North Central College honors Steven Hoeft of Naperville with Outstanding Alumni Award

North Central College is honoring Steven Hoeft of Naperville with a 2013 Outstanding Alumni Award.

Hoeft and six others will be honored during the College’s Homecoming Convocation at 4:15 p.m. Friday, Oct. 25, at North Central College’s Wentz Concert Hall at the Fine Arts Center, 171 E. Chicago Ave.

He is known for his expertise in the field of construction and real estate litigation at the international law firm of McDermott Will & Emery LLP in Chicago. As one of Illinois’ top lawyers, his practice is focused on construction, real estate, securities and commodities, product liability and intellectual property litigation. He has worked extensively with manufacturers, inventors, banks, underwriters and investors, and has had first chair responsibility for jury and bench trials, preliminary injunction hearings, arbitrations and appeals.

At North Central, his extraordinary vision and leadership were instrumental in guiding the North Central College Board of Trustees during the important transition from the presidency of Dr. Harold R. Wilde to Dr. Troy D. Hammond. He assumed the role of board chair in 2009, and in 2012 helped oversee the presidential search process, transition and inauguration. His expertise and insight have also been important to many trustee committees and the College has benefited from his work on many levels.

While a student at North Central, Hoeft majored in English studies and political science while becoming the third leading scorer in the history of Cardinal basketball. He also participated in track and field as a triple jumper and was chosen to appear in the 1972 edition of “Outstanding College Athletes of America.”

After graduating from North Central in 1973, Hoeft earned a juris doctor from Northwestern University School of Law in 1976. He was named among the Leading Lawyers in Illinois in 2007, 2009 and 2010 by Leading Lawyers Network magazine. A member of the American Bar Association, he also is a member of the bars of the State of Illinois, the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois (trial bar), and the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth, Seventh, Eighth and Eleventh Circuits.

Others being honored during North Central’s Homecoming are Outstanding Alumni Award recipients Charles Bartsch of Washington, D.C.; John Giannini, Ph.D., of Mullica Hill, N.J.; the Rev. Dr. Tracy Smith-Malone of Aurora; and William Soper, M.D., of Arlington Heights. The Alumni Recognition Award recipient is Josh Stumpenhorst of Oswego, and Wilber C. Harr, Ph.D., will be honored with a posthumous Wall of Witness honor.

Founded in 1861, North Central College is an independent, comprehensive college of the liberal arts and sciences that offers more than 55 undergraduate majors and graduate programming in seven areas. Located in the Historic District of Naperville, Illinois—rated by Money magazine as among the nation’s “Best Places to Live”—North Central College is just 30 minutes from Chicago’s Loop. With more than 3,000 undergraduate and graduate students, North Central College is committed to academic excellence, a climate that emphasizes leadership, ethics, values and service, a curriculum that balances job-related knowledge with a liberal arts foundation and a caring environment with small classes. Visit www.northcentralcollege.edu to learn more.