Fred N. Friedl
Fred N. Friedl III graduated from Fenton High School in 1972. His career in fire service began during his senior year at Fenton with the Wood Dale Fire Protection District. He served Wood Dale as a firefighter, paramedic, Lieutenant, Shift Commander, Fire Prevention Bureau Chief and in October, 1988, was appointed as the Fire Chief/Administrator. Early on in his career, Chief Fred received an Award of Merit for meritorious service in the line of duty for saving the life of a young boy trapped by fire in his second floor bedroom.
Chief Friedl has been part of the Village of Gurnee Fire Rescue Department since 1996 and is a member of various associations including the Illinois Fire Chiefs, Executive Board Member of the Lake / McHenry County Specialized Response Team and Metropolitan Fire Chiefs, National Fire Protection Association and International Fire Chiefs Association. He has volunteered an extraordinary number of hours serving the community and was honored by the National Exchange Club in 2007 when he received the "Volunteer of the Year Award" at the National Convention in Portland Oregon. He also received "Exchangite of the Year" award at the Gurnee Community Days this past August.
Mr. Friedl completed course work for a Bachelors Degree of Science in Fire Service Administration and holds numerous state certifications including instructor, fire officer, and fire prevention officer. He is one of only 506 Chief Fire Officers in the world, having successfully completed the rigorous process for this professional designation.
Ms. Kathleen J. Monaghan
Ms. Kathleen J. Monaghan was the Salutatorian of the Fenton High School graduating class of 1985, having participated in numerous activities and sports including Girls Track, Cheerleading, Swimming, Band, Orchesis, NHS, Math Team, Interact, Theater, Foreign Language Club, Highlights. Following her graduation from high school, she entered the United States Naval Academy and earned her bachelor's degree in Political Science. She went on to earn her Masters in International Relations from Georgetown University and her Juris Doctor degree from American University.
Shortly after graduation from the U.S. Naval Academy, Kathleen held positions with the Atlantic Intelligence Command and served as the primary analyst and coordinator for a counter narcotics seizure involving 25 organizations from five nations that resulted in the arrest of the largest narcotics trafficking ring in Spain. Ms. Monaghan was appointed as the Flagship Assistant Intelligence Department Head on the USS Mount Whitney, making her the first female ever assigned to a U.S. Combat Ship. She went on to become an Intelligence Department Head at NATO in Virginia and was responsible for NATO's classified maritime communications systems and management of 16 satellite branches. She defined information technology policies and implementation requirements for NATO's first communications suite for use by any member nation to provide seamless information exchange during the Bosnian Crisis. Ms. Monaghan was awarded two Joint Service Commendation Medals, a Navy Commendation Medal, a Joint Service Achievement Medal as well as the National Defense Medal.
Following her Naval career, Ms. Monaghan held a sales supervisor position at Norton Company in Indiana and then moved to the Washington, DC area, serving in various positions including sales manager at AT&T, legal intern to a U.S. District Court Judge, summer intern with the CIA, summer law clerk with the Department of Justice, case screener in the United States State's Attorney's Office, judicial law clerk to a State Appellate Court Judge and Assistant United States Attorney, Department of Justice Honors Attorney Program. Currently, Ms. Monaghan is a successful Trial Attorney with the U.S. Department of Justice, Civil Rights Division.
Michael T. Tokarz
Michael T. Tokarz graduated from Fenton High School in 1967, having participated in Student Council, Latin Club, Track, Golf and numerous honors courses. He attended the University of Illinois at Urbana where he graduated with a B.A. in Economics with High Distinction. He earned an M.B.A. in Finance at the Graduate School of Business Administration at the UIUC and a post-graduate certificate as a Certified Public Accountant. He is currently the Chairman of MVC Capital, Chairman of the Board of Walter Industries and the Tokarz Group Advisors President. As a professional acquirer of companies for investment, Mr. Tokarz has participated in raising over $70 billion in financing. He has gained an international reputation as a corporate strategist, having accomplished the highly successful restructurings of A.O. Kamaz (Russia), Imperial Porcelain (Russia), Baltic Motors (Latvia), Walter Industries (U.S.), Conseco Insurance (U.S.), and Fredericks of Hollywood (U.S.). He is also known as a Venture Capitalist, having founded Technology Solutions and Eloyalty (both on the NASDAQ) as well as Illinois Ventures and The Illinois Emerging Technology.
Mr. Tokarz was elected one of the ten Best Corporate Directors in the United States for 2007 by The Outstanding Directors Exchange and Agenda Magazine. He is a regular lecturer at Harvard Business School and various other universities. He has served on numerous corporate boards including Conseco Inc., Northbrook-based Idex Corporation, Denny's Restaurants, Safeway to name a few. Mr. Tokarz has been the focus of many articles in publications around the world as well as several books. He is an active member of his community and is known for his public service, including countless hours spent on University of Illinois committees and boards.