RESOLUTION
WHEREAS, Frank M. Clark, President of the Chicago Board of Education, has been named a recipient of the 2017 Order of Lincoln Award by the Lincoln Academy of Illinois; and
WHEREAS, The Chicago City Council has been informed of this honor by Alderman Edward M. Burke; and
WHEREAS, The Order of Lincoln is the state of Illinois' high award given to individuals whose individual achievements and contributions to the betterment of society have brought honor to the state; and
WHEREAS, Frank M. Clark is a lifelong Chicagoan and an alumnus of DePaul University; and
WHEREAS, Frank M. Clark currently serves as President of the Chicago Board of Education and has served in that capacity since his appointment in 2015 by Mayor Rahm Emanuel; and
WHEREAS, In 2005 Frank Clark became the first African-American Chairman and CEO of Commonwealth Edison, a company he served for 46-years before retiring in 2012; and
WHEREAS, Frank M. Clark is the President of the Business Leadership Council, and was former President of the Chicago Chapter of the American Association of Blacks in Energy; and
WHEREAS, Frank M. Clark is currently the Chairman of both the Executive Committee of The Chicago Community Trust, and the Board of Directors for BMO Financial Corporation; and
WHEREAS, Frank M. Clark is on the Corporate Board of Aetna Inc., and Waste Management Inc.; and
WHEREAS, Frank M. Clark has previously served as the Chairman of the Board of Metropolitan Family Services, the Board of Jane Addams Hull House, and the Board of Directors of the Adler Planetarium and Astronomy Museum, where he is also a Life Trustee; and
WHEREAS, Frank M. Clark is a member of the Board of Directors for the Big Shoulders Fund; and
WHEREAS, Frank M. Clark a member on the Board of Trustees for the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, DePaul University, the Museum of Science & Industry, and the Lincoln Academy of Illinois; and
WHEREAS, Frank M. Clark is a member of the Chicago Bar Association, the Commercial Club of Chicago, the Executives Club of Chicago, and the RAND Advisory Board; and
WHEREAS, Frank M. Clark co-founded the Rowe-Clark Math & Science Academy, a campus of the Noble Network of Charter Schools on Chicago's West Side; and
WHEREAS, The Rowe-Clark Math & Science Academy focuses on hard work, student achievement and success and is one of the top-achieving schools in the city; and
WHEREAS, Frank M. Clark has received numerous awards, including the prestigious History Makers Award and the National Humanitarian Award from the National Conference for Community and Justice; and
WHEREAS, Frank M. Clark has been ranked among Fortune Magazine's 50 Most Powerful Black Executives in America; and
WHEREAS, U.S. Black Engineer & Information Technology Magazine named Frank M. Clark to its annual list of the 100 Most Important Blacks in Technology; now, therefore
BE IT RESOLVED, That we, the Mayor and the members of the Chicago City Council do hereby recognize and congratulate Frank M. Clark on this nineteenth day of April 2017 as one of seven distinguished recipients of the Order of Lincoln Award, which is to be presented by the Lincoln Academy of Illinois on May 6, 2017; and