Speeches, 1983 - 1984: Financial Exigency, June 25, 1983

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH John E. La Tourette, Northern's tenth president, was born November 5, 1932 in Perth Amboy, New Jersey. He earned his B.A., M.A., and Ph.D. degrees in economics from Rutgers University in New Brunswick, New Jersey. He taught in the Economics Department of Rutgers from 1958-1961. La Tourette spent the next thirteen years employed as a professor in the Economics Department of the State University of New York at Binghamton. He served as the chair of the department for five years (1969-1974) and also spent one year as acting provost (1973-1974). La Tourette continued his work in academic administration at Bowling Green State University in Ohio. He held dual positions as the vice-president in charge of research and as dean of the Graduate School from 1974-1979. La Tourette came to Northern Illinois University in 1979 to become vice-president of academic affairs and provost, a position he held until 1984. When President William Monat resigned in 1984 to become chancellor of the Illinois Regency Universities System, John La Tourette accepted the position of acting president (Sept. 1984-June 1985). He returned to his former position as provost when Clyde Wingfield assumed the presidency in the summer of 1985. Following Wingfield's resignation in May 1986, La Tourette was named President of NIU by the Illinois Board of Regents. President La Tourette and his wife Lili have two children, Marc and Yanique. La Tourette retired in May of 2000, and moved to Prescott, Arizona.