The ease with which his second and fourth graders adapted to online learning during the pandemic has inspired a Chicago-area police detective to finish up his undergraduate degree in finance at Gies College of Business more than 25 years after he started.

“I’ve always fallen back on economic principles when interviewing suspects, without using business terms like supply and demand or incentives,” said Lou Hayes, Detective Sergeant and Major Crimes Unit Investigator. “If you want suspects and witnesses to talk to you, you have to diminish their fears and accentuate their motivations like you would any customer.”