IIT Worldwide Alumni Chapters, Clubs, and Networks

Connect to Illinois Tech with Zach Rus

Zach Rus
Zach Rus

Meet Zach Rus, associate director of regional and reunion programs. Rus came to IIT in 2014 from the University of Chicago, where he served as associate director of alumni relations and development. Before that he was a fundraising consultant at Pennington & Company and director of education programs at Sigma Alpha Epsilon.

In his role at Illinois Tech, Rus hopes to show alumni the importance of keeping connected to their alma mater.

“I want alumni to know they can come back to the university for anything,” he says. “If they move, they can reach out to local volunteer leaders with questions about the area. If they’re looking for a job, they should think of the Alumni Association as the first place to go for support. If they’re simply looking to have fun and connect with other alumni, they can host a chapter event.”

Rus also hopes to build bridges between alumni and students.

“Current students should look to alumni for advice, and I can help connect alumni to those students. Ultimately, I want all alumni and students—who are future alumni—to know that their connection to IIT doesn’t end after they cross the stage during Commencement,” he says.

At his own alma mater, Simpson College, in Iowa, Rus sets the bar for involved alumni.“I attend all their Chicago events and keep in contact with their alumni relations and development offices,” he says. “I follow their athletic teams and find myself getting too worked up over a loss to one of our rivals!”

When he’s not traveling or attending alumni events, Rus enjoys spending time with friends and family. He’s a volunteer at Vital Bridges, a leader in services for people living with HIV/AIDS, where he’s been part of the junior networking committee for the past four years, serving as chair for two.

To get involved with your local IIT alumni chapter, contact Zach Rus at zrus@iit.edu or 800.IIT.ALUM (800.448.2586).


IIT Chicagoland Alumni Chapter

Chapter Officers
Chair: Steve Nargang (ME ’96)—snargang@hawk.iit.edu
Vice Chair: Robert Meder (M.Arch. ’10)
Chapter Secretary: Natalie Hammer (EE ’09, M.A.S. PWR ’14)

City of Chicago Branch
Branch Director: Charles Horn (MGT ’82)—chorn@hawk.iit.edu
Assistant Director: Wendy Wu (M.B.A. ’09)

North Suburban Branch
Branch Director: Ann Trandai (EE ’89, M.S. ’93)—trandairealty@gmail.com
Assistant Director: Brett Champlin (M.B.A. ’90)

Northwest Suburban Branch
Branch Director: Bruce Meier (MATH ’76)—brucemeier5540@gmail.com
Assistant Director: Dave Kamath (M.S. IE ’73)
Assistant Director: Luke Dykstra (CPE ’00, M.S. CS ’01)

West Suburban Branch
Branch Director: Bill Lam (ME ’82, M.B.A. ’88)—wlam@hawk.iit.edu
Assistant Director: Joe Koblich (BA ’88)

South Suburban Branch
Branch Director: Jerry Wilks (MET ’72, M.A.S. MET ’82, M.A.S. CHE ’05)—gwilks@citgo.com
Assistant Director: Marlene Lojas (CHE ’91)


U.S. Chapters

Volunteers who enjoy connecting IIT graduates to their alma mater manage each IIT chapter. Domestic chapters and their leaders are:

Bay Area: Heidi Rank (ARCH ’81) heidirank@sbcglobal.net

Southern California: Benny Jones (MATH ’94) bennyjones.iit@gmail.com

New York City: Hector Guillen (M.Arch. ’91) hguillen@jankorasic.com

Phoenix: Peter Koliopoulos (ARCH ’86) peter@circlewest.net

San Diego: Crystal Sargent (M.S. MCOM ’02) csargent@torreypinesbank.com

Seattle: Mike Wayte (ME ’61) mikejwsr@hotmail.com

Washington, D.C.: Randy Sullivan (ES ’74) R.sullivan@rlsullivan.us

Alumni networks and activities are underway in Austin, Texas, headed by Arun Prakash (AE ’99, prakaru@gmail.com) and in Minneapolis by Harley Feldman (CHEM ’69, harleyfeldman@gmail.com).

The IIT alumni community is expanding to include chapters in Houston and Dallas, and is coordinating annual activities in Atlanta, Boston, and Denver. If you live in any of these areas and want to get involved, contact the chapter chair or email the Office of Alumni Relations at alumni@iit.edu.


Global Chapters

China: General Secretary Jennifer Meng Xia (M.P.A. ’07) gyxiameng@hotmail.com

Hong Kong: Victor Lo (DSGN ’73) victor_lo@goldpeak.com

India: Thiruvengadam Ashok (M.S. CS ’01) ash@stagsoftware.com

Japan: Tetsuyuki Hirano (ARCH ’79) tetsu-hirano@hd-group.co.jp

Korea: Jongsub Moon (Ph.D. CS ’91) jsmoon@korea.ac.kr

Taiwan: Steve Chun Pan (M.S. IE ’77, Ph.D. MSC ’88) chun@uch.edu.tw

Thailand: Paiboon Pongchairerks (M.S. IE ’75) paiboopo@gmail.com