The Keeley Family Foundation – founded by John L. Keeley, Jr., president and chief investment officer of Chicago-based Keeley Asset Management Corp. (KAMCO), and his wife, Barbara – has donated $2 million dollars to DePaul University’s College of Commerce.

The gift will establish the Christopher L. Keeley Endowed Chair in Investment Management, named in memory of the Keeleys’ youngest son, a DePaul alumnus and KAMCO officer who died suddenly of a pulmonary embolism at age 29 in 2002.

The Keeley Chair will be housed within the Center for Financial Services, a new DePaul academic center with a mission to help students bridge the theoretical and practical dimensions of the finance field. DePaul’s finance department, under the direction of Ali Fatemi, has launched a search to hire a prominent finance scholar to fill the endowed chair position.

The Keeley family made the donation to assist DePaul in creating a nationally competitive investment management education program that will help young people take advantage of growing opportunities in this field, John Keeley said. “Courses in this new program will educate students in the practical application of the investment management art, which will become more important to society in general and individuals in particular over time,” he said. “It’s become increasingly necessary to more efficiently manage one’s assets as the retirement population grows and continues to age and the stability of the government’s Social Security program remains in question.”

“We plan to involve industry leaders in the design and the delivery of the center’s education and training programs, in collaboration with our highly respected faculty,” he said. “This will ensure that we offer a rigorous and topical program, which provides students with a thorough understanding of the practical art of investment management.”

Naming the chair for Christopher is an appropriate tribute because he was passionate about his work as an investment manager, said his brother, Kevin. “He was very enthusiastic about what he did and he loved the business,” he said. “He had a real passion for the markets.”

Christopher grew up in Western Springs and graduated from Lyons Township High School. While attending DePaul to study finance, he took a part-time job at KAMCO, following in the footsteps of his father and mentor. Founded by John L. Keeley, Jr. in 1977, the value-oriented investment firm oversees the highly rated KEELEY family of mutual funds and separately managed accounts for institutional pension and profit-sharing plans, foundations and high net worth individuals.

Christopher earned a bachelor’s degree in business from DePaul in 1994 and eventually became a successful trader and vice president at KAMCO. In 1996, Christopher married fellow DePaul alumnus Elizabeth Saballus and settled on the North Side of Chicago. “He loved to travel, visiting Ireland and Italy, and enjoyed cooking, boating and water skiing,” his mother, Barbara said, “The warmth of his smile revealed the kindness and friendship he shared with everyone.”

In addition to the Keeley Chair, Christopher’s legacy continues through the Christopher L. Keeley Memorial Scholarship Fund and a KAMCO internship program for DePaul students.

The KAMCO internship program employs DePaul business students part-time at the firm. “The program takes a holistic approach, exposing students to the day-to-day operations of the company,” Kevin Keeley said.

The $2 million gift from the Keeley Family Foundation is the fourth, seven-figure donation that DePaul’s finance department has attracted in the past two years. The Real Estate Center at DePaul, housed in the finance department, received funding for a chair in real estate studies through a $4 million endowment underwritten by the Michael J. Horne Education & Healthcare Assistance Foundation in October of 2006. DePaul alumnus George L. Ruff, founder and senior principal of New York-based Trinity Hotel Investors LLC, donated $1.5 million for a real estate professorship in September of 2006. Douglas Crocker II, retired CEO of Equity Residential Properties Trust, and his wife, Cynthia, donated $2 million to fund the directorship of the Real Estate Center in August of 2005.

“DePaul could not fulfill its mission without the generosity of the Keeleys and other donors,” said Ray Whittington, dean of the College of Commerce and Kellstadt Graduate School of Business. “These gifts allow the university to hire distinguished faculty and offer the highest quality academic programs.”

Offering highly respected, practical, flexible programs of business study, DePaul's College of Commerce encompasses the university’s undergraduate business program, with 4,424 students, and the Kellstadt Graduate School of Business, which enrolls 1,806 students. Kellstadt offers part-time evening, full-time day and weekend MBA programs as well as other specialized master’s degrees. Twenty-six MBA concentrations are offered, allowing students to tailor their educational experience to meet professional needs. This fully accredited program is ranked 11th in the nation by U.S.News & World Report in its “America’s Best Graduate Schools” guidebook, which surveyed 399 schools.

Photo of the late Christopher L. Keeley.

Editors’ Note: To arrange interviews with Ali Fatemi or Ray Whittington, contact Robin Florzak, DePaul Media Relations, at 312/362-8592 or rflorzak@depaul.edu. For Keeley Family Foundation interviews, call Kevin Keeley at 312/786-5038.