Northwestern University President Henry Bienen and chairman of NU’s Board of Trustees Patrick Ryan are serving on a “Dream Team” committee of high-profile business executives and politicians to entice Boeing Co. to station their corporate headquarters in Chicago.

Boeing announced March 21 that it would uproot its headquarters from Seattle and begin searching for a new city to call home. The airplane-construction company has since narrowed its choices down to Chicago, Denver or Dallas.

The 67-member committee reportedly will use as a selling point Illinois’s large number of MBAs and engineering graduates.

Bienen and Ryan could not be reached for comment.

While Chicago is relying primarily on businessmen and politicians to attract Boeing, the other cities have enlisted the help of local sports stars, including Texas Rangers shortstop Alex Rodriguez and former Denver Broncos quarterback John Elway.

The efforts are all geared toward attracting the 400 to 500 jobs the relocation would create, as well as being the epicenter of Boeing’s future plans.

Boeing has been designing and building aircraft since 1915. It makes military and commercial planes, including jumbo jets such as the 747. It now employs more than 198,000 people worldwide.

McCormick Senior Andrew Shin, a Seattle native, said that although his hometown would suffer from the loss of jobs, he thinks Boeing should make its decision based on business sense, not loyalty.

“More than half my friends’ parents affiliated with Boeing, the other half of course being affiliated with Microsoft, but I think it’s better for a business to branch out more,” he said. “Chicago’s a better business city anyway.”