The Statement of Purpose of the Lincoln Academy of Illinois:

To honor individuals whose contributions to the betterment of humanity have been accomplished in or on behalf of the State of Illinois, or, whose achievements have brought honor to the state because of their identity with it, whether by birth or residence, or by their dedication to those principles of democracy and humanity as exemplified by the great Illinoisan whose name we bear.

To honor senior students at each of the four-year, degree-granting institutions in Illinois for overall excellence, in both curricular and extra-curricular programs.

By celebrating the Great Citizens of Today and encouraging the Great Citizens of Tomorrow, the Academy acknowledges that our state and nation continue to need what Vachel Lindsay called “Lincoln-hearted” men and women.

Laureate Doris K. Christopher

Chancellor of the Academy, John Simon (Chicago), laureate Doris K. Christopher (Hinsdale) and Dr. Thomas Schwartz, Illinois State Historian (Springfield)

Doris Christopher founded The Pampered Chef, Ltd. in 1980. It was modeled after the successful Tupperware party sales approach, but appealed to customers with slightly deeper pockets and better taste, thus the "pampered". While other similar businesses fell by the wayside in the 1990s, The Pampered Chef grew and expanded to Canada, the UK, Germany and, most recently, to Mexico. In 2002 it was acquired by Berkshire Hathaway.

Laureate Jackie Joyner-Kersee

Jackie Joyner-Kersee accepting her Laureate

Jacqueline "Jackie" Joyner-Kersee is ranked among the all-time greatest athletes in the women's heptathlon as well as in the women's long jump. She won three gold, one silver, and two bronze Olympic medals, in those four different events. She was voted the Greatest Female Athlete of the 20th century. Jacqueline Joyner was born in East St. Louis, Illinois.

Joyner-Kersee established the Jackie Joyner-Kersee Foundation, which provides youth, adults, and families with the resources to improve their quality of life with special attention directed to East St. Louis, Illinois.

It is better to look ahead and prepare than to look back and regret.
- Jackie Joyner-Kersee

Laureate Bernard Shaw

Laureate Bernard Shaw

Bernard Shaw is from Chicago and attended the University of Illinois at Chicago. As a broadcast journalist he worked for CBS and ABC, but is most widely known for his work at CNN where he was Principal Anchor starting in 1980. While at CNN he hosted a Presidential debate with G.H.W. Bush and Dukakis. He also reported live from the Al-Rashid Hotel in Baghdad during the 1991 Gulf War while cruise missiles flew by outside his room.

Laureate Studs Terkel

Studs Terkel accepting his laureate

Louis "Studs" Terkel was an American author, historian, actor, and broadcaster. He received the Pulitzer Prize for General Non-Fiction in 1985 for The Good War, and is best remembered for his oral histories of common Americans, and for hosting a long-running radio show in Chicago where he lived the majority of his life.

"I always love to quote Albert Einstein because nobody dares contradict him."
- Studs Terkel