The College of Business honored the first inductees into its Service Hall of Fame in 2008-2009. Each year the dean and his staff chooses one or more individuals for this distinction based on their long-standing dedication to the College and its mission. Service Hall of Fame inductees are listed on a permanent display in the College of Business and are recognized during Hall of Fame Day during Business Week each spring.
Class of 2014 - 2015 Service Hall of Fame Inductees
Tom Connor '80
Connor began his career with Sentry Insurance Company in 1980 after receiving is B.S. in Occupation Safety & Health in 1980 from Illinois State University. After 5 years in the Safety field Connor went into the Insurance Brokerage field with Frank B. Hall & Co. (now Aon Corp.). In 1987 he became part of the team that formed Consolidated Brokers, Inc. in Chicago as a division of the Alliance Insurance Group.
In 1997 after 5 years as the Chief Operating Officer, Connor left and joined with Dan Gallagher as one of the founding partners of Connor & Gallagher Insurance Services, Inc. Since that time Connor & Gallagher as grown to 3 companies and become one of the premier commercial insurance agencies in the Midwest. Connor & Gallagher is a leading provider of Property/Casualty, Employee Benefits and Financial Services with over 50 employees and $100 Million in premium placements.
Throughout his career Connor has served in several capacities on the boards of civic, not for profit and insurance industry boards. He has also participated with the advisory council for the Katie School of Insurance at Illinois State University.
Daniel E. Gallagher '81
Gallagher is one of the owners and founding partners at Connor & Gallagher Insurance Services, Inc., based in Lisle, Illinois. Connor & Gallagher was started in 1997 by Tom Connor and Dan Gallagher. Today Connor & Gallagher has grown to a staff of over 50 insurance professionals that handles a book of business that exceeds $100,000,000 in annual premiums.
Gallagher earned a Bachelor’s degree in Occupational Safety & Health from Illinois State University in 1981. He then went to work for Sentry Insurance in the Safety field. Ironically it was at Sentry Insurance working in Safety that he met Tom Connor whom he eventually went on to open Connor & Gallagher Insurance Services with some 16 years later. Gallagher worked in the Safety field with Sentry Insurance for approximately three years before transitioning into insurance sales. He stayed with Sentry Insurance another 10 years in direct sales before taking a position with Arthur J. Gallagher working in commercial insurance brokerage. He spent three years at Arthur J. Gallagher before leaving to open Connor & Gallagher Insurance Services, Inc. in 1997.
Gallagher has always remembered his roots at Illinois State University. He has served as a Board member for The Katie School of Insurance for many years and has helped many Katie School graduates find employment opportunities as well as helping them get started in the insurance profession.