February 18, 2011
Media Availability -- William R. Atwood
Reporters, photographers and camera crews are welcome to attend an availability with William R. Atwood, executive director of the Illinois State Board of Investment, at 10:30 a.m., Tuesday, Feb. 22, at Southern Illinois University Carbondale’s Paul Simon Public Policy Institute. Director David Yepsen will host the event in the Institute lobby. For more information, contact Matt Baughman, associate director, at 618/453-4009 or 618/201-0082.
Atwood will discuss Illinois’ public retirement systems when he presents, “Payment for Services Rendered: The Moral and Legal Necessity of Funding Illinois’ Public Retirement Systems,” at 7 p.m. Tuesday in the Student Center Auditorium. Admission is free, and the public is welcome.
A Du Quoin native, Atwood earned his bachelor’s degree from SIUC in 1982 and a master’s of liberal arts degree from the University of Chicago. Since March 2003, Atwood has been executive director of the Illinois State Board of Investment (ISBI), which is responsible for investment and management of pension assets that now total approximately $10.7 billion from the state’s three retirement systems. In addition, the ISBI is responsible for the State of Illinois Deferred Compensation Plan, with approximately $3 billion in assets and 56,000 participants.
The Paul Simon Public Policy Institute is sponsoring Atwood’s lecture. The discussion will also be available via live stream for free on the Institute’s website, http://paulsimoninstitute.org/.