Recent gifts support Kellogg scholarships, curriculum and facilities

Each gift the Kellogg School of Management receives plays a key role in enhancing and expanding the Kellogg experience and the impact that the school's alumni make in the world. Three recent gifts represent the ways that friends and alumni have helped advance the Kellogg mission.

Jim Farrell, chairman of the Kellogg Campaign Steering Committee, a member of Kellogg Dean's Advisory Board and a Northwestern University trustee, has a history of participation with Northwestern. In keeping with Mr. Farrell's enduring association with Kellogg, his name will soon permanently be associated with the Kellogg School on the Evanston campus. A recent gift of $1 million from Jim and Maxine Farrell will be used to support the construction of a new facility for the business school. Recognizing this generous gift, the Student Affairs Office in the new Kellogg building will be named in honor of Mr. and Mrs. Farrell.

The Farrells' gift marks the first contribution toward the new facility, a building that will enrich the school's instructional resources with new technology and space for experiential learning. In addition, the facility will be a hub for student and alumni activities and interaction.

Now retired, Mr. Farrell served as chairman and CEO of Illinois Tool Works Inc., a manufacturer of highly engineered fasteners, components, assemblies and systems with 750 companies in 50 countries. Among his activities, Mr. Farrell is vice chairman of the United Way of Metropolitan Chicago, chairman of the Museum of Science and Industry's board of trustees, a trustee of Rush Presbyterian-St. Luke's Medical Center and a director of the Lyric Opera of Chicago.

Mr. Farrell earned a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering from the University of Detroit.

Sunil Hirani '94 also has made a generous pledge to Kellogg. His gift of $1.25 million will establish the Sati and Sugnomal Hirani Family Scholarship Fund. The fund will be used to provide need- and merit-based scholarships. In response to Mr. Hirani's substantial pledge, Dean Dipak C. Jain has agreed that Kellogg will match the Hiranis' gift, increasing the number of students who will benefit from the fund.

Sunil Hirani is chairman and CEO of Creditex Group, a leader in trading credit derivatives. Creditex was named in Institutional Investor's "Online Finance 40" as a leading financial technology innovator. Mr. Hirani was the winner of the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year in 2007 for financial services in the metropolitan New York area. Prior to founding Creditex, he worked at Deutsche Bank, Bankers Trust and at Lockheed Martin as a software engineer designing systems for the NASA space program.

In addition to his Kellogg MBA, Mr. Hirani has a bachelor's degree in computer science from Washington University.

Another Kellogg graduate, Scott Fearon '83, recognizes the importance of practical experience in asset management for Kellogg students. More than 18 years ago, Mr. Fearon started his own hedge fund after working for a British mutual fund company that managed U.S. onshore and offshore stock funds. He also managed an equity fund at Texas Commerce Bank and is now the president of Crown Capital Corporation.

His experiences motivated him to make a gift of $150,000 to the Kellogg Asset Management Program in honor of his 25th reunion. Launched in 2007, the yearlong course combines financial theory, exposure to cutting-edge practitioners, and experience managing an actual portfolio. This practical experience prepares students to enter financial service firms, which hire about 20 percent of all Kellogg graduates.

Mr. Fearon's graduating class broke several records this year. It boasted the highest participation of any class on record, garnering 38 percent support. It had the most classmates return to a reunion, with an attendance of nearly 150. The total class philanthropy was the highest for a 25th reunion year — raising more than $600,000. The Class of 1983 also created the first-ever Reunion Class Book, mailed out before the event, with over 110 submissions.

Kellogg extends its gratitude to these exemplary supporters, and to all alumni and friends whose contributions ensure that the school continues to deliver an unparalleled leadership education.