J. Robert "Bob" Barr '57

Barr graduated from Grinnell in 1957 with a B.A. in history and political science and received an LL.B. degree in 1960 from Harvard Law School. He is retired partner with the law firm of Sidley Austin LLP in Chicago. President Gerald Ford appointed him to the Commission on Presidential Scholars in 1975, and he served as chair of the Illinois Board of Regents (governing board of Illinois State University, Northern Illinois University, and the Springfield campus of the University of Illinois) from 1969 to 1977. Barr served as chair of the Illinois Student Assistance Commission from 1985 to 2005 and was a member of the Illinois Board of Higher Education from 1971 to 1977 and again from 1985 to 2005. He served as a member of the Illinois House of Representatives in 1981–83 and was head of the Republican Party in Cook County from 1978–85. He has been a Republican delegate to national conventions and legal adviser to the Republican National Committee; he also served on the Illinois Republican State Central Committee. He is actively involved in cultural and civic affairs, including service on the boards of the Steppenwolf Theatre Company, the TimeLine Theatre Company, the Taxpayers’ Federation of Illinois, and the Evanston (Ill.) History Center.