William E. Hay, president of Hay & Company, a national consulting firm based in Chicago’s Loop, has joined DePaul University’s Board of Trustees. Hay, a 1966 DePaul MBA graduate, and his wife, Mary Pat Gannon Hay, have donated $1 million to fund the Saint Vincent de Paul Leadership Project at DePaul.

The goal of the project is to study and document the principles of St. Vincent de Paul and the organizations associated with him and then share this knowledge with today’s leaders and managers. The 17th century French priest, who advocated service to the community and respect for the individual, founded or inspired organizations that include the Congregation of the Mission, Daughters of Charity, the Ladies of Charity and the Society of St. Vincent de Paul. In 1898, DePaul University was founded on St. Vincent’s principles by the Congregation of the Mission, known as the Vincentians.

“William Hay’s rock-solid commitment to furthering the principles of St. Vincent de Paul through university leadership programs will ensure that those values are passed along to future generations and incorporated into all aspects of professional enterprise,” said the Rev. John P. Minogue, C.M., DePaul president.

A resident of the Streeterville neighborhood of Chicago, Hay established Hay & Company in 1982. The company offers consulting services for organization design, strategy, structure and senior executive selection to the manufacturing, service and not-for-profit sectors. Prior to forming the firm, Hay spent 12 years with Ernst & Young as a Senior Manager in Human Resource Consulting, Midwest Region.

A native Chicagoan, Hay earned an undergraduate degree in industrial management from the University of Illinois in Urbana and an MBA in management from DePaul. Hay joined the DePaul Management Department as an adjunct faculty member in 1967. Since 1972 he has served as an adjunct faculty member and professional advisor in DePaul’s Graduate School for Business, Public Service master’s degree program and the School for New Learning.

His primary teaching focus has been in the areas of organizational behavior, design, planning, corporate strategy and top management assessment and selection. Hay also has been a DePaul President’s Club Member for many years.

Hay is active with the Mercy Home for Boys and Girls and is a former Board President for the Boys and Girls Club of Chicago, Eisenberg Unit. He volunteers as a business consultant to the Arts and Business Council of Chicago, providing counsel to a wide spectrum of theatrical, musical and museum groups. He and his wife are members of the Chicago Symphony, Lyric Opera, Oak Park Country Club, Racquet Club of Chicago and the Chicago Yacht Club.

DePaul is the largest private university in Chicago and the largest Catholic university in the United States. The university enrolls a richly diverse population of more than 21,000 students who take classes on two city and six suburban campuses.