Last year 90 Illini attended the Annual Banquet at the Admiral Kidd Club. Featured Speaker, Jean Driscoll recieved rave reviews from the attendees.

The 2010 Illini Club of San Diego County annual banquet will be held on Sunday, April 11, at the very popular Admiral Kidd Club. The event begins at 6:00 PM with a no-host cocktail hour on the outdoor patio, offering a spectacular view of the Bay and the downtown San Diego skyline. Dinner will be served at 7:00 PM, and features your choice of entrees: Filet Mignon (medium), Tuscan Chicken, or Vegetarian Pasta.  Dinners include fresh garden greens , chef's choice of potato or rice, vegetables, fresh rolls, tea and coffee. Tiramisu will be the featured dessert, and each table will have two bottles of wine, one red and one white.

Michael B. Johnson will be our featured guest Speaker, and this promises to be one of the BEST Annual Dinners EVER!  Dr. Johnson chose the University of Illinois over Princeton and Electrical Engineering over theater.  He currently is serving as the lead for Pixar's Moving Pictures Group in the Studio Tools Division.  Prior to Pixar, he worked for NCSA, Thinking Machines, IBM and MIT's Media Lab.  Michael Johnson runs the Moving Pictures Group in Pixar R&D.  MPG is a crack group of misfits that designs, builds and supports the custom workflow for film development, especially in the Story and Editorial departments.  He works with the directors, editors, producers, and story artists to begin the process of bringing movies to life.  A National Merit Scholar, Dr. Johnson first joined Pixar Animation Studios in May 1993, where he worked on custom tools for production. In 1995, he moved to R&D in Pixar's Interactive division, where he wrote and developed a previsualisation system for 'A Bug's Life'. In 1999, he completed additional pre- visualisation work and wrote lighting tools for 'Toy Story 2'. He created animation tools for 'Monsters, Inc.' and 'Finding Nemo', and developed a 3D paint and set-dressing system for the latter. For 'The Incredibles', he designed animation, review and story tools and for 'Cars' he worked on the Editorial pipeline. For the studio's latest release, 'Ratatouille', his team redesigned the entire story/editorial pipeline, moving it over to a completely digital one.  For much more on Michael B. Johnson, go to the January/February 2010  "Illinois" Magazine (page 37).

James C. Schmidt is the local Illini who we will honor at this year's dinner.  A native of Kewanee, Illinois he is the retired President of Great American Bank, (formerly San Diego Federal Savings and Loan). He attended the University of Illinois and DePaul University Law Schools and holds a Juris Doctor Degree in Law.  He is a member of the California and Illinois Bars.  His numerous accomplishments and activities include:

• Reagan appointee as Assistant Secretary of  Business & Transportation
• Holiday Bowl, San Diego - Founding Charter Board Member in 1978, Chairman, 1987; President, 1986
• San Diego International Sports Council- Director Emeritus.
• San Diego County Taxpayers Association - Member Transportation Committee.
• San Diego Regional Chamber of Commerce - Member of 3 Committees
• San Diego County Taxpayers Association - Director, 1969-73 & 1997-98.
• California State Chamber of Commerce - Director, 1986-1991
• Aztec Athletic Foundation of SDSU - Director and leading fundraiser
• State of California - Assistant Secretary of Business and Transportation, 1967-1969.
• California Federation of Black Leadership, Certificate of Merit, 1979.
• California Building Industry Association, California Building Industry Hall of Fame
  Award, 1988.
• The City of San Diego, made May 15, 2000, James C. Schmidt Day "for his service and
  dedication to the City of San Diego and his efforts to ensure equal opportunity among all
  San Diegans"
  

The deadline for the dinner registration is April 6th. The cost is $56 per person for Filet Mignon, and $49 for Tuscan Chicken or Vegetarian Pasta.    Make your reservations now!  Click here to buy tickets!!!

The Admiral Kidd Center is located on the Point Loma Naval Base at Harbor Drive and Laning Road, just west of the airport. Ample parking is available on the Base adjacent to the Center. Because the Center is on an active military base, we will require the following information, when you register, for EACH person attending:

  (1) Full first and last name
  (2) Mailing address and telephone number
  (3) Name and mailing address of the driver for each car intending to drive on to the Base
  (4) Choice of entree for each person

All attendees should have a photo ID, which may be required to enter the Base. Car passes and driving directions will be provided.