Eugene G. Hallongren (’65), (’66) received the Distinguished Alumni Award for his outstanding accomplishments, service and contributions to UW-Stout and the higher education community.
“I am honored and feel fortunate to receive the Distinguished Alumni Award and appreciate the recognition. I know that there are many qualified Stout graduates and former classmates of mine who have done outstanding work, are meritorious and could be receiving this honor,” Hallongren said.
Hallongren, who grew up in Addison, Illinois, was the first in his family to earn a college degree. And although he admits to being a less-than-stellar undergraduate student, he believes that UW-Stout had a great impact on his life and career. It was at UW-Stout that he found the love of his life, Dianne Lindberg (’66), made lifelong friendships, and where a simple assignment in a guidance graduate course led to decisions that would impact his career.
After earning his B.S. in industrial education and M.S. in guidance and counseling, Hallongren began his first year of teaching at Elkhorn High School, in Elkhorn, Wisconsin. He was a guidance counselor for grades 6 through 10, taught drafting and woodworking classes, and coached freshmen football and wrestling.
The following year, he and Dianne married and moved to Elmhurst, Illinois, where Hallongren served as a counselor, teacher and coach at York Community High School.
In 1969, Hallongren began a 30-year career as a counselor, teacher and administrator at College of DuPage, in Glen Ellyn, Illinois, west of Chicago. College of DuPage was a new public community college in its second year and had approximately 2,500 students.
At DuPage, Hallongren held a variety of student services and administrative positions, culminating his career as associate vice president of Community Education and Economic Development, in which he was responsible for 35% of the college education budget, as well as grant-funded programs, profit center revenues, and nearly 1,000 faculty and staff.
His pioneering efforts created and established career development courses, the college’s Testing Center, a College and Career Information Resource Center, the Credit by Demonstrated Competence Program, an off-campus counseling program and the expansion of off-campus education centers.
Hallongren retired from College of DuPage in 1999. In his 30 years there, it had grown to become the largest single-campus comprehensive community college in the U.S., with an enrollment of nearly 34,400 students. The college was serving 900,000 district residents and enrolling 60,000 students per year from 50 communities.
“I like to believe that I made a significant contribution to the growth and development of College of DuPage, and though I have been retired from COD for 25 years, the programs that I helped start and develop when I was there are still in existence,” Hallongren said. “But even more importantly, I like to believe that it is the people that those programs have helped and continue to help that give me positive reflections on my career accomplishments.”
Upon retiring from DuPage, Hallongren went on to serve as president of the DeVry University-Chicago Campus/Metro. Located on the northwest side of Chicago, it was one of the largest of the 23 campuses in the DeVry University System. The campus provided three associate degrees and seven bachelor’s degree programs in technology, business, management and health.
In 2008, Hallongren became president of the DeVry University-Tinley Park Campus. The campus, which was a little more than 7 years old at the time, sought new leadership in Hallongren to help with challenges it was facing, and with the understanding that he would retire in 2010.
He was influential in establishing and providing stalwart support for the DeVry Advantage Academy, a partnership with the Chicago Public Schools that provided the opportunity for high school students to earn a high school diploma and a DeVry University associate degree simultaneously.
“As I look back on my 45-year-long career, I feel thankful for the privilege of having worked with so many outstanding and talented people who worked hard and had a commitment to doing excellent work. Together, we developed educational opportunities and programs to support all our students. It became our passion. If you have ever worked with and for people whom you admired, then you know why I enjoyed my career,” Hallongren said.
“My job was to always recognize talent and skills, provide support and seek ways to express appreciation for jobs well done. I was fortunate to have good mentors, especially early in my career, who helped me to be successful, and I hope that I have also provided that support for others,” he added.
During his career, he was selected for participation in a number of competitive admission institutes and programs, including at Harvard University, University of Hawaii, and West Cheshire College in Chester, England.
Hallongren, who also earned an Ed.D. in adult continuing education from Northern Illinois University, in DeKalb, Illinois, was recognized in the Outstanding Young Men of America publication in 1978, and listed twice in Who’s Who in the Midwest, in 1979 and 1984. The City of Elmhurst honored him in 2007 with the Character Counts Service Award.
He has served as the chairperson of UW-Stout's School of Education Advisory Committee. In 2022, in honor and memory of his wife, who died in 2021, he established the Dianne J. Lindberg Hallongren and Dr. Eugene G. Hallongren Endowed Scholarship at UW-Stout. The program provides two $1,500 scholarships each year – one for a family and consumer science education major and one for a technology education major.
“My advice to young students and graduates is to always appreciate what you have, keep looking forward to new opportunities and not backward at opportunities missed. When a new opportunity presents itself, be ready to take advantage of it, and don’t take anything for granted,” Hallongren said.
