The Honorable Emanuel “Chris” Welch, Speaker of the Illinois House of Representatives, will deliver the commencement address during the Northern Illinois University College of Law Commencement Exercises, beginning at 3 p.m. on Saturday, May 28 at the NIU Convocation Center in DeKalb, IL. During the ceremony, NIU Law will confer 97 Juris Doctorate degrees. The ceremony for the Class of 2022 will be live-streamed at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ukm-FHsmp7Y.
Speaker Welch has served as a State Representative in the Illinois General Assembly since January 2013. On January 13, 2021, he became the Speaker of the Illinois House of Representatives, becoming the first Black lawmaker to hold such position. Prior to becoming Speaker, Welch served as chair of the House Executive Committee and before that he chaired Higher Education. All positions where he left a positive mark.
As a State Representative, Speaker Welch focused on improving classroom education, creating jobs, helping the most vulnerable, and streamlining government. He was the Chief Sponsor of several pieces of historic legislation including the law bringing cursive writing back to our schools, the Historic Illinois Trust Act, the Law making Illinois a Welcoming State for immigrants, and the Homeless Bill of Rights. Speaker Welch is also a leading voice for adding black and brown people to the boards of publicly held corporations after sponsoring landmark legislation that requires Illinois corporations to annually disclose their board composition.
Speaker Welch has been recognized with several significant awards for his legislative record and for his work in school, education and civil rights law. He is a graduate of Proviso West High School (‘89), Northwestern University (‘93), and The John Marshall Law School (‘97). He is a 2016 inductee into the JMLS Wall of Fame.
Full bio for Speaker Welch.
