Colonel (Retired) Jill Morgenthaler, director of the State of
Illinois Homeland Security, will be the guest speaker April 20 at a
black-tie dinner fundraiser to support construction of a Veterans Memorial
on the Illinois State University campus.
The event will take place at 5 p.m. in Brown Ballroom of Bone Student Center and is presented by two student groups: Xi Gamma Iota, a service organization comprised of military veterans, and Chi Gamma Iota, an honorary group also comprised of veterans who are students.
General admission to the dinner is $50. Admission for veterans is $40 for one and $70 for couples (if one is a veteran). Tickets can be purchased at the Bone Student Center box office, by phone at (309) 438-5444, at all Ticketmaster locations and a Ticketmaster.com
Col. Morgenthaler was one of the first women to enter ROTC, to receive a full Army scholarship to Penn State and to train with men when ROTC for women was an experiment. She was the first woman battalion commander in the 88th Regional Support Command and she was the first woman brigade commander in the 84th Division (Instructional Training). She also faced down Saddam Hussein at his first court hearing.
As both pioneer and staunch advocate for women's issues in the military, Colonel Morgenthaler was a compelling choice for the Attleboro, Massachusetts-based Women at Work Museum to launch its "Power and Influence" exhibit on Oct. 23, 2004. Colonel Morgenthaler is also featured at the U.S. Army Women's Museum at Fort Lee, Virginia.
In her current position, Col. Morgenthaler is the governor’s Deputy Chief of Staff for Public Safety and Homeland Security Advisor. She is responsible for directing Illinois homeland security operations for the state. Gov. Rod Blagojevich has charged her with coordinating efforts with federal agencies such as the FBI and Homeland Security and providing guidance to Illinois Emergency Management Agency, Illinois Terrorism Task Force, Illinois National Guard and other agencies to ensure that all levels of government work together for the prevention, preparedness, response and recovery from natural disasters or terrorist incidents.
Col. Morgenthaler brings extensive experience to state government, both as an Army Reserve colonel and as one of Argonne National Laboratory’s Emergency Response Center managers. Recently retired after 30 years in the U.S. Army, she had worked extensively in command centers in Korea, Berlin, Bosnia, and Iraq; had handled disaster recovery during the San Francisco earthquake of 1989 and evacuation operations for Kosovar refugees in New Jersey.
She is a native of Harrisburg, Pa., and a graduate of the Pennsylvania State University, where she received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics in 1976. Col. Morgenthaler also earned a Master’s Degree in International Policy Studies from the Monterey Institute of International Studies in 1983 and a Masters Degree in Strategic Studies from the United States Army War College in 2000.
