Board of Trustees

Trustees in the News

Lewis Dedicates New Pastoral Center, Recognizes Benefactors

Lewis University this week honored the benefactors whose generosity played a significant role in the creation of a new $1.7 million campus pastoral center. Lewis Trustee James A. LaGrippe and his wife Anne, John and Jeanette D’Arcy, and the Frank J. Lewis Foundation were recognized for their financial support and ongoing dedication and friendship at a special dedication ceremony, held Tuesday, June 5.

Named the James A. LaGrippe Pastoral Center, the newest addition to campus expands the existing Sancta Alberta Chapel, providing an additional 4,000 square feet of space for University Ministry as well as other select campus activities. The dedication ceremony welcomed Lewis trustees, benefactors, campus administrators and friends of the University to tour the new space and to celebrate its official opening.

Features of the LaGrippe Pastoral Center include the John and Jeanette D’Arcy and Family Great Room, a comfortable meeting space for up to 80 people with a fireplace, wireless Internet, a sound system with three wireless microphones, and a projector and drop-down screen; the Lewis Family Room, a gathering area for up to 12 people complete with a fireplace, a flat-screen television and wireless Internet; and the Victoria LaGrippe Meditation Garden, a place for quiet reflection, meditation and prayer including beautiful landscaping, a statue of Saint Mary, and a serene basin of water from which a tranquil stream flows. The fountain is surrounded by the original limestone used in the creation of the University Grotto in the 1950s. The statue of Saint Mary also is part of this original grotto.

Other amenities of the expansion include University Ministry staff offices, a kitchen, and additional restroom facilities. Ground was broken for the pastoral center in September of 2006, with construction completed in April of this year.

“This splendid and highly functional addition to campus and to Sancta Alberta Chapel really is the fulfillment of a long-cherished dream and a truly significant expansion of our well-respected and highly-regarded University Ministry pastoral program,” said Brother James Gaffney, FSC, President of Lewis University. “I wish to express my whole-hearted gratitude first and foremost to James and Anne LaGrippe, to John and Jeanette D’Arcy and to the Lewis Foundation. We are immensely grateful and truly delighted by all of the possibilities that their generosity has provided to advance the University’s Mission as a Catholic and Lasallian university.”

The ceremony included a blessing of the pastoral center by the Most Reverend Joseph L. Imesch, retired Bishop of Joliet; and remarks by Lewis Trustees Dennis Tonelli and Elaine Ruettiger; Brother Philip Johnson, FSC, Director of University Ministry; and honorees James LaGrippe and John D’Arcy.

“When I was asked about this project some time ago and Brother James explained what it would mean to the University community, it seemed like it was going to be a very important part of what was happening here at Lewis,” James LaGrippe stated. “And when they talked about also having a meditation garden as part of the pastoral center, I immediately thought of my mom . . . I’m one of seven children. I had a very busy mom, and when she would go to church sometimes she would come back kind of late. And so I would say, ‘Where have you been, Mom?’ She seemed so peaceful, and she would say, ‘I stayed for a second Mass.’ So when Brother James mentioned the meditation garden, I said ‘Oh, I know who that’s for. That’s for our mother.’”

“As you can see from looking at this edifice,” said John D’Arcy, “Jeanette and I are delighted to help in some small way to continue the work that Brother James has done in the past. We look forward to many, many years with him and the future of Lewis University.”

College of Business Names Clifton Kelly Alumnus of the Year

Clifton Kelly, a Vice President - Senior Financial Advisor at Merrill Lynch, Inc. in San Francisco, Calif., has been named the Adam Smith Honored Alumnus of the Year by Lewis University's College of Business. The award was presented on Thursday, March 15 in the University Dining Hall as part of Adam Smith Week, an annual event commemorating the “Father of Economics.”

The Adam Smith Honored Alumnus of the Year Award is presented annually to a graduate of Lewis' College of Business who best exemplifies success, both personally and professionally. The presentation also allows current students the opportunity to meet these alumni and to hear their stories firsthand.

A 1978 alumnus, Kelly holds a bachelor's degree in public administration from Lewis University. He joined Merrill Lynch, Inc. in 1984 as a Financial Consultant Trainee, rising through the ranks to become one of the top performing consultants in the country. In 1992, he was named Sales Manager of Merrill Lynch's San Francisco office, and just two years later opened the current branch office in Marin County, Calif., serving as Resident Manager. In 1997, he formed the Kelly-Brown Group, a team of financial advisors that continues to manage nearly a quarter of a billion dollars of private client assets.

Merrill Lynch, Inc., through its subsidiaries and affiliates, provides Capital Markets Services, Investment Banking and Advising Services, Wealth Management, Insurance, Banking and related products and services on a global basis. Through its network of more than 15,000 financial advisors in nearly 700 offices around the world, the company manages nearly $1.5 trillion in client assets.

Kelly has been a member of the Lewis University Board of Trustees since 2004. He and his wife Laura, an educator, have homes in Scottsdale, Ariz. and San Francisco.

