Former U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald is the newest member of the University board of trustees, as appointed by Gov. Pat Quinn.

“I am very excited to join the board and be part of trying to help serve a great institution,” Fitzgerald said. “I’m hoping that I can come in with lots of questions and try to learn what’s going on as quickly as I can.”

Previously serving as an attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, Fitzgerald led the investigations that resulted in corruption charges against former Govs. George Ryan and Rod Blagojevich. He currently works as a partner at Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom law firm in Chicago.

Quinn said Fitzgerald is an excellent public servant and a “very committed person” who has qualities that will make him a great leader in higher education.

“Fitzgerald is a friend of mine, and I think a friend of anyone who is looking for education in Illinois that’s open to everyone, that gives the opportunity to make our society better,” Quinn said at a Martin Luther King Jr. event in Chicago on Friday.

Fitzgerald will replace Lawrence Oliver II, whose term expired Jan. 14. Oliver said he learned that he would not be reappointed to the board when he received a phone call from the governor’s office Wednesday afternoon.

He was not given a specific reason for not being asked back as a board member, he said, although “there was reference to the fact that the board has to be balanced.”

By state statute, the nine-member board must be politically balanced. Oliver was appointed by Quinn in 2009 as a political independent, serving among the five Democrats and three Republicans also on the board.

But Oliver voted in a 2010 democratic primary, which he said may have caused questions to arise regarding his political affiliation.

“It’s not something I agreed with,” he said. “To be quite honest, I maintain to this day that I am still a politically independent person.”

Contrary to his political independence, he said, he voted in the primary specifically to support documentary filmmaker David Hoffman, who was running for U.S. Senate. Despite maintaining an independent affiliation, Oliver said any concern that he may be a Democrat would throw off the board’s political balance. No more than five of each political party can serve on the board at one time.

Oliver, chief counsel for investigations at the Boeing Co., said he was disappointed by the news that he would not be asked back as a trustee, as he would have enjoyed working with the board for another term. However, he commended Fitzgerald on his appointment, saying he will be a great addition to the board.

“With Patrick (Fitzgerald), the board is in good hands,” Oliver said. “It has been an honor serving my 3 1/2-year term. The board and the University are in great shape.”

Although Oliver will no longer be a trustees, Quinn said at the MLK event that the government’s office has some very important assignments that he hopes Oliver will partake in, particularly dealing with integrity.

“(Oliver) served … very well on the board of trustees of the University of Illinois, and I really want him to continue in government,” Quinn said. “I hope he can stay with us in another area of service, and I look forward to working with him.”

In addition to Fitzgerald’s appointment, Quinn also reappointed trustees Timothy Koritz, a staff anesthesiologist at Rockford Memorial Hospital, and James Montgomery, a Chicago attorney. Koritz was appointed to the board in 2009, and Montgomery in 2007. They are both University of Illinois alumni and were appointed to another six-year term.