Naomi Burgos Lynn was selected to receive The Order of Lincoln, the highest honor bestowed by the state of Illinois. Dr. Lynn was named president of Sangamon State University in 1991. She was the first Hispanic woman to be named president of an American public university. She presided over the university as it transitioned into the University of Illinois Springfield. She retired in 2001.
Dr. Lynn was a graduate of Maryville College in Tennessee. She earned a Ph.D. in political science at the University of Kansas. She taught political science at Kansas State University until her appointment in 1988 as dean of the College of Public and Urban Affairs at Georgia State University. Three years later, she became president of Sangamon State University.