Spartan Profiles: Cheryl Gilliam

INVENTOR AND LEADER

            She is yet another MSU inventor, given that she holds seven U.S. patents, including her packaging innovation for the new Kraft Big Mouth Mayo container, which she developed after two years of intensive research.  But Cheryl M. Gilliam, ’82, recently named president of the YWCA in Lake County, IL, considers herself far more than just an inventor. 

            Gilliam is as passionate about her leadership role in the YWCA, where she wants “to push forward the YWCA’s mission of empowering women and girls and eliminating racism wherever it exists,” as she is about her packaging work at Kraft Foods, Glenview, IL, where she invented the Enhancers Inverted Squeeze Platform and many other advances, earning her the “2002 Enhancers Innovator of the Year” award. 

            A native of Detroit, Cheryl attended MSU on a track scholarship and won four straight Big Ten titles in the outdoor 200-meter dash and set enough records to gain her induction into the MSU Athletics Hall of Fame in 2003.  “My time at MSU were some of the best years of my life,” recalls Cheryl.  “I love to walk through the gardens and feed the ducks.  I love coming back to campus and sharing my memories with (daughter) Taylor (Sampson, age 13).” 

            Cheryl credits her many MSU professors for helping her grow, as well as special mentors—coach Jim Bibbs, women’s athletic director Nell Jackson, and Clarence Underwood.  “Dr. Underwood made sure you understood that ‘student’ came before ‘athlete,’” she remembers.  “The important lesson is that fame is fleeting, but education lasts.” 

            Cheryl’s life revolves around a number of YWCA programs involving girls and the elderly.  “It’s an opportunity to give back to the community,” she explains.  “Another benefit is that it’s an opportunity to expose my daughter to what it means to give back.”