Manny Sanchez came to NIU as a brash young man in the 60s not knowing what to expect, but today he’s the one who sets the expectations.

Sanchez is the first NIU undergraduate alumni to serve as chairman of the NIU Board of Trustees, and he also has a civil law practice in Chicago.

Essentially, we serve as the board of directors of this corporation which happens to be a university,” he said. “Our duties are to set the policy and execute it. My favorite part of the job is serving as leader of the university in the eyes of the outside community, particularly because I am the first undergraduate alumni to do so. I enjoy lending the leadership and spirit that an institution like Northern warrants.”

Ken Davidson, board of trustees parliamentarian and university general counsel, said that Sanchez’s leadership qualities are evident.

“He is an energetic, ethical and supportive lover of NIU,” he said. “You couldn’t ask for a better cheerleader for NIU than Manny Sanchez. Anybody who has seen him at work knows that.”

One task that Sanchez does not approach with enthusiasm is dealing with the rapid rise of tuition, which the Board of Trustees sets.

“My least favorite part of the job is having to deal with the budgetary constraints which have been amplified each year that I have been a trustee,” he said. “Quite recently, we learned that what looked like a bad 2003 now looks like a horrendous 2003. It’s hard enough to maintain the high level of academic standards in a good economy, but it’s even harder to do that in a poor economy. It’s very trying and tedious.”

Sanchez said the board will make the decisions with a heavy heart and an open mind.

“I am confident that at the end of the day my fellow board of trustees members and I will walk away from the table knowing we made the hard choices in very honorable ways to protect the high standard of education at NIU.”

Nearly forty years ago, the toughest decision Sanchez faced was what to wear to class as a political science major at NIU. Sanchez said that while some things have changed since then, many things have remained the same.

“In many ways it hasn’t changed, but who would imagine that we would have the business school we have now and the brand new Convocation Center,” he said. “The demographics are very different than they were in the late 60s – and for the better. We have a very diverse student population and an increasingly diverse faculty. However, the basic essentials remain – we are still a bridesmaid to the University of Illinois and probably one of the best kept secrets in Illinois.”

Sanchez found his inspiration to become a lawyer in a popular television show.

“I wanted to be an actor,” he said. “I didn’t know that the twelve people in a [jury] box were anything but an audience. I saw someone wearing a suit acting in front of a jury and always winning. That person was Perry Mason. He didn’t have to use his back or hands to make a living like my parents did. He could act or perform and he always won. I didn’t even know what it meant to be a lawyer at the time, but I just knew that I wanted to be like him.”

Besides his work as a founding partner of Sanchez & Daniels, Sanchez sits on the boards of numerous nonprofit organizations and has served as police commissioner of Lisle since 1989.

“He is a very busy man,” Davidson said. “He has a thriving legal practice and is very involved civic affairs in Chicago, yet he manages to deal with all the issues that come from the campus very effectively.”

Sanchez has advice for students looking to reach his levels of success.

“Get your degree and view that as the first step in a lifelong process,” he said. “View it as your first step in becoming whatever you want to become in this great country of ours. Northern Illinois [University] can and does prepare its students for everything that follows graduation. Hopefully, 25 years from now you will be singing its praises like I am now.”