-à-vis is a U of I student-run volunteer tutoring program for local K-12 students. During his junior and senior years he consistently devoted 6 to 20 hours per week to the organization. He stated, “Vis-à-vis was my passion.” One of the most important mentors in Quintin’s life was and continues to be Bobbie Fein, Program Director at the University YMCA while Quintin volunteered there. He explained that without her guidance and coaching, the program would not have been as successful as it was and he would not have had as great a leadership experience as he did.
Quintin’s Illinois experience taught him to build and constantly nurture his network of personal and professional relationships because one cannot ride to success on credentials alone. Furthermore, he learned to actively seek out mentors and listen to them and to be humble because there is always something to learn from others. These practices have proved beneficial in his life after U of I.

Robin Ritter is the Director of Human Resources for General Mills Pillsbury and Yoplait business units in Minneapolis, MN. She is married to Ben Emmons (another U of I grad!) and they have two children, Hannah (5) and Jacob (2). She received her B.A. in Speech Communication from the College of LAS in 1993 and her M.A. in Labor and Industrial Relations in 1995.
While at the University of Illinois, Robin’s favorite places to go in between classes were the Illini Union lounges or reading rooms and, weather permitting, the Quad. She says it was great to take a short nap or people-watch and just take her mind off of classes for a bit. For evening stress breaks, she found it fun to go to Delights with friends for some frozen yogurt.
Robin remembers several people who proved to be great sounding boards for her, especially as she neared graduation and needed to make important decisions about graduate school and job searches. Two of those people were Associate Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs Gene Barton and one of the Resident Directors at Illinois Street Residence Hall. Working as a Resident Advisor and as a Turner Fellow while still taking a full class load taught her some early lessons about prioritization and balance. She feels that it was a great foundation for her role now as working mother.
Another thing she learned through her classes and campus living was to expand her horizons by allowing herself to try new things and meet new people. Growing up in a small town in southern Illinois, it came as quite a surprise to have her first class at the University of Illinois in Foellinger Auditorium with more students in it than her entire high school! Some students would be intimidated by this change of perspective, but Robin found it to be exciting and educational. To this day she is still thankful that she chose the University of Illinois for her education over some of the smaller institutions she considered.