A journalist, the first female director of Illinois' Department of Agriculture and two others are being honored by the Alumni Association of the Illinois Agricultural Leadership Foundation.

According to reports, the four received the association's "Torch of Leadership" awards.

One honoree is Orion Samuelson of Huntley. His reports on WGN Radio and his TV show, "This Week in Agribusiness," made him one of the most recognizable voices in agriculture.

Becky Doyle of Gillespie was director of the agriculture department under Republican Gov. Jim Edgar.

Another honoree is Normal's Dan Kelley. He retired in 2012 as board chairman of the farmer cooperative Growmark.

The fourth honoree is Gerald Salzman. The Mundelein man recently retired as senior director of global marketing harvesting at Case IH.