Michael J. Bakalis (born March 23, 1938) is an American academic and politician. He was the

Democratic Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (United States) (D) **Democratic ...

nominee for

Governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolitan areas include, Peoria and Roc ...

in 1978, losing to incumbent

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or again ...

Governor James R. Thompson. Bakalis received his

bachelor's A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six ...

master's A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice.

, and

doctoral A doctorate (from Latin ''docere'', "to teach"), doctor's degree (from Latin ''doctor'', "teacher"), or doctoral degree is an academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism '' ...

degrees from

Northwestern University Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston, Illinois. Founded in 1851, Northwestern is the oldest chartered university in Illinois and is ranked among the most prestigious academic institutions in the world. Chart ...

in 1959, 1962, and 1966, respectively. His academic career includes service as assistant

dean Dean may refer to: People * Dean (given name) * Dean (surname), a surname of Anglo-Saxon English origin * Dean (South Korean singer), a stage name for singer Kwon Hyuk * Dean Delannoit, a Belgian singer most known by the mononym Dean Titles * ...

Northern Illinois University Northern Illinois University (NIU) is a Public university, public research university in DeKalb, Illinois. It was founded as Northern Illinois State Normal School on May 22, 1895, by Illinois Governor John P. Altgeld as part of an expansion of ...

, dean of the School of Education at

Loyola University Chicago Loyola University Chicago (Loyola or LUC) is a Private university, private Society of Jesus, Jesuit research university in Chicago, Illinois. Founded in 1870 by the Society of Jesus, Loyola is one of the largest Catholic Church, Catholic univers ...

, and as the President of

Triton College Triton College is a public community college in River Grove, Illinois. History Junior College District 300 was voted into existence in a referendum in March 1964. In March 1965, a second referendum was passed approving the purchase of an camp ...

. He has also been a member of the faculty at the

Kellogg Graduate School of Management The Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University (also known as Kellogg) is the business school of Northwestern University, a private research university in Evanston, Illinois. Founded in 1908, Kellogg is one of the oldest and most p ...

at Northwestern University since 1994, where he teaches public and non-profit management, policy, and strategy. In government and politics, Bakalis served as the

Illinois State Superintendent of Education The Illinois State Superintendent of Education, often shortened to State Superintendent, is a statewide government office in the U.S. state of Illinois. The State Superintendent is nominated by the Governor of Illinois and serves at the pleasure ...

from 1971 to 1975 and as

Illinois Comptroller The Comptroller of Illinois is a constitutional officer in the executive branch of government of the U.S. state of Illinois. Ten individuals have held the office of Comptroller since the enactment of the Illinois Constitution of 1970, replacing th ...

from 1977 to 1979. Having built a reputation as a staunch advocate of education, in 1978, he won the Democratic nomination for governor. During the election, Bakalis was critical of Thompson's education and tax policies and aggressively courted voters. However, because Thompson was serving an unusual two-year term as governor and so had been in office only nine months when Bakalis began his campaign, Bakalis had difficulty challenging the incumbent's record.http://www.chron.org/tools/viewart.php?artid=284 Bakalis lost the election with 40% of the vote, as opposed to Thompson's 59%. After his unsuccessful bid for governorship, Bakalis served as a Deputy Undersecretary in the

United States Department of Education The United States Department of Education is a Cabinet-level department of the United States government. It began operating on May 4, 1980, having been created after the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare was split into the Departme ...

of the

Jimmy Carter James Earl Carter Jr. (born October 1, 1924) is an American politician who served as the 39th president of the United States from 1977 to 1981. A member of the Democratic Party, he previously served as the 76th governor of Georgia from 19 ...

administration from 1980 to 1982, where he administered ten regional offices. In 1988, he managed the Illinois campaign of

Michael Dukakis Michael Stanley Dukakis (; born November 3, 1933) is an American retired lawyer and politician who served as governor of Massachusetts from 1975 to 1979 and again from 1983 to 1991. He is the longest-serving governor in Massachusetts history a ...

's bid for the

US President The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States of America. The president directs the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States ...

. In 2002, Bakalis made another run for governor but had to drop out before the Democratic

primary Primary or primaries may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music Groups and labels * Primary (band), from Australia * Primary (musician), hip hop musician and record producer from South Korea * Primary Music, Israeli record label Work ...

because of a lack of money. Bakalis is also the founder, President and

CEO A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especiall ...

of American Quality Schools, an education management organization that operates

charter schools A charter school is a school that receives government funding but operates independently of the established state school system in which it is located. It is independent in the sense that it operates according to the basic principle of auto ...

in the

Midwestern United States The Midwestern United States, also referred to as the Midwest or the American Midwest, is one of four census regions of the United States Census Bureau (also known as "Region 2"). It occupies the northern central part of the United States. I ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bakalis, Michael Northwestern University faculty Northern Illinois University faculty Loyola University Chicago faculty American school administrators American people of Greek descent Northwestern University School of Education and Social Policy alumni Comptrollers of Illinois Illinois Democrats People from Darien, Illinois 1938 births Living people People from Berwyn, Illinois Politicians from Cook County, Illinois Illinois State Superintendents American chief executives of education-related organizations