Robert W. Pritchard (born February 2, 1945) is a Republican politician who serves on the

Northern Illinois University Northern Illinois University (NIU) is a public research university in DeKalb, Illinois, United States. It was founded as "Northern Illinois State Normal School" in 1895 by Illinois Governor John P. Altgeld, initially to provide the state with c ...

Board of Trustees. He was previously a member of the

Illinois House of Representatives The Illinois House of Representatives is the lower house of the Illinois General Assembly. The body was created by the first Illinois Constitution adopted in 1818. The House under the constitution as amended in 1980 consists of 118 representativ ...

, representing the 70th district from December 2003 until July 2018. The 70th district included parts of

DeKalb County DeKalb County may refer to one of several counties in the United States, all of which were named for Baron Johann de Kalb: * DeKalb County, Alabama DeKalb County is a County (United States), county in the Northeast Alabama, northeastern part ...

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and Boone counties.

Early life, education and career

Pritchard was born February 2, 1945, in

Aurora, Illinois Aurora is a city in northeastern Illinois, United States. It is located along the Fox River (Illinois River tributary), Fox River west of Chicago. It is the List of municipalities in Illinois, second-most populous city in Illinois, with a popul ...

. He grew up on a farm near

Hinckley, Illinois Hinckley is a village in Squaw Grove Township, DeKalb County, Illinois, United States. The population was 2,006 at the 2020 census, a slight decline from 2,070 at the 2010 census. History In the 1830s, a Mr. Hollenbeck, who lived near Ottawa, ...

. Pritchard majored in communications at the

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC, U of I, Illinois, or University of Illinois) is a public land-grant research university in the Champaign–Urbana metropolitan area, Illinois, United States. Established in 1867, it is the f ...

and earned both a

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

and

master's A master's degree (from Latin ) is a postgraduate 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 prac ...

degree. His wife, Mary, is an Associate Dean at

. They have two grown sons. After graduation, Pritchard returned to work on the family farm, but also began working as a

radio Radio is the technology of communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 3 hertz (Hz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a transmitter connec ...

and TV broadcaster for local stations. In keeping with his expertise, Pritchard delivered the farming updates and local weather reports. He also worked in various marketing, public relations and community relation roles at

DEKALB Genetics Corporation DeKalb Genetics Corporation (often stylized DEKALB; formerly DeKalb Agricultural Association and DEKALB AgResearch) was a diversified company headquartered in DeKalb, Illinois that marketed agricultural seeds and other products. The company was ...

Monsanto Company The Monsanto Company () was an American agrochemical and agricultural biotechnology corporation founded in 1901 and headquartered in Creve Coeur, Missouri. Monsanto's best-known product is Roundup, a glyphosate-based herbicide, developed in ...

and for several universities.

Political career

Pritchard served on the Hinckley-Big Rock Board of Education and was elected to a leadership position for the DeKalb County Farm Bureau. He was elected to the DeKalb County Board and served as its chairman. In December 2003, Pritchard was appointed to the Illinois House of Representatives after the passing of David A. Wirsing. He was active in such issues as early childhood and education, health care, conservation, the environment, job creation, and protecting the manufacturing industry. He serves as Republican spokesman on the State Government Administration Committee and is co-chair of the Legislative Education Caucus, which he helped form. He announced his retirement from the Illinois General Assembly. He resigned from the Illinois House of Representatives on July 1, 2018, to accept an appointment to the

Board of Trustees. During the

2008 Republican Party presidential primaries From January 3 to June 3, 2008, voters of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party chose their nominee for President of the United States, president in the 2008 United States presidential election. United States Senate, Senator J ...

, Pritchard endorsed the

presidential campaign A political campaign is an organized effort which seeks to influence the decision making progress within a specific group. In democracies, political campaigns often refer to electoral campaigns, by which representatives are chosen or referen ...

Rudy Giuliani Rudolph William Louis Giuliani ( , ; born May 28, 1944) is an American politician and Disbarment, disbarred lawyer who served as the 107th mayor of New York City from 1994 to 2001. He previously served as the United States Associate Attorney ...

References

External links

Representative Robert W. Pritchard (R) 70th District
at the Illinois General Assembly **By session
98th97th96th95th94th93rdState Representative Robert Pritchard
constituency site *
Robert Pritchard
at Illinois House Republican Caucus {{DEFAULTSORT:Pritchard, Robert W. Republican Party members of the Illinois House of Representatives Politicians from Aurora, Illinois American people of Welsh descent 1945 births Living people University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign College of Media alumni County board members in Illinois 21st-century members of the Illinois General Assembly