On Sunday, March 3rd, 2024, CIERA Board of Visitors (BoV) member Kathleen Cronin (’89 JD) lost her multi-year battle against liver cancer. She will be remembered by the BoV and all of CIERA for her passion, dedication, and keen wit. As a BoV member, Kathleen launched and supported the BoV Research Professorship in support of the Director. Kathleen also supported the CIERA Graduate Fellowship program.
Kathleen was the Senior Managing Director, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary at CME Group, Inc., the world’s most diverse derivatives marketplace, located in Chicago. She was a member of The Chicago Network (TCN), an organization of Chicago’s leading professional women. A CIERA BoV member since 2017, it was at a TCN panel event on space science where she first became aware of CIERA’s leadership in astronomy, women in science, and science education. Her interest in astronomy and space was cultivated by her then-teenage daughter’s fascination with the topic and her plan to pursue a career in astrophysics.
CIERA Director Vicky Kalogera remembers Kathleen:
“Kathleen always said, ‘I got involved with CIERA because I wanted to know enough to be able to talk with my teenage daughter.’ Her daughter loved astronomy since high school, and she became a Wildcat soon after. I will miss her sharp sense of humor and her joy when she talked about her girls and about her spending time in Ireland at her second home.”
Please continue to the Shook’s Funeral Home website to view Kathleen’s obituary. She will be interred in County Kerry Ireland. In lieu of flowers, Kathleen suggested donations to One Tail at a Time or Food Depository in Chicago / Greater Chicago Food Depository.