Richard Wickel Hometown: Wilmette, IL Position: Director (2007-'10) Monogram Earned: Lacrosse

Former lacrosse player Richard Wickel ('82) joined the Monogram Club Board of Directors as a director for three years starting in 2007-08.

Wickel played for the Irish from 1978-82 and was a two-time Monogram winner in `81 and `82. He graduated from the University with a degree in accounting.

Currently, Wickel is the Chief Financial Officer of First Suburban Bank in Chicago. He recently joined First Suburban Bank after spending the previous 19 years at Associated Bank.

In his time at Associated Bank, Wickel started as a controller before serving as Regional Chief Financial Officer for the past 10 years. His region grew from under $200 million in assets at the time of his hire to over $2 billion in assets by the end of 2007.

Associated Bank not only made three acquisitions during the period, but expanded from three branches to 23 branches in the Chicago region. The region is part of Associated Banc-Corp, a publicly traded company out of Green Bay, Wisconsin with assets in excess of $22 billion.

Prior to joining Associated Bank in 1988, Wickel worked at Ernst & Whinney as a Public Accountant for six years.

Wickel has remained involved with Notre Dame since graduation, primarily through the Notre Dame Club of Chicago. He served as a Board Member, Treasurer, Vice President and ultimately President of the Club in 2000-01. Since then, his involvement has been as a Trustee and Secretary of the Club's Scholarship Foundation. The club selects scholarship recipients from the incoming pool of Notre Dame students from the Chicago area and remains involved with them during their years at the University.

Wickel spends his free time working with children in Wilmette, primarily in a coaching capacity. He coaches local and travel squads in both basketball and baseball.

Wickel, his wife Kerry, son Ryan and daughter Kathryn, reside in Wilmette, Illinois.