It's the biggest gift ever given to the Catholic school.
DePaul will use interest earned on the endowment to recruit and retain faculty at its 100-year-old College of Commerce, which is being renamed the Richard H. Driehaus College of Business, and the Charles H. Kellstadt Graduate School of Business.
Driehaus, 69, earned his undergraduate business degree and his master's in business administration from DePaul, whose business campus is in downtown Chicago. Driehaus, chairman of Driehaus Capital Management LLC, said in an interview that he wanted the money to go toward faculty rather than buildings or a general fund, where its impact would be dispersed and less relevant to his interests. His desire dovetails with the school's needs.
"My biggest concern as a dean is a shortage of faculty," said Ray Whittington, dean of DePaul's business college. Of the college's 162 faculty members, 48 will reach age 68 during the next 10 years, amid a national shortage of doctoral graduates in various business disciplines to replace them, he said. Also, Whittington said, it will cost more to replace them.
"Overall, we're looking at a shortfall of $1.6 million to replace those 48 faculty members," Whittington said. "The other big issue is to retain the best faculty members."
DePaul's president, the Rev. Dennis Holtschneider, approached Driehaus in June about the possibility of making a large donation. They met at 25 E. Erie St., the gabled brownstone mansion where Driehaus Capital Management manages more than $7 billion.
"I said, 'Richard, my single biggest concern for the future of the school is commanding some of the best faculty available. Would you consider doing something on a very aspirational level to keep the school strong for another generation?'" Holtschneider recalled telling him.
Then came the amount desired.
"Forming the words '$30 million' was quite amazing," Holtschneider said. "I was waiting for his jaw to drop, but he listened intently and said he needed to think it over."
"When he mentioned the $30 million, his voice was a little weak," Driehaus recalled, followed by his distinct cackling laugh.
Driehaus said he knew quickly that he would make the contribution. But it wasn't until December, during dessert at dinner at the Four Seasons, that Driehaus formally committed.
"At dessert, he said he'd like to make the gift that I spoke of," Holtschneider said. "He's a savvy investor, and he takes his time to get to know organizations very well."
Driehaus was born in 1942 and raised in a bungalow on Elizabeth Street. His father worked for a South Side manufacturer of coal-mining equipment.
"He wanted me to be an engineer, but I couldn't do it," Driehaus (pronounced DREE-house) recalled of his father. "I was more like my mother, right brained, more facile than specific."
His favorite DePaul professors and teachers included Eugene Muldoon, who "made finance fascinating" through his stories about market speculators of the past; William Hayes, who taught international finance; and Frederick Miller, "a conservative free market thinker" who instilled in Driehaus an appreciation for certain Austrian economists. Among them was Joseph Schumpeter, who spoke of the forces of "creative destruction" that, decades later, have become a U.S. presidential campaign issue.
Driehaus was asked what Chicago could do to promote itself as a business center.
He said the city could be friendlier to small businesses by streamlining licensing and permitting processes, which can be a hindrance to innovation.
A young "Steve Jobs could be put out of business here," Driehaus said. "'You're doing business in a garage?"
Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ChicagoBreakingNews/~3/TXxZ8uf2v54/story01.htm
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