Puamuh T. Ghogomu II
Men's Soccer/Basketball/Tennis/Cross Country (1996-1998)
Four-sport student-athlete in soccer, cross country, basketball and tennis
NJCAA Academic All-American and Waubonsee’s 1998 Vermilion and Gold honoree
Senior Legal Counsel for Walgreens Corporation since 2005
Waubonsee Distinguished Alumnus in 2016
The first step to achieving success in any endeavor begins with showing up, getting involved, and being an active participant. That has never been an issue for Puamuh Ghogomu. Born in Houston, Texas and raised in the West African nation of Cameroon, where he had already graduated from high school, Ghogomu suddenly had to adjust to life in a new country when his family moved back to the United States to be near his grandparents in Montgomery.
When he arrived on Waubonsee’s Sugar Grove campus in 1996, the then 16-year old Ghogomu was determined to make the most of the opportunities in front of him because extracurricular options in Cameroon were fairly limited. He quickly became a fixture on campus and in Waubonsee’s Athletic Department, as a four-sport athlete and one of the Chiefs’ first international student-athletes. In the fall he ran cross country, and at the same time he was a starting midfielder for the Chiefs’ soccer team. In the winter, Ghogomu was a reserve on the Chiefs’ basketball team that captured the 1998 Skyway Championship, went 26-5 overall and was ranked seventh nationally. Then in the spring he played tennis as well, all the while being active with both the African Cultural Alliance and Latinos Unidos organizations on campus. As if all of that were not already enough, he served as a student ambassador and a student senator. In the midst of all those activities, he excelled in the classroom earning National Junior Collegiate Athletic Association Academic All-American honors in 1998. At the end of his sophomore year Ghogomu was selected Waubonsee’s Vermilion and Gold Award winner, given annually to the student-athlete who best exemplifies the spirit of Chiefs’ Athletics.
Ghogomu received his Associate in Science degree from Waubonsee in 1998, and went on to earn a Bachelor of Science degree in Biology from the University of Illinois in 2001. He later earned his juris doctorate and master’s degree in Human Resources and Industrial Relations from the University of Illinois. He completed an internship with Walgreens while finishing his law degree, and was then hired by Littler Mendelson, the nation’s largest employment and labor law firm. Two years later he returned to Walgreens as a Senior Counsel at their corporate headquarters in north suburban Deerfield. For the last 13 years Ghogomu’s has provided guidance to Walgreens management regarding federal, state and local employment and labor laws, and represents the company in matters pending before several agencies, including the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and the Department of Labor.
Ghogomu continues to be a strong supporter of community colleges and serves as Vice President on the Oakton Community College Educational Foundation Board of Directors. He has also been involved with the Cradle Foundation, an agency that facilitates adoption. In addition, Ghogomu was named Waubonsee’s Distinguished Alumnus for 2016. He and his wife Michelle have three children, Evie, Isaac and Camille, and live in Evanston.
