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Man With Galesburg Ties Named INBA Illinoisan of the Year
The Illinois News Broadcasters Association has named the director of the Paul Simon Public Policy Institute as its Illinoisan of the Year.

Mike Lawrence, who has ties to Galesburg, has been director of the institute at Southern Illinois University since 2004. The INBA says Lawrence has been a watchdog of Illinois politics for decades and continues to work for reform at the institute.

He previously worked for Governor Jim Edgar for almost a decade. Before that, he was a journalist for publications and companies including the Quad City Times, the Chicago Sun-Times and Lee Enterprises. Lawrence got his start covering government news for the Galesburg Register-Mail. He attended Knox College, where he received an honorary doctor of laws degree in 1998.

The honor was announced at the INBA's fall convention in Carbondale.

Past winners include U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald and former Governor Jim Thompson.

Information from the Associated Press contributed to this story
09 26 08 by Newsroom
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