Case, Schill, and Timmerman to represent state’s business, academic, and innovation communities in Intersect Illinois’ efforts to attract new jobs and investment
CHICAGO, IL – Intersect Illinois today announced that Aon CEO Greg Case, Northwestern University President Michael H. Schill, and Chicago Quantum Exchange CEO Kate Waimey Timmerman have been appointed to its board of directors. The new members’ experience in business, higher education, and innovation will be an asset to the organization as it continues to advance its mission of bringing economic growth and jobs to Illinois. Today’s announcement builds on Intersect’s historic progress of adding more than 35 new civic and business leaders representing a broad range of industries and sectors since December 2023.
“Illinois is home to a unique ecosystem including an unmatched business community with companies like Aon, some of the world’s top education institutions including Northwestern, and innovation pioneers such as the Chicago Quantum Exchange,” said Intersect Illinois Chairman John Atkinson. “I’m so pleased to welcome Greg Case, President Schill, and Kate Timmerman to the board, as they each bring extensive expertise in their fields that will be an asset to our work driving economic growth.”
Greg Case is the Chief Executive Officer of Aon, leading the efforts of more than 60,000 colleagues serving clients in over 120 countries. He is also a member of the company’s Board of Directors and the Governance/Nominating Committee’s Inclusion and Wellbeing Sub-Committee. Before joining Aon in 2005, Case served on the Governing Shareholder Council and headed the Global Insurance and Financial Services Practice at McKinsey & Company. Prior to that, he worked for the investment banking firm of Piper, Jaffray & Hopwood as well as the Federal Reserve Bank. Case holds an MBA from Harvard Business School and graduated summa cum laude from Kansas State University. He serves on the boards of Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital, Field Museum of Natural History and St. John’s University School of Risk Management. He has been named by the Harvard Business Review as one of the 100 best performing CEOs in the world.
“At Aon, we help shape decisions that protect and enrich the lives of people around the world, with a particular passion for the communities in which we live and work,” said Case. “We were founded in Illinois and remain deeply committed to the state’s growth and quality of life. I look forward to working with my fellow Intersect Illinois board members to accelerate the state’s advancement.”
Michael H. Schill took office as Northwestern’s 17th president in 2022. He also serves as a professor of law in the Northwestern Pritzker School of Law, and a professor of finance and real estate in the Kellogg School of Management. He previously spent seven years as president of the University of Oregon. President Schill is a nationally recognized expert in property, real estate, and housing law and policy who has authored or co-authored three books and over 40 scholarly articles. He served as dean and professor at the law schools of the University of Chicago and UCLA, and held tenured faculty positions at New York University and the University of Pennsylvania.
“Northwestern University is proud to be an integral part of the state’s business and innovation community, leveraging a breadth and depth of expertise in fields that range from the biosciences to environmental sustainability,” said Schill. “I look forward to representing Northwestern’s international network of creators and innovators on the Board of Intersect Illinois as we build the state’s economy and ensure Illinois remains a global business destination.”
Kate Waimey Timmerman is the CEO of the Chicago Quantum Exchange (CQE), an intellectual hub in the Midwest that advances the science and engineering of quantum information, trains the future quantum workforce, and drives the quantum economy by connecting leading universities, national labs, and industry partners. The CQE leads two cross-sector initiatives aimed at advancing quantum technologies in the Midwest: The Bloch Quantum, a US Economic Development Administration-designated Tech Hub, and the National Science Foundation Regional Innovation Engine development award. The CQE is anchored by the University of Chicago, Argonne National Laboratory, Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory, the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Northwestern University, and Purdue University and includes more than 50 corporate, international, nonprofit, and regional partners. Timmerman is a board member at P33, a private sector initiative to turbocharge Chicago’s tech economy, and an advisory council member for Argonne’s Chain Reaction Innovations. She earned her PhD in neuroscience from the University of California, Davis and her bachelor’s degree from Oberlin College.
“The Chicago Quantum Exchange and its community are catalyzing the region’s strengths to become the nation’s leading quantum hub,” said Timmerman. “I am excited to join the Intersect Illinois board as we work in partnership to inclusively drive the economy for quantum companies doing business and creating jobs in Illinois.”
Intersect Illinois’ Board of Directors, the non-partisan group of academic, civic, and private-sector leaders, advises the organization on ways to position Illinois for business attraction, leverages its collective expertise to make the case for the state, and ultimately helps generate economic growth and jobs. Representing a broad diversity of regions, industries, and backgrounds, all members are approved by a board vote.
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INTERSECT ILLINOIS is the statewide economic development organization focused on bringing new jobs and investment to the state. As the state’s business attraction organization, Intersect Illinois collaborates with partners in the public and private sectors to attract new jobs and investment. The organization showcases the state’s advantages including its central location with access to the country and world, its unmatched infrastructure, and its robust workforce fueled by its dynamic higher education system. Intersect Illinois makes it easier for companies to expand in Illinois by providing a range of services to help navigate the site selection process.
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