Michael C. and Lori S. Wallach

Double Huskies Mike and Lori Wallach met at NIU in 1976. It was Lori?s very first week of her freshman year, and Mike was a sophomore. They were engaged two years later in 1978 and married in September, 1979 ? the summer after Mike graduated with a B.S. in management. Although Mike started working in Niles (140 miles round trip, each day), they remained in DeKalb so that Lori could finish her senior year and graduate as an accountancy/finance double major.After Lori?s graduation, the couple moved to Des Plaines, and the two went on to have successful careers in their respective fields. They started a family and had two children, Beth and Dan.Lori retired in 2005 after working part time for various firms as a CPA which allowed her to be very involved with their children throughout their school years. She credits her accounting success to NIU?s marvelous undergraduate program and the CPA review course which enabled her to pass all four parts of the CPA exam on her first try. Mike feels lucky to have been able to retire at the age of 49. After serving as part owner and CFO of a food packaging company, he and his partners sold the company to a private equity group. Prior to that role, Mike held various other board and senior executive positions with multi-national companies.The two are now active in their resort golf course community, The Cliffs, which is located in the mountains of South Carolina. Mike is a golfer, while Lori prefers hiking and kayaking. The two share a love of reading; Lori devours history books while Mike enjoys reading about innovative business icons. He continues to stay heavily involved in business while working with young companies serving as a consultant and sitting on various boards. Mike enjoys living among senior executives from top companies around the world commenting that the intellectual conversations on the golf course are what drive him to a tee time. ?I learn something new on a daily basis. The knowledge sharing is remarkable,? he says.As soon as Mike and Lori became alumni, they also became donors, giving back to NIU what they could. Lori explains, ?Mike and I have always been grateful for our time at NIU and the wonderful avenues our NIU degrees opened up for us. Over the years, we have been blessed with success, and we have tried to share that with today?s NIU students by continuing to give back. The Michael C. and Lori S. Wallach Endowed Scholarship was established to help other NIU students attain the NIU business degree that will open up avenues of opportunity for them, as NIU did for us.?While they may have chosen to retire away from the cold winters of Illinois, the two say they feel that they are as close to NIU as the day they were there.