Northern Illinois University
In May 2005 Cherilyn Murer received a gubernatorial appointment, with Senate confirmation, to a six-year term on the Northern Illinois University Board of Trustees in DeKalb, Illinois. In June 2009, she completed a two-year term as Chairman of this prestigious Board. Ms. Murer has also developed specialized expertise in proton therapy as Chair of the Northern Illinois Proton Therapy and Research Center, a project in conjunction with Fermilab and Argonne National Laboratory, both located in northern Illinois. In May 2011 she received another gubernatorial appointment for a second term on this distinguished board, and in September 2011 was elected for a second term as Chair.
NIU College of Law Extends Professionalism Series
A program at the Northern Illinois University College of Law has been created for first year law students in order to ensure the lawyers of tomorrow are ethical legal practitioners as well as being technically skilled. The program, "Introduction to the Legal Profession: History, Culture, and Values" is funded by Cherilyn and Michael Murer. There were four lectures in October and November. Ms. Murer was the guest speaker at the Wednesday, November 9, session presenting "Morality Without Rules: Ethics in Business Transactions". NIU announced on December 1, 2011 that the Murer's have now graciously extended their sponsorship of this valuable lecture series.
Cherilyn G. Murer Elected to Chair NIU Board of Trustees
On September 15, 2011, Cherilyn Murer was elected as Chair of the Board of Trustees of Northern Illinois University. This marks the second time Ms. Murer is serving as the Chairman of Board of NIU Trustees and is the first time in the history of the university that someone has served two different terms as chairman. Ms. Murer is honored to have been elected again.
NIU Chicago Speaker Series 2011
On May 26, 2011, Cherilyn G. Murer was honored to present "The Chaos of Health Reform and Its Impact on You" as part of the Northern Illinois University Chicago Speakers Series. Ms. Murer's presentation was centered around President Barack Obama's Health Reform Act. The NIU Chicago Speaker Series is held quarterly in NIU's Chicago Office with a variety of engaging topics in a professional networking atmosphere.
Cherilyn Murer Re-appointed to NIU Board of Trustees
Governor Pat Quinn has re-appointed Cherilyn G. Murer to the Northern Illinois University Board of Trustees for her second six-year term. This re-appointment has again been confirmed by the Illinois Senate. For more information, please see the attached Press Release from the Northern Illinois University College of Law. Congratulations, Cherilyn!
Cherilyn G. Murer Chosen to Present 18th Annual Francix X. Riley Lecture on Professionalism
NIU Trustee, Cherilyn G. Murer, presented the 18th Annual Francis x. Riley Lecture on Professionalism at 3 p.m. on Friday, April 1, 2011. Her lecture, entitled "Recalibrating the Compass - Amorality and the Ethics of Nonfeasance" focused on the essence of leadership, accountability and social responsibility in the study and practice of law and how this can help affect needed reform in other industries, including banking, healthcare and education. This lecture series honors Riley as part of his legacy within the legal community and at the NIU College of Law in particular. Ms. Murer was honored to have been chosen to present this lecture at the NIU College of Law. For the past 25 years, Murer has distinguished herself as an active voice in the advancement of quality, cost-effective health care.
The Murer Initiative Becomes a Reality
The Northern Illinois University Interdisciplinary Healthcare Policy and Management (IHPM) certificate promotes collaboration among four key disciplines: business, engineering, health sciences, and law, and is based upon performance measures critical to effective healthcare service delivery spanning these disciplines. Students will develop an understanding of the values, behaviors, concepts, and language of the four disciplines while integrating their knowledge from the professions/degree programs they are pursuing. The certificate is jointly administered by the College of Business, College of Engineering and Engineering Technology, College of Health and Human Sciences, and the College of Law.
The initial development of the NIU IHPM graduate certificate program was made possible by the generous gift of Cherilyn and Michael Murer. For more information on this program, please click here.
