CAST Hall of Fame Inductees

Daryle Wragge

BS 1971, Agriculture

Daryle Wragge has dedicated more than five decades to advancing agricultural education and strengthening Illinois’ farming communities. Raised in northern Woodford County on his family’s 1,000-acre grain and livestock farm—a property stewarded by his family for more than 150 years—Wragge has spent his career helping young people develop agricultural skills and leadership abilities.

A graduate of Illinois Central College, Illinois State University, and the University of Illinois, Wragge taught high school agriculture for 38 years at schools across central Illinois and served 16 years as agriculture teacher and FFA advisor at Putnam County High School. There, he built one of the state’s most active FFA programs, growing membership to more than 200 students annually, establishing land-lab facilities, developing livestock enterprises, and earning repeated Gold Emblem chapter honors. He also guided students to state proficiency awards, Star Farmer recognitions, and leadership opportunities.

Wragge’s career also includes service as an FBFM fieldman for University of Illinois Extension; teaching roles at Illinois Central College, Illinois Valley Community College, and Illinois State University; and 12 years as a University of Illinois Extension advisor for a four-county region. He has contributed to numerous advisory boards, curriculum councils, and professional organizations, and has been honored as the District One IAVAT Top Agriculture Instructor.

A lifelong advocate for agricultural literacy and community engagement, Wragge continues to manage his family farm and remains active in local organizations, conservation efforts, and Extension initiatives.

Jack McQueen

BS 1991, Criminal Justice Sciences

Jack McQueen graduated from Illinois State University in 1991 with a bachelor's degree in criminal justice sciences. During his final semester, he completed an internship with the Illinois State Police Drug Task Force 6. Following the internship, he was hired by the Illinois State Police as a criminal intelligence analyst where he supported drug operations for a three-county area.

In 1994, McQueen accepted an opportunity with the Bloomington Police Department to establish the first local Criminal Intelligence Unit for a municipal law enforcement agency. He remains with the department today and now serves as the supervisor of the regional Crime and Intelligence Analysis Program, overseeing the Real Time Information and Crime Center. As part of his leadership, McQueen is recognized as a strong advocate for law enforcement transparency, the protection of civil rights, and safeguarding personal privacy in all intelligence‑led operations.

From 1995-2000, McQueen was the law enforcement liaison to the U.S. Department of Justice Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention’s national gang crime evaluation project. At the time, this was the largest formal study of street gangs in the United States, focused on intervention and prevention strategies for reducing future youth gang violence. For his continued work in gang intelligence, McQueen received the Frederick Thrasher Award from the National Gang Crime Research Center. He also serves as a court‑appointed expert in crime analysis related to street gangs and has provided expert testimony in more than 35 shooting and homicide trials.

Throughout his career, McQueen has developed and instructed specialized law enforcement training courses on topics including intelligence‑led policing, organizational responses to major crimes, crime analysis, high‑tech crimes, and social media investigations. He continues to guest lecture on these topics at Illinois State University, Heartland Community College, Lincoln College, the College of DuPage, and various law enforcement academies across Illinois.

McQueen currently oversees the daily operations of the Real Time Crime Information Center, which utilizes a cutting-edge platform integrating 13 advanced crime‑solving systems. The center is recognized across Illinois for its pioneering use of artificial intelligence to accelerate crime detection, synthesize multiple data streams, and resolve cases previously considered unsolvable. His leadership in technology‑driven policing has earned statewide and national recognition over the past three years. 

McQueen’s crime‑reduction initiatives have made a significant and positive impact on the Bloomington‑Normal community over the past three decades. McQueen is deeply committed to the ongoing support of local youth programs focused on mentorship, education, and violence prevention. A second‑generation Illinois State University graduate, he remains closely connected to the Illinois State community, is married with two adult children, and remains a resident of McLean County. 

Katie Buchanan

BS 2000, Family and Consumer Sciences

After graduating from Illinois State University in 2000 with a Bachelor of Science in interior design and environmental design, Katie Buchanan launched her design career in Chicago. Over the next two decades at global architecture and design firm Gensler, she built a career defined by leadership, innovation, and design excellence. Opportunities with the firm took her to Los Angeles, Chicago, and ultimately to San Francisco. 

Today, Buchanan serves as co-managing director of Gensler’s San Francisco office, leading multidisciplinary teams that create workplaces for some of the world’s most influential organizations, including OpenAI. She is known for her ability to unite clients around a shared vision, delivering environments that advance business goals while enriching the human experience.

