Along with Wendy Snyder, the other Riverside-Brookfield High School Alumni Achievement Award winners being honored this year are three members of the class of 1973 and one member of the class of 1976.
John Lyell Clarke III, class of 1973, is the president of Clarke, a global public heath company focusing on mosquito control and habitat health. Clarke earned a bachelor’s degree in entomology from the University of Kentucky and a Ph.D. in entomology from Iowa State University. He became president and CEO of Clarke after his father retired in 1996.
Clarke’s emergency response teams led the fight against the West Nile Virus in New York City and the Zika outbreak in Miami.
Clarke’s classmate, Dr. Gwendolyn L. Kartje, is the chief of neuroscience research at the Edward Hines Jr. VA Medical Center and professor of medicine at Loyola’s Stritch School of Medicine. From 2010-2015 she was director of neuroscience research at Loyola.
Dr. Kartje is one of the world’s top researchers in developing new treatments for brain and spinal cord injuries. She earned a bachelor’s degree in biology from Northern Illinois University.
In 1984, she received a Ph.D. degree in anatomy from Loyola and she received her M.D. from Loyola in 1988.
Andrew P. Tecson, another member of the Class of 1973, is a lawyer and the president of the Chicago law firm of Chuhak & Tecson, which has 70 attorneys.
Tecson specializes in corporate, healthcare and not-for-profit law. He earned a bachelor’s degree in economics from Northwestern in 1977 and received his law degree from the University of Chicago in 1980.
He and his wife, Nancy Hagen, founded the Glenhagen Farm Retreat near Princeton, Illinois, which provides a rustic camping experience and education to youth groups and people of all ages.
Tecson is an accomplished composer and jazz musician who plays the saxophone. He has produced five CDs and leads the ChurchJazz ministry and has played jazz in many churches, participating in more than 300 worship services. In 1985 Tecson composed the Chicago Jazz Mass.
Robert (Bob) Latham graduated from RBHS in 1976. He also is a lawyer and heads the media law and intellectual property litigation sections at the Dallas-based law firm Jackson Walker, where he is a partner.
Latham graduated from Stanford with a degree in political science in 1980 and graduated from the University of Virginia School of Law three years later.
He is an accomplished trial lawyer who practices in many areas of the law. He has been recognized as a top lawyer in six different areas of the law.
Latham has played rugby from 1978 until 1996, and played at a very high level. He has played rugby in the United States and overseas. He was inducted into the Texas Rugby Hall of Fame.
He was twice elected chairman of USA Rugby and was the first American to ever be elected to the executive committee of World Rugby. Latham has also served as member of the United States Olympic Committee.
Latham has visited more than 60 countries and writes a column for SportsTravel Magazine.
