Trustee Chair Kathy Thomforde Spotlight

Trustee Chair Kathy Thomforde

Nearly fifty years have passed since Kathy Thomforde first arrived at Millikin University as a transfer student in 1976. After all that time, Millikin has remained an undeniable positive force in her life, from the time she walked on campus as a student, to now as Chair of the Board of Trustees. She dedicates her weeks to helping guide the university to success. She says this “launched her both personally and professionally.”

For Thomforde, finding her place at Millikin was not immediately easy. “I went to another institution that looked really good on paper,” Thomforde says. “But after a year, I just sort of imploded.”She returned home to Bloomington-Normal, and she thought she would be done with college for a while. “But later that fall, I was getting kind of antsy,” she says. “Millikin was just down the road. I thought, “‘I'll try it and see what it’s like.’” 

In January of 1976, Thomforde came to Millikin and moved into Aston Hall. She says, “It was cold. It was dark. It was drafty.” Even with that, she soon started to find a personal rhythm that made navigating campus easier. New friends, interesting classes, and a sorority gave her positive experiences and improved her time at Millikin. When she was invited to an informal ice cream rush by Alpha Chi Omega members she nearly didn’t go, but luckily, she did. “I met people I’m still friends with almost 50 years later,” she says, “Living in that Alpha Chi house with all those women was really important for my personal development. People don’t believe this, but I used to be shy — afraid of my own shadow.”

Thomforde in college

During her time at Millikin as a student, Thomforde majored in Business, and it was in a marketing course that she met Dr. Paul Wynne. “He was young, energetic, [and] encouraging,” she says. “He reached out to me, got me doing independent research projects. I thought I’d just graduate and get a sales job, but he said, ‘No, no, you’ve got graduate school potential.’”

One weekend, Wynne went so far as to meet with Thomforde’s parents, inviting them to lunch to explain why he thought graduate school would be a great option for her. With his support and encouragement, she applied to top business schools and was accepted at graduate schools in Chicago, Michigan, and Northwestern. “I chose Northwestern,” she says. “When my classmates finished their MBA, I was already in the PhD program.” Sadly, Wynne passed unexpectedly the following year, but his impact on Thomforde was undeniable and shaped her future. “He really set me on this trajectory that’s been such a wonderful career,” she says.

Thomforde's graduation

That path led Thomforde through years of teaching. She taught at the University of Minnesota, then at St. Olaf College for 20 more years. “I love being there when young people are trying to figure out what they’re interested in,” she says. “Especially women, because it's not an equal situation yet.” This undeniable passion and dedication she has for younger students made it easy for her to accept President Patrick White’s offer to join the Board of Trustees. She spent her whole life in higher education and knew corporate America wasn’t for her personally. She wanted to be with students. Now, eight years later, she leads the Board as Chair. “It’s not a happy time in higher ed,” she says. “But if I can make a difference, I want to do it.”

As the Board Chair, she naturally falls into a leadership position, but she does not like being the sole decision maker. Her leadership style prioritizes collaboration, mutual respect, and open honesty. “We have 26 trustees, all with different backgrounds,” Thomforde says. “The most rewarding part is making people feel heard. The best decisions are the ones a lot of people have weighed in on.”

President Pribbenow and Thomforde on Byers and Co. podcast.

She currently has weekly meetings with President Pribbenow, estimating she spends about 10 hours a week dedicated solely to Millikin business. What matters most to Thomforde is not the workload but the connection with students at Millikin and witnessing their success. “My favorite time of the year is commencement,” she says. “There’s nothing like seeing students walk across that stage. I’ve been to so many commencements in my life, but I stay for every one at Millikin. It’s the best.”

Millikin University has gone through many changes since Thomforde was a student, but even with time, she believes the spirit and goal behind Millikin have always remained the same. “James Millikin was brilliant in how he blended the professional and the liberal arts,” she says. “That combination — what we now call performance learning — is still the essence of Millikin.”

Thomforde with her AXO siblings

When looking towards the future, Thomforde’s goal has also remained the same because of her passion for Millikin and its students. “I just want Millikin to keep doing what it does so well: helping students find their paths,” she says. “This place launched me, and fifty years later, it's still launching students. I want to make sure it keeps doing that fifty years from now.”