Throughout her career, Buchanan has been equally committed to developing people as she has been to designing places. She is a passionate mentor who believes great design begins with collaboration and empowered colleagues. Her leadership has contributed to Gensler San Francisco’s recognition for its role in revitalizing downtown San Francisco, and she serves on the board of directors for Project Color Corps. In 2026, she was honored as an Influential Woman in Business by the San Francisco Business Times and Real Estate Power Women by Bisnow.

She lives in Oakland, California , with her husband, two sons, and golden retriever, finding her greatest inspiration in family, travel, and the places that bring people together.

Jedediah Cantrell

BS 2001, Health Sciences

Jedediah L. Cantrell, MBA, FACHE, is an accomplished health care executive with more than 25 years of progressive leadership experience driving operational excellence, strategic growth, and organizational transformation. Throughout her career, she has built a reputation for aligning vision with execution, developing high-performing teams, expanding clinical services, and leading initiatives that improve organizational performance, patient outcomes, and community health.

Her executive leadership spans nationally recognized health systems across Illinois, where she has overseen multimillion-dollar operational portfolios, directed hundreds of health care professionals, and led diverse clinical and support service divisions, including cancer care, laboratory services, rehabilitation, health information management, respiratory therapy, medical imaging, ambulatory care, women's health, food and nutrition services, engineering, facilities management, and ancillary services. Cantrell has successfully led hospital modernization projects exceeding $100 million, expanded outpatient access, recruited physicians, and implemented operational improvements that strengthened patient experience, financial performance, and long-term growth.

A Fellow of the American College of Healthcare Executives (FACHE), Cantrell is recognized as a collaborative servant leader committed to developing people and building cultures of trust, accountability, and continuous improvement. Beyond health care, she is passionate about leadership development and community service. She serves in leadership roles with Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority, Inc., and Jack and Jill of America, Incorporated; mentors emerging professionals; and serves on the boards or advisory councils of Bridges to Prosperity Northern Illinois, the Rock Valley College Foundation, Living to Serve Foundation, Inc., and the Illinois State University Health Information Management Advisory Council.

Cantrell holds an Executive MBA from Bradley University, a Bachelor of Science in health information management from Illinois State University, and an Associate of Applied Science in medical laboratory technology from Illinois Central College. She and her husband, Donte, reside in Belvidere and are proud parents of three children and grandparents to their growing family.

Dan Blake

BS 1987, Information Technology

After graduating summa cum laude from Illinois State University with a Bachelor of Science in applied computer science and a concentration in business administration, Dan Blake began a career covering more than 40 years of product, technology, and operational transformation. His career started in the data center at Illinois State University while he was still a student.

Blake’s early path took him through consulting roles at firms including Andersen Consulting, Coopers & Lybrand, and McDonnell Douglas before he moved into senior technology leadership. At Aon Corporation, he served as chief technology officer and as president and CEO of Aon Risk Technologies, directing a 200-person global organization and a $58 million budget while leading due diligence and integration for more than 20 acquisitions.

He went on to lead technology and product at a series of high-growth, venture- and private-equity-backed companies. As chief development officer at AirStrip Technologies, he helped deliver FDA-cleared mobile health care platforms. As chief technology officer at Valence Health and MedSpeed, he modernized systems supporting millions of patients and national logistics networks. At Aspire Software as chief product and technology officer, he scaled annual recurring revenue from $7 million to $18 million before a successful acquisition by ServiceTitan, then supported growth to $87 million while building a global team that grew from seven to more than 262 people.

In 2001, Blake founded Archistrat Consulting, where he still serves as president and chief product and technology officer, advising startups and enterprises as a fractional executive. Today, he also serves as a board product and technology advisor to six private-equity-backed software companies, focusing on applying artificial intelligence to real business outcomes. He has personally designed and deployed multiple production AI systems throughout his career. 

Kevin McCarthy

MS 2002, Kinesiology and Recreation

Kevin McCarthy first came to Illinois State University as an undergraduate in finance (finance, accounting, and law at the time). After graduating with a Bachelor of Science in finance, McCarthy held positions in private accounting and in financial services.

McCarthy took a break from his full-time finance career to chase a dream of pursuing triathlon racing. After moderate success in racing, McCarthy began to pursue graduate course work in the community college system in Phoenix, Arizona. He accepted an offer at Illinois State to do original research for his graduate work in sport and exercise psychology. McCarthy assisted his faculty mentor on a U.S. Olympic Committee-funded research grant doing the first motivational profiling study of its kind, examining the motivational frameworks of volleyball players that continue competing and winning at high levels.

