When Alex Nadtochiy arrived in Evanston in 2018 to start the EMBA Program at Kellogg, he expected to learn strategies that would help him scale the corporate ladder more quickly after working for years at a Fortune 200 company.
Instead, through a combination of distinctively Kellogg experiences — fueled by inspiring spaces filled with ambitious classmates, well-connected faculty ready to lend a hand and alumni eager to support fellow Kellogg grads — he discovered a different path that was a perfect fit for his skills and interests.
It all started during Global Networking Week at the Global Hub on the Evanston campus. There, he learned about entrepreneurship through acquisition, in which individuals become business owners by acquiring an existing company instead of starting one from scratch. The idea was unfamiliar to him but immediately compelling. He compares the head-spinning experience to the plot twist of a thrilling movie. “The veil had lifted,” he says. “I felt like I could see the world in a whole new way.”
Nadtochiy sprang into action: He asked Mitchell Petersen, the Glen Vasel Professor of Finance, for introductions to people within the private equity and ETA space. He met with Tom McDonough ’83, ’87 JD, MBA, the owner of TGM Capital Partners, where he landed a role as an operating partner. And in 2023, Nadtochiy acquired — with nine Kellogg equity investors — General Assembly & Manufacturing Corp., a small manufacturer and assembler of complex electromechanical systems and components in Cary, Illinois.
Since the acquisition, Nadtochiy ’19 MBA has given plant tours to more than 110 Kellogg faculty, students and alumni who want to learn from his work. He brought on an intern, Emily Kamen ’25 MBA, whose research and depth of knowledge “very significantly impacted” the business. He hopes to grow the company quickly enough to bring Kamen on full time when she graduates.
In many ways, Nadtochiy’s experience represents the platonic ideal of the Kellogg philosophy: Kellogg brings together some of the world’s brightest business minds to its state-of-the-art facilities to learn from and grow with one another. It supports the integration of faculty’s exceptional research skills with on-the-ground observations to push innovation further. And it helps those in the Kellogg community build connections with one another to fuel their career growth and create stronger, more innovative businesses.
By funding three primary priorities — a new building, world-class research and increased student support — the Kellogg Full Circle Campaign aims to propel this interconnected growth in ever more ambitious, forward-thinking ways.
“Kellogg has always been a place that thinks of the big picture and thinks of the impact on the world,” says Dean Francesca Cornelli. “This is what a business school should do, and this is the moment for our next step. Our ambition, with the Kellogg community’s support, is to reinvent business education together.”
In the pages that follow, we highlight some of the personal full circle moments that have transformed alumni and faculty already, and share how the three Full Circle Campaign priorities will drive these types of experiences for generations to come.
Priority #1: Building Kellogg’s Future
A new, state-of-the-art building will support education and connection for a changed business world.
My full circle moment
I saw the potential of the Global Hub when it was just a napkin sketch
Years ago, when University Trustee T. Bondurant “Bon” French ’75, ’76 MBA first heard about the plans for the Kellogg Global Hub, the building was little more than an audacious idea. “I was there when it was just a conversation; a sketch on a napkin,” says French, a member of the Dean’s Advisory Board since 2006 who served on the steering committee for the Global Hub. “Leaders didn’t even know where they were going to put it yet.”
French was among the building’s earliest supporters, championing it every step of the way. He donned a hard hat to walk through it when it was under construction and even attended the “topping out” ceremony to celebrate the placement of the final structural beam. He wasn’t surprised when the glowing reviews from architecture critics rolled in, calling the Hub “bold” and “spectacular.”
Since the Global Hub opened its doors in 2017, the space has fostered collaboration and inspired a generation of business leaders.
Today, French waxes nostalgic about the early days of a building that has helped transform Kellogg. “It’s fun to walk around the building now and say, ‘Wow, I was part of this when it was just an idea in people’s heads.’”
Kellogg’s next full circle moment
We’ll build a facility that drives business creativity and innovation
The new building, which will open in 2027 where the James L. Allen Center currently stands, is engineered to embrace today’s changed business landscape — and to adapt to a fast-changing world. “We can take advantage of everything we learned from the pandemic,” says Cornelli of the many innovations contained in the design. “Virtual experiences can enhance in-person ones. We can bring in more alumni. We can be more imaginative.”
The building will be a physical representation of the school’s unparalleled ambitions, says Cornelli. “We’re ready to reinvent the campus experience.”
Priority #2: Driving business innovation through enterprising faculty research
World-class faculty with big ideas will get the support they need to take their work as far as they can imagine.
My full circle moment
I leveraged expertise from Silicon Valley alumni leaders to fuel cutting-edge coursework
Florian Zettelmeyer, the Nancy L. Ertle Professor of Marketing, has been interested in data analytics for more than a quarter of a century. And in the early 2010s, when big data became one of the hottest topics in the business world, he was ready to help his students make the most of this data revolution.
He didn’t just dig into the academic literature and research: He also went straight to the alumni office, which helped connect him to tech-savvy Bay Area alumni including Lisa Earnhardt ’96 MBA, who was then with Intersect ENT, and Gary Briggs ’89 MBA, who was CMO of Facebook at the time.
They helped Zettelmeyer identify the essential skills that students needed at this critical inflection point — including basic programming knowledge and machine learning methods. Zettelmeyer dug in even further to understand the needs of executives, including effective organizational structures, cultures and employee hires that could make a company’s analytics efforts successful.
Zettelmeyer used these insights to develop highly relevant coursework and then spent months honing his teaching so that he could deliver essential knowledge in crisp, actionable formats. It was a process that helped create the next wave of influential Kellogg leaders.
His goal, he says, is never just to fill an hour in a classroom. “I want to say things in ways that resonate with people — and that influence what happens in companies.”
