Joseph Small – President and Proprietor
As a high school student, Joe traveled to Chicago each business day in the summer to work at the family business. Through the years he has worked in almost every department from the early days in the mail room, to operations, marketing and sales.
He began to travel internationally while a teen-ager. His first experience was to the island of Bermuda. This was soon followed by the typical back-packers trip through Europe staying in youth hostels and traveling on a EurRail pass.—a great way to get a taste of the many diverse cultures of Europe. He got the travel bug.
After five semesters at Indiana University, Joe switched to Columbia College in Chicago so he could work part time at the company during the school year and full-time during the summer. Summers were great, because he had the pleasure of working as an assistant Travel Director, meeting great travelers and learning the ins and outs of being a tour leader from the best and most experienced travel leaders in the world. He also had the good fortune to see more of the world traveling to Europe, Asia and the South Pacific.
Joe graduated from Columbia College in 1980 and continued his studies at the University of Illinois, receiving a Master of Fine Arts degree in April of 1983.
Professionally, he is most proud to have served as the founding president of the Alumni Campus Abroad division, a product that transformed the alumni travel industry. He served for many years on the Advisory Council for the Educational Travel Conference and is now Chair of the Emeritus Council. He also served on the University of Illinois Chicago, Campus Alumni Advisory Board for six years.
Personally, Joe has been married for more than 30 years and has three sons. In his spare time, he likes to read and write poetry and bang on the guitar in the most melodious manner he can muster. He is also on the Food Bank Committee and Chair of the Membership Committee at his church.