André Thapedi was a

Democratic Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (United States) (D) **Democratic ...

member of the

Illinois House of Representatives The Illinois House of Representatives is the lower house of the Illinois General Assembly. The body was created by the first Illinois Constitution adopted in 1818. The House under the current constitution as amended in 1980 consists of 118 re ...

, representing the 32nd District from 2009 to 2021. During his tenure, the 32nd district included all or portions of Auburn Gresham,

Chicago Lawn Chicago Lawn is one of the 77 community areas of Chicago, Illinois. It is located on the southwest side of the city. Its community neighbors include Gage Park, West Englewood, Ashburn, and West Lawn. It is bounded by Bell Avenue on the east ...

Ashburn __NOTOC__ Ashburn may refer to: Places Canada *Ashburn, Ontario United States *Ashburn, Georgia *Ashburn, Chicago, Illinois, a community area **Ashburn (Metra), a Metra station serving the area * Ashburn, Missouri * Ashburn, Virginia, an unincorpo ...

Chatham Chatham may refer to: Places and jurisdictions Canada * Chatham Islands (British Columbia) * Chatham Sound, British Columbia * Chatham, New Brunswick, a former town, now a neighbourhood of Miramichi * Chatham (electoral district), New Brunswic ...

and West Englewood as well as portions of suburban Justice and Hickory Hills.

Early life and career

Thapedi is the son of Chicago neurosurgeon Isaac Martin Thapedi and retired Cook County judge Llwellyn Thapedi. He attended LeMans Academy and

St. Ignatius College Prep Saint Ignatius College Prep is a selective private, coeducational Jesuit college-preparatory school located in the Near West Side neighborhood of Chicago, Illinois. The school was founded in Chicago in 1869 by Fr. Arnold Damen, S.J., a Dutch ...

where he was a student athlete, leader, and selected as a "Chicagoland Outstanding Student". After graduating from

Morehouse College , mottoeng = And there was light (literal translation of Latin itself translated from Hebrew: "And light was made") , type = Private historically black men's liberal arts college , academic_affiliations ...

he earned a law degree, with honors, from John Marshall Law School, where he was a president of the

Black Law Students Association The National Black Law Students Association (NBLSA), founded in 1968, is a nationwide organization formed to articulate and promote the needs and goals of black law students and effectuates change in the legal community. As the largest law stude ...

, national mock trial competition winner, national moot court competition winner, and published in their ''Journal of Computer and Information Law''. Thapedi worked as an intern with the office of the Cook County State's Attorney and the law department of the Chicago Transit Authority. He spent eight years as a trial, corporate, and transaction attorney before becoming a partner in the law firm of Thapedi & Thapedi where he represents both injured persons and businesses in civil litigation. He is also the managing broker for Shore Realty, LLC.

Illinois House of Representatives

Thapedi was elected in 2008 to succeed

Milton Patterson Milton "Milt" Patterson is a former Democratic member of the Illinois House of Representatives, representing the 32nd District on the southwest side of Chicago from 2005 until 2009. Patterson earned a Bachelor of Science with honors in fire sc ...

. On July 31, 2017, Thapedi was appointed a member of the Trade Policy Task Force for a term ending December 31, 2018. The Trade Policy Task Force's function is to analyze important issues relative to the growth of international trade and make recommendations to Congress, the

United States Trade Representative The Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) is an agency of the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government responsible for developing and promoting Trade policy of the United States, American trade ...

, and the

White House National Trade Council The National Trade Council (NTC) of the United States was the principal forum used by the President of the United States to advise on strategies in trade negotiations, coordinate with other agencies to assess U.S. manufacturing capabilities and the ...

regarding trade policy. The Task Force also promotes Illinois as a market for exporting and importing. On January 31, 2021, it was reported by NPR that Thapedi would resign his seat during the 102nd General Assembly. Thapedi submitted his resignation March 17, 2021. On April 8, 2021, Cyril Nichols was appointed by Democratic leaders in the district to succeed him.

Electoral history

References

External links

Representative André Thapedi (D) 32nd District
at Illinois General Assembly **By session
98th97th96thState Representative André Thapedi
constituency site *
André Thapedi
at Illinois House Democrats {{DEFAULTSORT:Thapedi, Andre Living people Illinois Democrats Morehouse College alumni John Marshall Law School (Chicago) alumni Year of birth missing (living people) 21st-century American politicians