Kellogg’s next full circle moment
We’ll build on our history of breakthroughs
Kellogg has long been a leader in business research: It’s home to award-winning faculty and pathbreaking research in areas including marketing, game theory and supply chain resilience.
But the best never rest on their laurels, says Sergio Rebelo, the MUFG Bank Distinguished Professor of International Finance. “The 21st century will be nothing like the 20th century: Globalization is on pause, population growth has slowed or stopped, and AI will automate many high-skill jobs,” he says, ticking off just a few of the challenges that organizations face.
To maintain its edge, Kellogg aims to recruit and retain the very best faculty — and give them the resources they need to push their fields forward in the face of these challenges. This means putting together competitive hiring packages to attract top researchers, giving them resources to hire staff and computing power to do increasingly complex research, and supporting them as they work closely with top businesses and leaders to gain critical knowledge.
When Kellogg enables top-tier faculty to immerse themselves productively in the academic world and in the fast-moving business environment, they develop unique perspectives on the shifting currents — and use the knowledge to help executives in their classrooms navigate them more deftly. “Our job is to understand what’s going on and develop strategies that will be winners in this era,” says Rebelo.
Priority #3: Supporting a new generation of Kellogg students
To attract the highest-potential leaders, we’ll make Kellogg the clear choice for career acceleration.
My full circle moment
I went from being a Kellogg intern to hiring a Kellogg intern
As a student participant in the Kellogg Entrepreneurial Internship Program, Jennifer Beall Saxton ’10 MBA had an internship at Perchance, a clothing boutique in Chicago owned by MaryLiz Lehman ’06 MBA.
The experience gave Saxton an eye-opening insider’s view of the life of an entrepreneur. “I created the HR manual, I filed the trademark application, I sold shoes on the floor, I managed inventory in the back room,” she recalls. “I really got a sense for what it meant to be a business owner.”
A decade and a half later, as the founder and CEO of Tot Squad, a marketplace that connects new and expecting parents with services, Saxton was thrilled to be on the other side of that student-alumni partnership: With the help of a stipend program through the Kellogg Career Management Center, she offered an internship to a current Kellogg student, Meenal Singhavi ’25 MBA.
“She took over our social media, she reached out to influencers, she did a lot of different projects for us,” Saxton says. Singhavi, meanwhile, trusted Saxton to be a sounding board as she honed her own story for networking and pitch events.
At Kellogg, graduation is just one milestone in what is designed to be a lifelong relationship, and everyone can both benefit from and contribute to an increasingly powerful community. “It’s not just about paying it forward — it’s also about investing in the current and future success of Kellogg students, alumni and ventures. Meenal delivered value to our company — and I think I was able to add significant value for her,” says Saxton.
Kellogg’s next full circle moment
We’ll attract the best and help them fulfill their highest aspirations
When Vicki Medvec, the Adeline Barry Davee Professor of Management and Organizations, works with students, she encourages them to think big — and do whatever it takes to get where they want to go. “I want our students to be ambitious. I want them to drive to the highest levels. I want them to succeed at the highest levels,” she says. “I am very inspired to help students to achieve those goals, and I believe that Kellogg is exactly the place where you can do that.”
Kellogg has long provided the extra boost that can help students transform their careers from good to great. As the school looks to the future, it aims to attract even more talented students who can benefit from this philosophy, and equip them with the resources and opportunities to make the most of their education here.
This approach includes offering scholarships to talented individuals who might not have the same financial resources as other students, such as international students with lower salaries or military veterans who have transitioned to civilian life.
Then, once students have enrolled, they’ll have access to a widening set of life-changing opportunities: global immersion trips, unique courses and access to the full resources of Northwestern University.
By broadening access and deepening our strengths, Kellogg makes it possible for students to achieve their goals — both on campus and beyond it.
Completing the Full Circle
Alumni and institutions have already stepped up in significant ways to support our vision through the Full Circle Campaign. Here’s why — and how.
Zell Family Foundation
$25 million
A gift will bolster the Zell Fellows Program, which supports MBA candidates interested in starting a new venture or acquiring an existing one. “The Zell Family Foundation is proud to continue Sam’s legacy of supporting entrepreneurs who have big ideas, the passion to execute and the drive to go for greatness,” says Helen Zell, president of the foundation.
Bon French ’75, ’76 MBA
$10.2 million
French sees powerful opportunities in the interconnected priorities of the campaign. “The Full Circle Campaign brings together the benefits of faculty interacting with experienced executives and staying on the cutting edge of what’s happening in the real world, whether it’s AI, cybersecurity or other issues. Those faculty then bring those insights to their research and students,” he says. “This feedback loop keeps our faculty at the forefront of what’s latest in the real world.”
Mike Shannon ’83 MBA and Mary Sue Shannon
$10 million
Mike Shannon knows from firsthand experience that Kellogg is a school that helps its students hone their skills, widen their perspectives and deliver at the very highest levels. “Kellogg,” he says, “is where I became a leader.”
Kimberly Querrey ’22, ’23 P
$10 million
Querrey’s gift, which supports Executive Education, honors her late husband, Louis Simpson ’58, a Northwestern University trustee who served as a senior fellow, adjunct professor of finance and member of the Kellogg Asset Management Practicum advisory council. “Lou valued being a part of the Northwestern community,” says Querrey. “He cherished his relationships with the students and others he met through the University.”
Northwestern Medicine
$10 million
A new endowment has established the Northwestern Medicine Kellogg Healthcare Leadership Center, dedicated to shaping the next generation of healthcare leaders. The goal of the center, says Howard Chrisman, president and chief executive officer of Northwestern Memorial HealthCare, is to “prepare them for transformational change in how we plan for and deliver patient care.”
Learn more about the Full Circle Campaign and make your gift