Cherilyn Murer Lectures at NIU College of Business on "IT and Healthcare"
Cherilyn G. Murer presented a lecture to more than 250 undergraduate junior and senior students in Barsema Hall at the Northern Illinois University College of Business in DeKalb, Illinois, on Wednesday, October 20, 2010, as part of a Visiting Lecture Series. The lecture, “The Role of IT in the American Healthcare Delivery System”, centered on the technological portion of doctor-patient communication. Both hospitals and physicians can benefit financially from the new American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA). Hospitals that participate in the Medicare program and are "meaningful" users of certified Electronic Health Record (EHR) technology would qualify for Medicare incentive payments under the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act. Certified technology, Interoperability and Quality Measures are the three requirements for being considered a meaningful EHR user. The requirements become effective in 2011, when eligible physicians and hospitals will begin receiving incentive payments. Above and beyond the incentive payments, the potential financial benefits of EHR use are much greater than a healthcare organization could gain from any government incentives. To see the slide presentation that went with this speech, please click here.
Cherilyn Murer Receives 2010 Northern Illinois University Distinguished Alumni of Year Award
Cherilyn Murer was the recipient of the most prestigious award award given by the Northern Illinois University Alumni Association. The honor of Distinguished Alumni of the Year is awarded to one individual each year who has achieved national, regional, or statewide prominence. Ms. Murer's success was celebrated at a dinner and reception on Thursday, April 29. Please see the attached article which was in the Northern Lawyer, 2010.
NIU Law Alumna Cherilyn Murer to Be Inducted Into UIC Entrepreneurship Hall of Fame
NIU Press Release (On-Line), February 16, 2010 -- Chicago, Illinois - NIU Law Alumna Cherilyn G. Murer (’78), founder and president of Murer Consultants, Inc. will be inducted into the Chicago Area Entrepreneurship Hall of Fame at a dinner at the Chicago Hilton & Towers in downtown Chicago on Thursday evening, February 25. Established 25 years ago by the University of Illinois at Chicago’s Institute for Entrepreneurial Studies, the award recognizes innovative business leaders who have demonstrated an entrepreneurial spirit and business talent by founding or growing their respective businesses.
In addition to her duties as President and CEO of the consulting firm, Ms. Murer holds an appointment on the faculty of the University of Illinois at Chicago College of Medicine as a Clinical Assistant Professor of Law in the Department of Family Medicine. She is Chair of the Northern Illinois Proton Therapy and Research Center and is completing a six year gubernatorial appointment in 2011, following a successful, two-year term as Chair of the Board of Trustees at NIU.
Murer graduated from NIU Law in 1978 and has served on its Board of Visitors since 2002. In 2003, she was named the NIU Alumni Association’s Outstanding College Alumni Award recipient for the College of Law.
Healthcare Expert Cherilyn Murer Named to Head Northern Illinois Proton Board
The Northern Illinois Proton Treatment and Research Center (NIPTRC) announced Thursday, August 20, 2009, that Cherilyn Murer has been named Chair of its Board of Directors. Ms. Murer's appointment was made official following a unanimous vote of approval by the Northern Illinois Research Foundation, the sole member of NIPTRC. NIPTRC is a tax-exempt entity that will make available proton beam therapy, an advanced and highly effective form of radiation therapy currently unavailable in Illinois; the noninvasive therapy is the treatment of choice for certain pediatric and adult cancers. NIPTRC is working with NIU and physicians from the Northwestern Medical Faculty Foundation to provide clinical and educational services to patients. Joint research partnerships between researchers from FermiLab and Argonne National Lagoratory will help to advance the field of proton therapy worldwide. Below is a short video regarding NIPTRC.
Cherilyn Murer Presented Plaque by NIU College of Engineering
On August 18, 2009, Ms. Cherilyn Murer was honored at the full meeting of the Northern Illinois University College of Engineering and Engineering Technology with a NIU Huskies plaque presented in honor of her outstanding service to Northern Illinois University and her friendship to the NIU College of Engineering and Engineering Technology. This plaque is proudly displayed in Ms. Murer's office at Murer Consultants, Inc., in Joliet, Illinois.
Cherilyn Murer Honored by Northern Illinois University Board of Trustees
Cherilyn G. Murer, JD, CRA, appointed for a six-year term to the Northern Illinois University Board of Trustees in May of 2005 by the Governor of Illinois, concluded a two-year term as Chair of this prestigious board on June 30, 2009. Upon the culmination of her service as Chair, Mr. Murer was presented with a "Resolution of Distinguished Service to Northern Illinois University Board of Trustees", which has been placed in the official files of the NIU Board of Trustees as part of the permanent record of the university and the state of Illinois as a lasting tribute to her accomplishments. She also currently serves on the Executive Committee, the Finance, Facilities and Operations Committee, and is Vice Chair of the Academic Affairs, Student Affairs and Personnel Committee, as well as chairing the Lesiglation, Audit and External Affairs Committee. Mr. Murer's current term will end in June of 2011.
