Eastern will receive a visit Thursday from Hazel Loucks, Illinois’ deputy governor for education and workforce.

After a 10:30 meeting with the regional superintendent of schools, Loucks will have lunch with interim President Lou Hencken and the university’s vice presidents.

Starting at 1 p.m., Loucks will take a tour of Eastern beginning in the 1895 Room of the Martin Luther King Jr. University Union , said Jill Nilsen, vice president for external relations.

At the conclusion of the tour, Loucks will field questions in the Alumni Lounge of the Union, on the second floor across from the Grand Ballroom. That session is tentatively scheduled for 2:30 p.m.

“This is a great opportunity for us to show off all the great things happening at Eastern,” Hencken said. “This is as close as you can get to the governor without actually bringing the governor here.

“We’re proud of this campus, and proud of the students, faculty and staff.”

Gov. George Ryan appointed Loucks to the position, which he created, in 1999. Her responsibilities include serving as a spokesperson for the governor’s office on education and workforce related issues in Illinois, according to a fax from the Governor’s office.

For five years, Loucks acted as executive director of the Illinois Women Administrators.

Loucks has taught at all levels of education, from kindergarten to graduate school. She holds a doctorate in education from St. Louis University.

She earned her master’s in personnel in higher education from Ohio State University, and received a bachelor’s in education from Southern Illinois University at Carbondale.