Lorusso Correspondence, 1966-1989

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH Anthony Lorusso was born November 27, 1917 in New Jersey.  In 1940 he graduated from Rutgers University with a BS in Agriculture majoring in landscape architecture.  From 1942 to 1945 Lorusso served in the Army.  He married Dorothy Monique in Grand Rapids, Michigan on August 11, 1945 and had one daughter, Paula. In 1950 Lorusso was hired as a landscape engineer and assistant in the biology department.  After five years he became the operations engineer and in 1968 was promoted to campus planning coordinator.  Lorusso helped create ecological balance and beauty on campus.  When Lorusso became Operations Engineer, there were no trees or shrubs on campus west of Carroll Ave. and it was all cornfields west of Annie Glidden Road.  He was responsible for ensuring the utilities were placed underground, an innovation at the time, and helped design the skating area for students at the East Lagoon, the five fountains east of Davis Hall, and developed the layout and oversaw the digging of the West Lagoon.  It was his idea to plant more than 100 species of trees, 200 species of shrubs, and 100 species of evergreens to allow biology students to practice plant identification.  Upon his retirement in March 1989 he was responsible for a total of 703 acres. Lorusso was responsible for designing several parks in the area as well as the landscaping for the Newman Center, Ben Gordon Center, and DeKalb High School.  He received the NIU Presidential Award for Service in 1983 and the Francis R. Geigle Award for Service in 1989. Described by his coworkers as “Mr. NIU” Lorusso was honored for his contributions to the University by having the West Lagoon named after him.  Lorusso died January 29, 1997 at the age of 79.