CAST Hall of Fame Inductees

Jim Fraley

BS 1985, Agriculture

Jim Fraley came to ISU as a transfer into the Department of Agriculture after graduating from Joliet Junior College.  He joined the livestock judging team and made a core group of friends that he still maintains a close relationship with to this day. Following graduation in 1985, Jim was awarded a graduate assistantship at the University of Illinois, Department of Animal Sciences.  He graduated in 1987 and started working for the Illinois Farm Bureau (IFB) as a training specialist teaching farmers about accounting methods and marketing strategies.  After a few years, he was able to put his degree to work as the Livestock Program Director for the IFB.  Jim managed many organizations during the 30 plus years of service to IFB.  These included:  Illinois Milk Producers' Association, Illinois Milk Promotion Board, Illinois Livestock Development Group, Illinois Cooperative Council, Illinois Wheat Association, and Illinois Specialty Growers Association.  Some of the highlights of his career was being instrumental in the drafting of the Livestock Management Facilities Act, strengthening agriculture's relationship with IEPA, serving on national boards that were instrumental in the development of a National Animal ID program, and seeing both brucellosis and pseudorabies eradicated in Illinois during his tenure.

Jim and his wife Margie currently farm their family's Century Farms, and raise hay, corn, soybeans, and cattle.  Their four adult children, many of whom have degrees from ISU, are active in the family farm and are big supporters of agriculture.  Their two grandsons are also willing helpers and can drive every tractor on the farm.

Suzanne Montoya

BS 2000, Criminal Justice Sciences

Suzanne Montoya graduated from Illinois State University in 2000 with a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice sciences. In her last semester at ISU, she was placed in an internship at the McLean County Juvenile Probation Department. She was hired by McLean County immediately following her internship as a juvenile intensive supervision officer. She is currently the Director of McLean County Probation and Court Services.

Montoya has been within her department for over 25 years. She has worked various positions in the department as a juvenile probation officer, adult domestic violence officer, juvenile intake/diversion officer, intake coordinator, and Deputy Director. In addition to her McLean County service, Montoya was appointed by the Chief Judge of the 11th Judicial Circuit Interim Director of Ford County Probation from October 2020-April 2022. Montoya created numerous programs in McLean County including; the Minority Outreach Program (collaborative effort with African American leaders to reduce disproportionate minority contact), the Restorative Justice Program, the Youth Diversion Collaboration (partnership with School Resource Officers to eliminate the school to prison pipeline) and the Emerging Adult Probation Unit dedicated to the 18–25-year-old population (the first probation unit of its kind in the State of Illinois). Montoya has been a member of many community boards, including the Boys and Girls Club, Coordinated Community Response Team, Local Area Network, Juvenile Justice Council, and the Criminal Justice Coordinating Council.

Throughout her career, Montoya has been passionate about restorative justice, cognitive-behavioral interventions, and evidence-based practices. She is a certified trainer through the International Institute of Restorative Practices. Recently, she co-authored a story in soon to be published “Restorative Justice Up Close; First Person Accounts of Justice That Works.” She continues to bring innovation and change to her department daily and hopes to influence her employees to serve clients with human connection, empathy and emotional intelligence while ensuring the community is protected through probation supervision.

Montoya has been married to her husband, Antonio, for almost 23 years. They are the proud parents of three remarkable sons, Zachary, Jacques, and Antonio, Jr. They are also grandparents to three wonderful grandchildren.

Dr. Julie Schumacher

Family and Consumer Sciences

Dr. Julie Raeder Schumacher is a registered dietitian nutritionist who earned her undergraduate degree in Food, Nutrition, and Dietetics at South Dakota State University. Her graduate studies done at ISU include a master’s degree in Family and Consumer Sciences and a doctorate in Curriculum and Instruction.  

As a professor in Illinois State’s Department of Family and Consumer Sciences, Schumacher directs the accredited Didactic Program in Dietetics. She previously directed the Dietetic Internship and Master’s Program for 20 years where she supervised 70 dietetic interns while working with over 100 preceptors across the US.

Accolades that Schumacher has earned include her selection as the Young Dietitian of the Year Award for Illinois, the Dietetic Educators and Preceptors of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics Award, and the Illinois Outstanding Dietetic Educator Award.

Schumacher has published 35 articles and was recognized as having the Best Article in Foods and Nutrition for 2014 and 2020. In 2024-2025 Schumacher worked in the ISU Provost’s Office as a Provost Fellow focusing on the development of a microcredential program.

