Attorney General Lisa Madigan, Sept. 6

Knox College will formally open the 2007-08 academic year with a convocation address by Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan at 11 a.m., Thursday, September 6, in Harbach Theatre, Ford Center for the Fine Arts, on the Knox campus in Galesburg, Illinois. The event is free and open to the public.

Also at the convocation, held on the first day of fall term classes, the College will announce winners of the Faculty Scholarship Prize, which is the highest award given by the faculty to a Knox student; the Philip Green Wright Prizes, the highest teaching awards for members of the Knox faculty; and the Janet C. Hunter Prizes, honors given to members of the Knox salaried and hourly staff.

Madigan was first elected Illinois Attorney General in 2002 and was re-elected in 2006.

Since taking office, Madigan has created programs to fight identity theft and methamphetamine production. She has worked to make government more accessible, and created a statewide team to improve the state's sex offender registry. Before her election to Attorney General, Madigan served in the Illinois Senate and worked as a litigator for a Chicago law firm. Prior to becoming an attorney, she was a teacher and community advocate, including volunteer work as a high school teacher in South Africa.

Madigan is a graduate of Georgetown University and Loyola University Law School.

Founded in 1837, Knox is a national liberal arts college in Galesburg, Illinois, with students from 45 states and 44 nations. Knox's 'Old Main' is a National Historic Landmark and the only building remaining from the 1858 Lincoln-Douglas debates.