One of the Northern Star’s most steadfast supporters, Rich Schovanec of the Chicago Tribune, never worked at the campus newspaper. In fact, he didn’t even attend NIU. But neither fact has prevented Rich from adopting the Northern Star as his own and taking its students and alumni under his wing.

For 11 years, Rich has used his expertise in advertising to guide the Northern Star’s students and alumni to successful careers in sales, and for the past six years he has extended himself even further, lending professional experience to the Northern Star Publication Board.

A graduate of DePaul University, Rich worked in ad production at the Wall Street Journal before joining the Chicago Tribune’s advertising staff in 1969. As he rose in the Tribune ranks to senior sales manager, he frequently took time to work with new employees and interns.

Then, one summer in the late 1980s, one of his student interns committed him to speaking at training seminar for new advertising staff at the Northern Star. And so began Rich’s commitment to the paper and its students.

“Working with the kids from the Star has been a lot of fun,” Rich said. “It was real easy to want to be associated with the Northern Star and stick with it because of all the people that work so hard and care about what they are doing.”

In 1989, Rich was instrumental in starting a Tribune-sponsored advertising-sales conference for Northern Star students. The conference was so successful that he helped expand it over the years to include other student newspapers from Illinois and, eventually, other states as well.

Rich has ensured that his mentoring efforts will continue with the involvement of another advertising mentor from the Chicago Tribune, Rusty Anglin.

“The whole point was to establish a place for kids who want to stay in the newspaper business to learn and establish connections to people who can help them,” Rich said. “I guess I got involved because I always hoped that there would be someone else out there willing to do the same thing for my kids.”

Recently retired from the Tribune (but not the Northern Star), Rich lives in Downers Grove. His two children, Louie, 31, and Ellen, 29, both have chosen careers in sales.