ICCTA Ray Hartstein Trustee Achievement Award

2007 Recipient
James C. Tyree
City Colleges of Chicago

City Colleges of Chicago board chair James C. Tyree is the recipient of ICCTA's 2007 Ray Hartstein Trustee Achievement Award.

As board chair of the City Colleges, Tyree oversees one of the largest urban community college systems in the nation with seven colleges and 160,000 students.

City Colleges of Chicago board chair James Tyree (second from left) receives ICCTA's 2007 Ray Hartstein Trustee Achievement Award from ICCTA Honorary Member Ray Hartstein, City Colleges chancellor Wayne Watson, and ICCTA past president Clare Ollayos.

City Colleges of Chicago board chair James Tyree (second from left) receives ICCTA's 2007 Ray Hartstein Trustee Achievement Award from ICCTA Honorary Member Ray Hartstein, City Colleges chancellor Wayne Watson, and ICCTA past president Clare Ollayos.

He was appointed to the non-paid position by Mayor Richard J. Daley in 2000.

During his seven-year tenure as board chair, Tyree has initiated a number of innovative programs at City Colleges, including a yearly quality improvement analysis to enhance its programs and educational opportunities.

Last fall he convened a one-day symposium with civic and business leaders that examined strategies to support the City Colleges' mission within a national and international context.

Tyree also brought students and faculty together for a series of televised town-hall meetings on such issues as stem-cell research and the 50th anniversary of theBrown vs. Board of Educationdecision.

In 2004, Tyree negotiated a landmark labor contract with Cook County Teachers Union Local 1600 and personally intervened to bring an end to the faculty strike that preceded that agreement.

In addition, he has served on the Trustees Association’s Executive Committee since his appointment as board chair and played a key role in ICCTA’s nationwide executive director search in 2004.

Outside the educational arena, Tyree is chair and CEO of Mesirow Financial Services, an international diversified financial services firm headquartered in Chicago. He has served on more than 40 corporate, civic and not-for-profit boards, including terms as chair of The Executives Club of Chicago, the Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce, and the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation International.

In 2004, his longtime advocacy on behalf of diabetes awareness led to his selection as "Person of the Year" by the Illinois chapter of the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation.