Schools
Two-time graduate to offer words of wisdom at Oakton commencement
Two-time Oakton graduate and 2014 Oakton Distinguished Alumni Award winner Timothy Panfil will deliver Oakton's commencement address.
Two-time Oakton Community College graduate and 2014 Oakton Distinguished Alumni Award winner Timothy Panfil will deliver Oakton’s May 15 commencement address.
Panfil is currently the Elmhurst College director of enrollment management for graduate studies. He has been a part of the state’s higher education landscape since 1993, working in admissions, enrollment management, and marketing for several colleges and universities in Illinois. Prior to his current position at Elmhurst, he served as the director/managing director of adult and graduate student enrollment and interim executive director for the School for Advanced Learning. He has been an adjunct instructor of business/management at Elmhurst College, Lewis University, and Benedictine University and has conducted workshops on marketing, admissions, sales and enrollment management.
Panfil consistently credits Oakton with changing his life and helping him regain confidence in his academic abilities after he left the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign during his sophomore year.
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“It’s both an honor and a privilege to be the 2018 commencement speaker,” Panfil says. “I’m forever indebted for the impact Oakton had on my life.”
The former Maine East High School high-honor student earned associate degrees in pre-engineering and electronics and computer technology from Oakton in 1988 and 1989, respectively.
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He continued his education at the University of Illinois at Chicago, earning a bachelor of science in marketing in 1991, followed by an MBA from Keller Graduate School of Management in 1997.
As a member of the Oakton Alumni Council, Panfil also plays an active role in serving Oakton alumni. Inspired by his work with the council, he initiated the Elmhurst College/Oakton Community College Alumni Award at Elmhurst, offered to two outstanding adult learners who graduate from Oakton and transfer into an accelerated degree program at Elmhurst.
Oakton’s commencement will take place at 7 p.m. Tuesday, May 15, in the TenHoeve Center on the Des Plaines campus, 1600 E. Golf Road. The ticketed event for family and friends of graduates will be broadcast live at 7 p.m. on Oakton’s cable channel, aired in Des Plaines, Glenview, Park Ridge and Skokie in addition to streaming on the college’s website, www.oakton.edu.
