George F. Mahoney III
George F. Mahoney III (Political Science, ’71) was recently elected as the President of the Illinois Bar Foundation. George is the founding member of Mahoney, Silverman & Cross, LLC, a firm focusing on zoning and land development, government and municipal law, litigation and appellate practice.
George had been active on the Illinois Bar Foundation since 2004 before being elected as President. “It’s an honor to be President representing the 85,000 attorneys in Illinois,” explains George. The mission of the foundation is to ensure meaningful access to the justice system, especially for those with limited means and to assist lawyers who can no longer support themselves because of incapacity. George has also served as President of the Will County Bar Association and on the boards of the Will County Center for Economic Development and Northwestern Health Care Network.
Born and raised in Joliet, Illinois, George first discovered Lewis College while he was at Providence High School in New Lenox where he was first introduced to the Christian Brothers. “Brother Paul French was President when I decided to attend Lewis. Special faculty like Lillian Renecke, Brother Philip Lynch and Peter Kosiba were incredible. If I have any skill with the written word it is exclusively due to Mrs. Renecke. She took significant time before, between and after classes to help with my composition and writing. Lillian was a tough teacher and had very high expectations.”
“Brother Phillip Lynch was the most gentile and sophisticated man you could ever meet; just a wonderful collegial person that taught me so much. One of the smartest people that helped influence me while at Lewis was Peter Kosiba. Peter was a Renaissance man who knew everything about everything. He had an incredible presence and the capacity to transform all of the thoughts he had on the topic to the classroom.”
While attending Lewis, George was the President of the Student Government. “As I went through high school to college there was an epiphany and I developed intensity for lifelong learning. Lewis sparked the desire to learn about so much more.”
George credits the dramatic transformation of Lewis University to when President Brother James Gaffney, FSC, first arrived at Lewis. “Years ago when Brother James first came to Lewis we were in the Rotary club of Joliet, he immediately saw great vision. You can feel and see his hand in so many ways; it’s a true metamorphosis.”
“Lewis has distinguished alumni that have significantly helped the Joliet area and businesses. Our alumni have done some remarkable things that have helped out the world. I received a fine education at Lewis,” George remarked. And Lewis is very fortunate to count George Mahoney as an alumnus!
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