A Man for All Seasons- Dr. Thomas Ramage, President of Parkland College

Tom Ramage joined Parkland College in July of 1998 as Chair of the newly created Distance & Virtual Learning Department, responsible for developing and administering Parkland’s online course delivery systems and policies.

In 2001, he was named Associate Vice President for Academic Services and later, Information Services.

In July of 2003, Tom was named Vice President and Chief Academic Officer.

He received his Masters Degree in Education and Human Development with a specialization in Educational Technology Leadership from The George Washington University in 1998, and a Doctorate in Education with a specialization in Instructional Technology and Distance Education from Nova Southeastern University. His research focused on cost-efficiency and return on investment of online programs.

Since June of 2007, Tom served as the Interim President of Parkland College. The Board of Trustees appointed Dr. Ramage as Parkland’s 5^th President in January, 2008.

He serves on the following boards: United Way Board, University of Illinois Employee Credit Union Board, and Champaign County Chamber of Commerce. To watch my interview with Dr Tom Ramage CLICK HERE

The New Face of Business-An Interview with Jennifer Shelby

Jennifer Shelby is the president/dealer principal of Shelby Motors, Inc. the local Dodge and Jeep dealer. She has been with the company since 1993 and took over as president in 2008 after the death of her husband Mike – who was the third generation of the Shelby family to own the company. Jennifer is an active member in a National Auto Dealers Association 20 Group, and was just awarded Five Star Distinction by Chrysler Group.

Jennifer currently serves as the treasurer for the Champaign Urbana Schools Foundation, a non-profit corporation designed to enhance the quality of education through community support of the public schools. She was also recently elected to the Board of Trustees of Blackburn College in Carlinville, Illinois. Blackburn is one of only seven work colleges in the country and the only program that is student managed. She is a member of the Champaign Urbana Sunrise Rotary club, a past president of that organization, serves on the fundraising committee, and is a Paul Harris Fellow. She also works with the Cunningham Children’s Home in planning their annual golf tournament that the dealership has underwritten since its inception in 1990. Jennifer was named One of Twenty Outstanding Women You Should Know in Central Illinois in 2009. To watch my TV interview with Jennifer click here.

Living a Dream The Flesors Sisters

Ann Flesor Beck is President and Co-Owner of Flesor Family Confectionary. She has worked for over 25 years as a non-profit administrator, development director, and management consultant for national and international corporations. Ann is also an active volunteer in Coles and Douglas counties for various organizations. Devon Flesor Nau is Co-Owner and chief confectioner of Flesor's Candy Kitchen in Tuscola, Illinois. Before returning to her family’s confectionary business in 2004, Devon taught English for almost 20 years, most of those at Eastern Illinois University. Devon is involved with local business and civic groups in Tuscola where she lives with her husband and three children. To watch their interview on One on One click here.

Girls Can Do Math!

Esther Resendiz was born in San Antonio, Texas, where she grew up with a sister and two parents who instilled in her the values of hard work, perseverance, and optimism. From an early age she gravitated towards math, science, and engineering. She majored in Electrical Engineering at the University of Texas at Austin, where she spent countless late nights solving complex engineering problems and writing computer code.

She finished her Bachelor’s degree, and in search of a new adventure, she came to the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) for graduate school in Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE). She completed her M.S., and is currently working toward a Ph.D. in Computer Vision, which is the study how a computer can be programmed to understand the content of images and video, in the same manner that a human can. She has worked on a variety of projects, from railroad inspection to activity recognition.

Her interest in fashion developed over time, but seemed like a distraction from her more serious pursuits. One day, she was brainstorming ways to improve the online apparel shopping experience, and her passion for computer vision and fashion intersected when she conceived of applying Computer Visioning concepts to the fashion world. She went on with co founders Bernard Ghanem, and Sanketh Shetty to create the company known as Fashion Latte. To watch Esther's interview and learn more about this dynamic company Click Here