Schumacher’s service to ISU includes assisting with the planning of renovations in the foods lab in Turner Hall and developing the Fresh FAVs program on campus. Its goal was to increase the availability and consumption of fresh produce on campus.

The same desire to help others improve their diet resulted in Schumacher beginning a community garden to provide food for the Baby Fold in Normal. She also helps others by investing her time and expertise to numerous agencies. She has served as chair of the McLean County Wellness Coalition and President of the Central Illinois Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics.

Schumacher resides in Normal with her husband, Nathan, and twin 14-year-old boys, Evan and Jaden, and 10-year-old daughter, Kylie. They love road trips, especially to her home state of South Dakota!

Dr. Sandra Brightwell

BS 1995, Health Sciences

Dr. Sandra (Schindler) Brightwell, RHIA, FAHIMA, a first-generation college student and former resident of Normal, IL, was a 1995 graduate of ISU’s College of Applied Science and Technology and earned a BS in Health Information Management: Medical Record Administration. In order to pay for college, she worked for three years for two healthcare outsourcing companies at BroMenn Medical Center. Subsequently, she secured employment with a healthcare company and relocated to the Chicago area. Brightwell relocated to Arizona from Illinois in 2002.

In 2012, Brightwell switched from being a health information practitioner to an educator and became the Director of the CAHIIM accredited Health Information Management (HIM) program at Central Arizona College. She earned her master’s degree and doctoral degree from Northern Arizona University, both with an emphasis on educational leadership. 

For 30+ years, she has volunteered in the HIM ecosystem.  She was elected two times as President for the Arizona Health Information Management Association (AZHIMA) among several other board positions.  She was elected to serve as a Director for the American Health Information Management Association (AHIMA) in 2025. Similarly, in 2025 she was elected to the Board of Directors for the Arizona Women in Higher Education (AWHE).

Other volunteer positions that Brightwell currently holds include being a peer reviewer for the Commission on Accreditation for Health Informatics and Information Management Education (CAHIIM), a member of the Arizona Department of Education’s CTE Health Education Advisory Council, and a presenter and judge for the Arizona chapter of HOSA.

Brightwell has been awarded the 2022 Lifetime Achievement, the 2016 Distinguished Member, and the 2010 Outstanding Service Awards from AZHIMA. She has served as a Cub Scout leader since 2020 and as the PTA President for Rover Elementary and the PTSO President for McKemy Academy of International Studies. She resides in Tempe, AZ with her husband and two sons.

Kristin Tucker

BS 1989, Information Technology

Kristin Tucker graduated from Illinois State University in 1989 with a Bachelor of Science in Applied Computer Science and went on to earn a Master of Legal Studies degree from Washington University in St. Louis. While at ISU, she served two co-op terms at Monsanto in St. Louis, Missouri, setting the stage for her career in Information Technology consulting.

Tucker’s early career was spent at Solution Consultants, Inc. Hired as one of the original consultants, she held positions of increasing responsibility, including staff consultant, project manager (for both fixed bid and staff augmentation projects), marketing representative, and operations manager responsible for more than fifty consultants.

In April 2001, Tucker was one of the founding members of TDK Technologies, LLC, a technology consulting firm based in Chesterfield, Missouri with emphasis on custom software development. As Managing Principal, her duties include operational management of TDK Technologies, leadership of the Management Services practice, Recruiting, and Back Office operations.

In 2012, Tucker was selected by the St. Louis Business Journal as one of the 25 Most Influential Business Women. She was selected to the St. Louis Titan 100 in 2022 and 2023 and named to the Titan 100 Hall of Fame in 2024. Tucker is a board member for St. Louis Titan 100, serves on the Board of Trustees for Aquinas Institute and runs marketing for the planning committee for the Gateway to Innovation conference.

Tucker resides in Chesterfield, Missouri. She has three children, Christopher (Kara), Kelly (John), and Madison, and seven grandchildren.

Kathy Schniedwind

Kinesiology and Recreation

Kathy Schniedwind received a B.S. in physical education and health from West Chester University in Pennsylvania in 1974 and a M.S. from Indiana University in Physical Education with an emphasis in athletic training in 1976. She was hired in 1976 as the first female athletic trainer at Illinois State University in the Women’s Athletic Department. In 1982, the men’s and women’s athletic departments merged, and she became the Co-Head Athletic Trainer working with male and female sports. She became the Head Athletic Trainer over all sports in 1989 as the first female to have this role and the first female Head Athletic Trainer in charge of football. She was the first female on the Illinois Athletic Trainers Association. She retired in 2006 from Illinois State University.

