About Randy

Dr. Stanford “Randy” Tack

Randy was born in Chicago and his childhood years were spent in Elmhurst and Glen Ellyn. He graduated from Glenbard West High School and the University of Illinois (B.S. in Biology) and attended the University of Illinois College of Medicine. To pay for medical school, Randy worked as a bartender, as a steelworker in a factory in Cicero, and managed an apartment building.

He was elected to the Alpha Omega Alpha national medical honor society, a distinction only granted to students in the top 5% of their class. Randy graduated with honors in 1985 and did his residency at the University of Illinois in Orthopaedic Surgery.

In medical school, he met and married Liisa Merits of Lake Forest, with whom he had two children. While in residency, Randy was recruited by Lake Forest Orthopedics (LFO) and specialized in Spine Surgery prompting a fellowship at Rush Medical Center. Upon completing his fellowship, he and Liisa moved their young family to Lake Forest.

He partnered with LFO colleagues to form a multi specialty orthopedic practice, the Illinois Bone and Joint Institute (IBJI), of which he was a founding board member.  Randy was appointed Vice President of the Midwest Orthopedic Network, and managing partner at IBJI.

In 2002 his wife was diagnosed with Glioblastoma and passed away in 2004. At the time his son was completing high school, and his daughter was at the American School of Ballet in New York. Randy’s time as a single parent and Orthopedic Surgeon was challenging and could not have been accomplished without the help of his late wife’s parents.  He later remarried and formed a merged family with his wife Paula and her two sons. Randy also served as Vice President of Operations, and then as President, of the Lake Forest Club.

In 2011, Randy was elected as a 3rd Ward Alderman, serving multiple terms from 2012-2018.  While Alderman, Randy served as the Chairman of the Public Works Committee and Fire Vision 2020 Committee.  The many initiatives he drove include:

  • the relinquishment of a Special Service Area tax on certain residents of Ward 3 which saved residents almost $800,000

  • the renovation and upgrade of Lake Forest’s water plant

  • the reworking of the Fire and Public Safety Pension Plan for the City of Lake Forest to stabilize expenditures over time

In 2021, Randy was asked by the City Council to Chair the Central Business District Planning Committee, an initiative to ensure a stronger economic future for Lake Forest.  He has found his time working with the city rewarding and exciting.  As he transitions out of the practice of clinical medicine Randy looks forward to continuing his contribution to the City of Lake Forest, a community that has provided him and his family with such remarkable opportunities and quality of life.