ICCTA Honorary Membership

2002 Recipient



Ray Hartstein
Founding board chair
Oakton Community College


A member of the Oakton board from its founding in 1969 until his retirement in November 2001, Hartstein served the majority of those years as board chair. He led the Trustees Association as its president from 1978 to 1980 and was an active member of every ICCTA committee.

As chair of ICCTA's Excellence Committee, he created the Outstanding Faculty Member Award and led a series of "Excellence through Quality Learning" seminars for trustees and instructors. In addition, he established the association's Trustee Education Committee, conducting many seminars and board retreats himself.



Ray Hartstein, ICCTA's newest Honorary Member

Hartstein wrote hundreds of papers on effective governance, including ICCTA'sGuidelines for Establishing a Board Self-Evaluation. As an unofficial mentor to countless board members across the country, he earned the sobriquet "Mr. Trustee."

He also left his mark in the legislative arena, working on such issues as collective bargaining, the annexation of non-district territory (leading to the founding of Heartland Community College), consolidated election law, faculty tenure, and the Illinois Open Meetings Act.

Hartstein's legacy is reflected in the fact that ICCTA's trustee achievement award proudly bears his name, as does Oakton's Skokie campus and its faculty awards program.