Schniedwind was a lecturer in the Illinois State University Undergraduate and Graduate Athletic Training Labs and the Advanced Seminar in Athletic Training class. Upon her retirement, she was a lecturer for the Athletic Training Administration class at Illinois State University in the Spring semester in 2007-2009.

Mentoring students has always been a focus, as she has mentored students through the Senior Professionals Program at Illinois State University following her retirement.

Schniedwind was honored with Hall of Fame selections into the Illinois Athletic Trainers Association 1996, National Athletic Trainers Association 2004, Illinois State Athletics 2008, and West Springfield High School 2016. She received the Gail Weldon Award for Mentoring, Professional Advancement, and Improving Women’s Health Care from the National Athletic Trainers Association 2025. She was chosen by the United States Olympic Committee as an athletic trainer for the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, Korea.

Schniedwind has been involved in the Bloomington/Normal community as a Board Member for the Humane Society of Central Illinois, Special Olympics Illinois (currently Board Chair), Senior Professionals at Illinois State University. She also served on the National Athletic Trainers Association Foundation Board. Schniedwind has also established the Kathy Schniedwind Scholarship to support an athletic training student in the School of Kinesiology and Recreation.

A high school coach/teacher instilled in her to give back to her profession and she loves helping people. Schniedwind resides in Normal, IL.

Major General James Kokaska

Military Sciences

Major General James Kokaska currently serves as the Commanding General of the Unites States Army 416th Theater Engineer Command.  Previous General Officer assignments include 416th Theater Engineer Command Deputy Commanding General - Operations; Commanding General, 102nd Training Division (Maneuver Support), Deputy Commanding General for Mobilization and Training, United States Maneuver Support Center of Excellence at Ft Leonard Wood, Missouri; and Deputy Commanding General, Reserve Affairs United States Army Corps of Engineers in Washington D.C.  

He was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in 1992 after graduating from Bradley University as a Distinguished Military Graduate.  Additionally, he holds a Master of Science in Engineering Management from the University of Missouri, as well as a Master of Strategic Studies from the United States Army War College.

Major General Kokaska’s major awards and decorations include the Legion of Merit with 2 Oak Leaf Clusters, the Bronze Star Medal with Oak Leaf Cluster, the Meritorious Service Medal with four Oak Leaf Clusters, the Iraq Campaign Medal with 2 campaign stars, the Afghanistan Campaign Medal with 2 campaign stars.

His operational deployments include Operation Joint Endeavor, Bosnia, Operation Iraqi Freedom II, Iraq, and two tours Operation Enduring Freedom, Afghanistan.

Major General Kokaska, in his civilian capacity, works as the Vice President of Planning, Design and Construction for the Midwest Region of Advocate Health.

Major General Kokaska is married to the former Jane Ann O’Connell, and they have five children: Ashlynn, Matthew, Lauren, Julia, and Ella.

Steve Parrott

MS 1995, Technology

Steve Parrott holds a master’s degree in project management from Illinois State University (1995) and has dedicated the last 30 years to advancing Career and Technical Education (CTE) in Illinois. He began his career as an industrial engineer for Maytag and discovered his calling in public service and education while serving as a graduate assistant in the Department of Technology at ISU.

Upon graduating, Parrott spent ten years teaching at Lincolnland Technical Education Center, where he also served as department chair of CTE. He taught welding and machining where students received specialized vocational training.

Following a decade in the classroom, Parrott shifted his focus to supporting educators across the State. During his first 15 years with the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE), Parrott was the State Supervisor for Technology Education.  Early during his tenure, he helped usher in Engineering education. Parrott was instrumental in establishing approved STEM pathways to fund Engineering programs across K-12 education.

Parrott’s leadership has been recognized at the state and national levels. He served as President of the International Technology and Engineering Education Association (ITEEA) Council for STEM Leadership, Secretary for the Technology Student Association and as a liaison for the Technology Education Association of Illinois. His accolades include ITEEA’s Award of Distinction (2021), the Distinguished Technology and Engineering Professional designation (2020) and multiple Supervisor and Administrator of the Year honors. In 2012, Parrott was inducted into ISU’s College of Applied Science and Technology Academy of Achievement.

Currently, Parrott serves as the Nonpublic Regulation and Systems Administrator at ISBE. Outside of work, Parrott is active in local government and serves as Alderman of his ward in Lincoln. He considers himself an original “girl dad” and is the proud father of three adult daughters: Victoria, Stephanie, and Elizabeth. He lives in Lincoln with his wife, Katie, and their dog, Eleanor.