United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois Zachary Fardon, the top federal law enforcement official Northern Illinois, will discuss "American Life and Law: Justice in the 21st Century" on Thursday, April 28, during the Ninth Annual Elmhurst College Governmental Forum.

The discussion will be moderated by David Yellen, dean of the Loyola University Chicago School of Law; and Sergio Acosta, a partner in Hinshaw & Culbertson LLP and an Elmhurst College trustee.

Fardon's office is widely recognized for numerous significant investigations and prosecutions involving international terrorism and terrorism financing, public corruption, corporate fraud, violent crime and narcotics. In January, his office won a sweeping victory when a jury convicted a former Chicago city official of taking up to $2 million in bribes and gifts in the "red light camera" public corruption case in Chicago.

The Elmhurst College Governmental Forum is one of the region's most widely respected venues for the discussion of the vital economic and governance issues facing Illinois. In previous years, the Forum has welcomed U.S. Senator Mark Kirk, former Illinois governors Jim Edgar and James Thompson, Business Roundtable President John Engler, Speaker of the Illinois House of Representatives Michael Madigan and many others.

The Ninth Annual Elmhurst College Governmental Forum will be held on Thursday, April 28, at the Hilton Chicago/Oak Brook Hills Resort & Conference Center, 3500 Midwest Rd, Oak Brook, Ill. The Forum begins with networking at 11:30 a.m.; lunch and the program begin at noon. Admission is $25 and includes lunch. The public is invited to attend. For more information and to purchase tickets, visit www.elmhurst.edu/forum.

More about the participants:

Zachary T. Fardon served as a federal prosecutor for nearly a decade before entering private law practice and then returning to government service in 2013 to begin serving as U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, which covers 18 counties across the top tier of the state and a population of approximately 9 million people. He directs the implementation of Project Safe Neighborhoods, a federal anti-gun violence initiative; and also leads other anti-violent crime programs, in partnership with the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Drug Enforcement Administration, and other federal and state law enforcement agencies.

David Yellen has served as dean of Loyola University Chicago School of Law since 2005. He writes and speaks frequently about legal education, and his other main field of expertise is criminal law. In 2014 the presiding judge for Cook County's criminal division appointed Yellen to serve as a Special Master, whose role it is to identify, for possible retrial, prison inmates who may have been tortured under the watch of former Chicago Police Cmdr. Jon Burge.

Sergio Acosta is an experienced criminal litigator and investigator who has represented companies, government entities and individuals in matters involving the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, health care fraud, complex financial fraud, criminal tax violations, export regulations and criminal and civil forfeiture. His practice also encompasses corporate governance, corporate internal investigations, regulatory enforcement, commercial litigation and gaming law. He joined the Elmhurst College Board of Trustees in 2015. Elmhurst College is a leading four-year college that seamlessly blends liberal learning and professional preparation to educate students for life in a global society and help them to reach their potential.

Elmhurst College is the one of the Top 10 Colleges in the Midwest, according to U.S. News & World Report; and U.S. News, Money and Forbes magazines consistently rank Elmhurst as one of the Midwest's best values in higher education.