CARBONDALE - A Southern Illinois University Carbondale student will be one of a select few guest presenters at the National Collegiate Leadership Conference early next year. Jay Glogovsky received the invitation recently to speak at the conference, set for Feb. 13-15, 2009, at the University of Arizona in Tucson.

"It speaks volumes about Jay's leadership skills and abilities that he was selected to present at the National Collegiate Leadership Conference," said Amanda R. Phillips, coordinator of leadership and involvement programs for Student Development at SIUC. "We are proud and excited that he will be representing SIUC."

A sophomore from Gurnee, Glogovsky will address "Visionary Leadership" before hundreds of college student leaders from across America. Glogovsky, the son of Detra Conley and Jim Glogovsky, said he will speak to his fellow collegians about thinking of and achieving their aspirations, of putting their dreams onto paper and bringing those dreams to reality.

About 575 student leaders from across the country attended the last conference and projections call for an even larger crowd in 2009. The conference features workshops, team-building activities, motivational speakers, networking opportunities and service projects throughout the Tucson area.

"It's the No. 1 student-led leadership conference in the United States," said Glogovsky, whose career goal is becoming an international financial consultant.

Leadership and involvement are far from new for Glogovsky, who is majoring in finance with a minor in Chinese. He's a former Undergraduate Student Government senator and currently serves as executive director of the SIUC Dawg Pound, the largest student group on campus, he said. He's also financial officer for the Student Alumni Council and works as a student accountant with the Alumni Association.

Along with his extensive experience and qualifications, another initiative played a role in Glogovsky earning the conference invitation. He said SIUC will host its first student leadership conference in September 2009 and he's the director, leading the conference planning. He anticipates it will be very similar to the February NCLC conference.