Kirk Honored With Alumni Achievement Award from New Trier

U.S. Senator Mark Kirk, who was presented with the Alumni Achievement Award at a New Trier Alumni Hall of Honor ceremony on Thursday, has nothing but fond memories of the Winnetka institution and says attending school there helped shape his success in the military and in representing the citizens of Illinois.

“That’s a great thing about New Trier - how successful people become,” he said during a Friday telephone interview with Patch. “When you are there, you know you can go extremely far. My experience on the stage crew there, being able to see actual Broadway sets and costumes and performances at an extremely high level was priceless.”

Being a part of Thursday’s Hall of Honor ceremony at the Hilton Orrington in Evanston was “a great honor,” he said.

“To be honored by those who knew you during your difficult times as a teen is really special.”

The Chicago Tribune reports Kirk shared a story during the ceremony about his fondest memory of New Trier, one that involved his summer school chemistry class convincing the teacher to make nitrogen triiodide, a highly unstable explosive.

“When he had a small crystal of it, I still remember when he brought the hammer down on it,” the Senator recalls. “The explosion was so big it singed his hair. For a teenage boy, that was heaven. I became focused on science ever since then.”

Born in Central Illinois, Kirk lived in Kenilworth and attended Joseph Sears School before becoming a New Trier student, graduating in 1977.

Included in his graduating class was Michael Rogers, another bright student who would go on to become director of the National Security Agency, a position he currently holds.

“He’s actually the one who let me know first about receiving the award,” Kirk said. “It’s funny that the head of the NSA heard about it first somehow and shot me an email about it. So leave it up to the conspiracy theorists to figure out about how he knew about it right away.”

Rogers, Kirk says, is “a guy who was with me every morning for 4 years,” and is now the leader of the NSA.

“That just goes to show you - you have no idea what cool stuff your classmates will do,” he said, adding in his hopes that perhaps a pair of current Trevians will be able to have a similar discussion years from now.

Kirk was honored Thursday for both his accomplishments representing the people of Illinois and residents of the entire nation during his time with the United States Navy, where he attained the rank of Commander before his retirement from the Navy Reserve in 2013.

“It is the absolute honor of my life to have served in the Navy for 23 years,” he said.

After being elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 2000 and later the U.S. Senate to replace the seat held by current President Barack Obama, Kirk’s dedication to the state was tested when he suffered a stroke in early 2012.

But just one year later, Kirk was back to his full congressional duties and now seeks a second full term.

“I knew I needed to come back quickly and serve the people of Illinois as the most effective Senator to fight for our state,” he said.

“I would say I am definitely the most experienced,” he added. “I am that fiscal conservative and social moderate - the same guy who won the race to represent Midwestern values, give back to Veterans and get the job done.”

Through all life’s accomplishments, Kirk will always have a special feeling for his alma mater - even though he could never understand why during his time there, students were not allowed to wear swimsuits down at the pool.

“Nowadays, I just hope we can agree to let the kids wear swimsuits,” he laughed - adding that the chem lab where the explosion let off many years ago is still a place Kirk would like to revisit.