Knox Grad Is Among "40 Leaders Under 40"

Brett Tilly, a Knox College graduate and member of the Knox College Board of Trustees, has been selected as one of central Illinois' "40 Leaders Under 40" for 2007 by InterBusiness Issues magazine.

Tilly and 39 other young business leaders were chosen "because of their dedication to advancing both their professional lives and supporting organizations that benefit their friends and neighbors," the magazine said in its November 2007 issue.

A Six Sigma Black Belt with Caterpillar's North American Commercial Division, Tilly "has received recognition as one of the most effective Black Belts at Caterpillar," the magazine wrote in its commendation. Six Sigma methodology is used to improve business processes, and Tilly has managed numerous "high priority strategic projects" at Caterpillar, the magazine said.

Tilly graduated from Knox in 1995 and received College Honors in political science for a research project that studied the effects of a multicultural curriculum. He completed an MA in political science at the State University of New York - Stony Brook and joined Caterpillar in 1997.

Tilly is a member of the Knox College Board of Trustees and the Knox College Alumni Council. He is president of the board of the Central Illinois Chapter of the Alzheimer's Association, president of First English Lutheran Church of Peoria, and a member of the Endowment Growth Committee of the Lutheran Hillside Village Foundation of Peoria.

Founded in 1837, Knox is a national liberal arts college in Galesburg, Illinois, with students from 45 states and 44 nations. Knox's "Old Main" is a National Historic Landmark and the only building remaining from the 1858 Lincoln-Douglas debates.