After graduate school, McCarthy joined a corporate wellness company focused on helping build vitality and resilient performance with high-level consultants and professional services firms. In 2000, he went out fully on his own and created Path Performance, a coaching company dedicated to helping leaders, entrepreneurs, and endurance athletes perform at their best.

McCarthy has worked with individuals from numerous corporations and institutions, including Bekaert, ConAgra Foods, Kraft Foods, Arthur Andersen, Accenture, Avaya, Aon, Heidrick and Struggles, Dartmouth/Tuck School of Management, Lore International Institute, EDC Utah, State Farm, Afni, Pekin Insurance, Illinois Development Council, and numerous small organizations in the U.S. He is also a member of the Institute of Coaching and is a U.S. Triathlon Level II coach.

Additionally, McCarthy serves his community as councilman for the Town of Normal since 2012. He also serves on the Community Behavioral Health Coordinating Council, Lake Run Club board, and previously on the Advisory Council for the School of Kinesiology and Recreation at Illinois State. He was the diving coach at Illinois Wesleyan University for over 20 years.

Maj. Cedric Williams

BS 2009, Military Sciences

Maj. Cedric Williams is a 2008 graduate of Illinois State University. Williams was commissioned as an infantry officer in the United States Army Reserve in 2009 after beginning his military service as an enlisted infantryman in 2002. Today, he serves as an airborne and ranger-qualified infantry officer with more than two decades of military service. Throughout his career, he has held numerous command, leadership, and staff positions focused on supporting soldiers and their families. His military assignments include serving as an infantry rifle platoon leader, scout platoon leader, pre-ranger assessment OIC, company commander, assistant professor in the Department of Behavioral Sciences and Leadership at the United States Military Academy at West Point, where he taught a course titled Psychology for Leaders.

Professionally, Williams is the founder and CEO of Legacy Consulting & Research Group and Williams Psychological Services, organizations dedicated to leadership development, executive coaching, organizational consulting, and psychological services. He is also the founder of Still Timber Retreats, a nonprofit retreat center that provides military families and other families opportunities for rest, reconnection, and relational well-being through nature-based experiences and intentional conversation.

Williams earned his Ph.D. in clinical psychology from Fuller Graduate School of Psychology and Marriage and Family Therapy, where he later served as assistant professor and the inaugural chair of the Doctor of Marriage and Family Therapy program. He remains active in the American Psychological Association and the Society of Consulting Psychology.

He is the author of Brick by Brick: Becoming a Clinical and Consulting Psychologist and is currently completing his second book, Follow Me: Why They Will and Why They Won't, which will be released in December 2026. Through his military service, professional leadership, scholarship, and community engagement, Williams continues to make a meaningful impact on individuals, families, organizations, and communities across the nation.

Betsy Ivancsits

BS 1995; MS 1997 Technology

Betsy Ivancsits is a manufacturing leader with a passion for building stronger organizations and empowering teams. She earned both her bachelor’s degree in industrial technology (1995) and her master’s degree in industrial technology-technical training and development (1997) from Illinois State University.

Ivancsits began her career as a design engineering intern at General Electric before joining Mitsubishi Motor Manufacturing in Normal in a material logistics role. While completing graduate school, she worked for a Japanese supplier serving both Mitsubishi and Toyota, deepening her exposure to lean manufacturing and supplier operations.

After earning her master’s degree, Ivancsits served as an industrial engineer at System Sensor (smoke detectors), then moved to HARTING (cables and connectors) as a manufacturing engineer, where she successfully transferred U.S. production to China. She next joined Bodine Electric Company (motors) as a lean manufacturing engineer and was later promoted to manager of a structural machining department. When Bodine relocated operations to Iowa, Ivancsits transitioned to OPW Fuel Management Systems (fuel control equipment) as a lean facilitator/manufacturing engineer and was subsequently promoted to manufacturing manager. In that role, she was responsible for production, manufacturing engineering, shipping, receiving, supply chain, scheduling, facilities, maintenance, and safety for the entire facility.

Ivancsits is driven by a commitment to continuous improvement and to improving the lives of those around her through support, coaching, training, and mentoring. She was recognized as an Outstanding Young Alumna in 2007 and as a Distinguished Alumna in 2024 by Illinois State University’s Department of Technology.

Ivancsits currently serves as a manager at Northrop Grumman (military contractor) in Rolling Meadows, supporting the company’s mission. She resides in Chicago with her husband, Pete, and their two children, Madeline and Peter.