“Illinois Iron Man” – Jack Chamblin ’55

Jack Chamblin’s ’55 cousin has written a book about Jack’s life from Robinson, IL to West Point to U of I (and ATO) and back to Robinson.  Jack was MVP of the Illini football team and went on to a very successful business career.  Here’s a link to an article about the book –

http://www.robdailynews.com/main.asp?SectionID=2&SubSectionID=2&ArticleID=12849

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Landscaping Phase 1 installed

IMG_1057 (1) IMG_1056 IMG_1055This past Saturday, a joint alumni/undergrad team with support from Fernando installed Phase 1 of a multi year landscaping plan for our chapter house. Rob Ebl ’93 was the alumni leader and Patrick Cosgrove ’17 led the undergrads. They did a lot of work and it looks great. Once everything blooms in the next couple of weeks, it will look even better for Homecoming. Thanks guys!! Great work!!

John Stacey ’68 inducts John Wright ’68 into the Wheaton HS Hall of Fame

Last night John Stacey ’68 had the honor of inducting John Wright ’68 into the Wheaton High Schools Alumni Hall of Fame at a ceremony and dinner in Wheaton. John was a grade school, high school and college classmate of John’s… and a Gamma Zeta pledge brother. Very cool! Other Gamma Zeta and Wheaton high schools alumni in attendance were Mike Maher and Dane Luhrsen both ’77s.

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Congrats John Wright ’69 – Selected for Wheaton High Schools Hall of Fame

john-wrightbiophotoThe Wheaton Community High Schools Alumni Club just announced their 2015 Hall of Fame inductees which include John Wright (Gamma Zeta ’69).

John was a three sport athlete who received All-State accolades in football and track and field. He was the state champ and record holder in the 180 low hurdles in 1964. John excelled in football and track at the University of Illinois garnering six letters and reaping both All- American and Academic All-American honors. Upon graduation, John was the all time U of I and Big Ten historical leading receiver and ranked 5th in NCAA history. Following college, John was drafted at the top of the second round in the NFL by the Atlanta Falcons. Subsequently he was traded to the Detroit Lions where he played for six years. As CEO of the Wright Financial Group, he grew his office from $750 million to over $9 billion of insurance. He was voted the top speaker at the NFL National Rookie Symposium six times. He’ll be formally inducted at the Wheaton High Schools Alumni Association annual dinner and golf outing on September 10 in Wheaton. Congrats John!!

Joe Grazioso ’16 and the Gamma Zeta Mentor and Internship Matching Programs

0af7c5dJoe Grazioso ’16 worked as an intern this past summer at Belmont Bank whose CEO is Bill McCarty ’79. Joe was referred to Bill by his ATO Mentor John Aymond ’80. The following is an excerpt from a note that Joe’s supervisor at the bank passed on about his experience.

“Joe has a tremendous work ethic, with great attention to detail, and routinely demonstrated a self-starter approach to his day-to-day responsibilities at the Bank.

He is a gentleman, someone who listened closely and took notes whenever a new concept was being presented to him.

The Gamma Zeta chapter of ATO is fortunate to have him as a member and I believe his commitment, dedication, and hard work sets a great example for the qualities that ATO promotes as “America’s Leadership Fraternity”, and will continue to contribute and prove beneficial to the long-term success of the House.”

Great work Joe!!

We’ve got some great guys in the house. If you know of internship opportunities at your companies, please pass them on to Dan Passarella ’13 (dpassarella16@gmail.com) and Jim McGuffin ’96 (jmcguffin@2020-4.com) who are the alumni overseeing our Mentor and Internship matching programs respectively and they’ll help match up appropriate candidates with the opportunites.

Greg Wright ’68 and his band Comstock Lode to play at Bub City on October 26

d3b38d8bc94252e6930b23bbcf72c6c0Mark your calendars! Greg Wright (Gamma Zeta ’68) has a four piece Country Band called Comstock Lode which will be performing at Bub City (435 N. Clark St. Chicago) from 9:00 PM – 12:00 on Monday night October 26th. Check them out on their web site at www.comstocklodecountryband.com. They play lots of current and past country hits and some originals from Greg.  Looks like a lot of fun.  Please stop in, have a beer and say hello to other Gamma Zetas!