Cherilyn Murer - Keynote Speaker at Proton Therapy Symposium Dinner
From June 22 through June 24 at the Northern Illinois University (NIU) Naperville Campus, the Northern Illinois Proton Treatment and Research Center (NIPTRC) sponsored a three-day symposium which focused on "Recent Advances in Proton Radiation Therapy Research". The hosts of the symposium were NIU, NIPTRC, University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center and Rice University. Cherilyn Murer, NIU Board of Trustees Chair, was keynote speaker on June 23rd at a dinner held at Fermilab in Batavia, Illinois. Please see the attached press release from NIPTRC for more information, as well as Ms. Murer's presentation, "The Political Environment and Its Impact on Proton Therapy."
NIU One Year Later - Day of Remembrance
February 14, 2009
Cherilyn Murer is the Chairman of the Board of Trustees for Northern Illinois University in DeKalb, Illinois. On February 14, 2008, NIU was the scene of a tragedy in which 23 students were shot, 5 of whom died. On February 14, 2009, a day of remembrance was held at NIU for all NIU students, their families and friends to mark the one-year anniversary of the tragedy. In the morning a memorial service was held for the 5 students who were so quickly taken. Twenty-five hundred people attended this service to hear the reassuring words that were spoken. An invocation was given by NIU Executive Vice President, Dr. Eddie Williams. Ms. Murer presented a Day of Remembrance Welcome to all the attendees and then introduced NIU President, John Peters.
NIU Building Proton Therapy Clinic
On Thursday, June 19, 2008, Northern Illinois University broke ground on a a $160 million proton therapy cancer treatment center in West Chicago. Cherilyn Murer, as Chairman of the Board of Trustees for NIU is deeply involved in this project. Please see the attached write-up on the "Proton Therapy Cancer Treatment Center.
NIU/Murer Initiative to Address Changing Needs in Healthcare Industry
A sea change is on the horizon for American healthcare providers, and industry analysts are worried that none of the principal players are ready to manage that change: erosion of traditional health insurance benefits; new technology; changes in the physician-hospital relationship; growing numbers of uninsured patients; movement toward integrated electronic patient records; increasing calls for quality control and regulation . . .
The list is endless, and not one of these issues can be managed without broad understanding of legal, financial, medical regulatory, technical and ethical perspectives, says Cherilyn Murer. Today's healthcare leaders need cross-disciplinary training that complements their focused expertise.
To that end, Murer and her husband, Michael, made a significant investment to jump-start a "new healthcare initiative" at Northern Illinois University, where Cherilyn is on the University Board of Trustees and served as Chair of this Board from 2007 to 2009.
The NIU Healthcare Leadership Initiative (HLI), of which the Health Care Policy and Management Program is a part, focuses every type of university expertise on society's most pressing healthcare issues. Recognizing the complex nature of today's healthcare environment, NIU leaders created this initiative to speed development of multidisciplinary programs, approaches and teams of experts. The initiative involves faculty and staff from virtually every NIU college and department, and provides hand-on learning opportunities for thousands of NIU students. Development of NIU's Proton Therapy Cancer Treatment Center, for example, involves faculty, staff and students from physics, business, allied health, nursing, law, engineering, biology, chemistry, education and even the fine arts. This integrated approach reflects both innovative thinking and a strong emphasis on healthcare leadership in NIU's strategic plan.
"They've already mapped existing NIU courses into potential new certificate and degree programs," Murer explained, "and the results are exciting, new, multidisciplinary curricula that I think will have great appeal to healthcare leaders in our region and beyond."
"The challenges we face in modern healthcare are complex, and they require broad, horizontal viewpoints," Murer said. "How does the money work? What laws might have to change? Do patients have all the information they need to make good choices? How do insurance policies affect the way doctors practice medicine? Health professionals have to deal with all of these issues every single day, and they need a breadth of knowledge to handle them compassionately and effectively."