Dennis and Stacey Barsema

Both Dennis and Stacey give their time and expertise to NIU, where Stacey serves on the NIU Foundation board of directors and Dennis services on the NIU Board of Trustees.
Dennis Barsema, achieved tremendous success as an executive in telecommunications, software, and optical networking. He served as president and CEO of Redback Networks, where he led the company through rapid growth and one of the most successful IPOs in Wall Street history.
He and his wife, Stacey, made the largest gift in NIU history, $20 million to build a new College of Business building, Barsema Hall.
Dennis has also served as a teacher in the College of Business and has spent a considerable amount of time meeting with and mentoring business students providing inspiration to those who hear his story: triumphs and struggles alike.
Stacey Barsema’s devotion to education and other worthy causes is evident by her commitment to NIU as well as numerous other organizations. In addition to serving on the board of directors of the NIU Foundation, Stacey sits on the boards of numerous not-for-profit organizations.
While Dennis and Stacey Barsema’s philanthropy encompasses a wide variety of causes, their strong commitment to education is evident by their active involvement with and continued support of Northern Illinois University.