DePaul University will kick off its business school’s centennial on Sept. 19 when it hosts a dedication ceremony to officially rename the school the Richard H. Driehaus College of Business in recognition of DePaul’s longtime partnership with the Chicago investment pioneer and philanthropist.

In February, Driehaus, an alumnus, announced a $30 million gift to enhance the academic programs of the 100-year-old College of Business. The record gift, which advances DePaul’s ambitious Many Dreams, One Mission capital campaign, will be used to recruit and retain top quality faculty.

“I see the Driehaus College of Business fostering even more talent, innovation and ethical values over the coming years,” said Driehaus, a lifelong Chicagoan born and raised on the city’s South Side. “The impact will benefit not only the lives of the graduates, but also the Chicago community and the world at large. It is a privilege to be able to give back to an institution that gave me so much.”

Driehaus earned both his undergraduate business degree (1965) and MBA (1970) from DePaul, making him a “Double Demon.” In 1993 he endowed the Driehaus Center for International Business, which holds seminars for business students and faculty in 15 different overseas centers and sponsors international MBA programs taught by DePaul faculty, among other initiatives. In 2002, Driehaus donated $3.45 million to the college to endow a chair and establish an innovative center in behavioral finance. He also has funded scholarships for international MBA students and a virtual stock portfolio contest for DePaul finance students.     

In recognition of his contributions to DePaul’s business curriculum, in 2000 the College of Business named Driehaus “Financial Executive of the Year” and in 2002 bestowed an honorary doctoral degree on him. Today, Driehaus is a Life Trustee and honorary co-chair of the capital campaign for the College of Business.

Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel said, “It’s clear that the education Richard received at DePaul helped make him into the leader and citizen he is today. His generous donation ensures that many more students can learn from the best minds in business at one of Chicago’s great universities. DePaul students will have even more opportunities to shape Chicago with lives of service and stewardship, just as Richard has done.”

Ray Whittington, dean of the Driehaus College of Business, said it’s a fitting way to kick off the college’s centennial. “We were one of the first colleges of business in the country and the first established in downtown Chicago,” he said. “The renaming of the college to the Driehaus College of Business and the centennial are opportunities to position the college to continue its legacy of academic excellence.”

The Driehaus College of Business will be dedicated during a ceremony on Sept. 19, with Driehaus as the honored guest. Plans also are underway for the college to host a birthday celebration for students on Jan. 14 (the college first offered classes in January 1913). A centennial executive speaker series and a cosponsored symposium with the School of Music and College of Law, which are also celebrating their centennials this academic year, are being organized for after the first of the year. In the spring, the business school will invite alumni back to its classrooms for an event featuring mini-lectures by faculty members.    

“We’re celebrating 100 years of history at the same time we have received the Driehaus gift that will transform the college as we forge our way into the future,” Whittington said.

Founded in 1913, the College of Business was among the first 10 business colleges in the United States when it began offering classes. It also was the first business school in downtown Chicago and the first business school at an American Catholic university. The college launched its MBA program in 1948 at what later became the Kellstadt Graduate School of Business, which will retain its name as a part of the Driehaus College of Business.

The college has graduated a number of noted business leaders, including Driehaus, CEO, Driehaus Capital Management; James Jenness, chairman, Kellogg Co.; Stacy Janiak, managing partner, Deloitte in Chicago; Ed Joyce, president and CEO, Chicago Board Options Exchange; Gerald Beeson, senior managing director and chief operating officer, Citadel; Karen Atwood, president, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Illinois; and James T. Ryan III, chairman, CEO and president, W.W. Grainger, Inc.

DePaul’s part-time MBA program at the Kellstadt Graduate School of Business has been ranked in the top 10 nationally 14 times by U.S. News & World Report.

Entrepreneur magazine and The Princeton Review ranked DePaul’s undergraduate entrepreneurship program 17th and the graduate program 11th nationally among more than 2,300 schools surveyed for their “Best Schools for Entrepreneurs 2011.”

In Bloomberg Businessweek’s 2012 undergraduate business program rankings, the Driehaus College of Business program earned an A+ for teaching quality and an A for curriculum.

The Driehaus College of Business has 56,000 living alumni. For more about the college’s history and centennial events, visit http://alumni.depaul.edu/anniversaries.

About DePaul’s Driehaus College of Business

Offering a highly respected, practical, real-world program of business study, DePaul’s Driehaus College of Business enrolls 4,249 undergraduate students and its Kellstadt Graduate School of Business has 2,115 graduate students. DePaul’s undergraduate business program offers a wide range of majors in accountancy, economics, finance, hospitality leadership, management, marketing and real estate. Graduates benefit from the college’s 56,000-strong alumni network. For more information about the Driehaus College of Business, visit commerce.depaul.edu. For admission questions, call 312-362-8300 or email admission@depaul.edu.

About DePaul

With more than 25,000 students, DePaul is the largest Catholic university in the United States and the largest private, nonprofit university in the Midwest. The university offers approximately 275 graduate and undergraduate programs of study on three Chicago and three suburban campuses. Founded in 1898, DePaul remains committed to providing a quality education through personal attention to students from a wide range of backgrounds. For more information, visit www.depaul.edu.