After receiving the award, Kelly gave a brief talk, which was followed by a question-and-answer period for Lewis students.

Now in its ninth year, Adam Smith Week activities are aimed at promoting teamwork among students, increasing recognition of historical figures in economics, and allowing students to get involved with their major.

Donnelley Foundation, LaGrippes Honored at President's Circle Dinner

Lewis University recognized the generosity of a couple known for their exceptional community service and a nationally known philanthropic organization dedicated to land conservation and artistic vitality as part of its annual President's Circle Dinner held Friday, Dec. 1. James and Anne LaGrippe received the Frank J. Lewis Philanthropist of the Year Award, while the Gaylord and Dorothy Donnelley Foundation was honored with the Frank J. Lewis Corporate Philanthropist Award.

The honorees were recognized for their longstanding and generous support of Lewis and for their commitment to causes which benefit humanity. Nearly 150 benefactors of the University and their guests attended the event. The awards are named for Frank J. Lewis, Chicago industrialist and major benefactor, who provided significant funding and support for the University from its founding in 1932 until his death in 1960. The University is named in honor of Mr. Lewis.

Brother James Gaffney, FSC, President of Lewis University, welcomed the honorees and guests. “A great university can only become so if persons like yourselves and like our honorees believe in us and in our Mission and help us to invest in quality and to ensure that students of all of economic categories can have access to the many exceptional opportunities offered here at Lewis,” he stated.

Brother James and William Rybak, Chairman of the Board of Trustees at Lewis, presented the awards. In accepting the Frank J. Lewis Philanthropist of the Year Award along with her husband, Anne LaGrippe expressed her appreciation. “We'd like to thank Lewis for this great honor tonight,” she said, “and most especially for the opportunity to go forward in the future of Lewis University under the stewardship of Brother James.”

Jim LaGrippe, a 1961 Lewis alumnus, also offered his gratitude, giving special recognition to Brother James, to the Office of University Advancement at Lewis, and to his long-time friend and fellow Lewis graduate Frank Voltarel, who was present that evening. “My mother used to say 'At some point in a young person's life they need a little push and that little push will get them started.' And my friend Frank Voltarel encouraged me to come to Lewis. He started a semester before me and if it wasn't for Frank who mentored me, put me under his wing, got me started . . . I don't know where I would be quite frankly. . . How do you pay somebody back for that? . . .The way you pay somebody back for that is to do the same thing for somebody else, and that's what we do. Anne and I believe in giving to the University so that other kids can start where they might not have had an opportunity.”

LaGrippe is the owner of Blue Bengal Learning Labs, a leading provider of educational software products in the areas of science and math as well as programming for home schooling. He is a member of the Lewis University Board of Trustees, having previously served on the University's Council of Regents. He holds a bachelor's degree in business administration from Lewis and began his career working in industrial sales for the printing industry. In 1975, he founded Graphic Industries of America, a graphic arts distribution company located in Chicago. He served as its President and Chief Executive Officer until selling the company in 1984. That same year, he became President and Director of Concord/EFS, a merchant banking/transaction-processing business, based out of Boston, Mass. He retired from Concord/EFS in 1994. For his distinguished business career and his exemplary service to the community, he received Lewis University's Distinguished Alumni Achievement Award in 2005.

A native of Boston, Mass., Anne LaGrippe worked in the field of fashion and was the first director of the Barbizon modeling school. In the mid-1970s, she traded her professional career to raise her son Joshua, serving as a strong presence in his education. Mrs. LaGrippe was a member of the Board of Trustees for the Fessenden School in West Newton, Mass., and chaired various committees for the school. Among her interests, Mrs. LaGrippe shares her husband's passion for the Naples Botanical Garden and has chaired numerous events for the organization's ladies committees.

She and her husband are benefactors of the Naples Botanical Garden, as well as The Field Museum in Chicago. Mr. LaGrippe established the Lloyd Lee Memorial Scholarship at Lewis University in 2002, and the couple has annually generously supported the fund, which honors a former faculty member and Dean of Students who passed away in the early 1960s.

Most recently, the LaGrippes also have played a pivotal role in the advancement of the Sancta Alberta Chapel renovation and expansion project, which is currently underway on the Lewis University main campus. Through a significant financial pledge, the LaGrippes are helping to provide for the construction of the James A. LaGrippe Pastoral Center and the Victoria LaGrippe Meditation Garden, named in honor of Mr. LaGrippe's late mother.

Accepting the Frank J. Lewis Corporate Philanthropist Award on behalf of the Gaylord and Dorothy Donnelley Foundation was Gerald Adelmann, a Foundation trustee and founder of the Canal Corridor Association. “What's interesting is that the core values of this wonderful university really I think parallel the core values and legacy of our founders Gaylord and Dorothy,” Adelmann said in his comments. “The Foundation has been honored to support important programs here. One of its special focuses is to support making historical collections accessible to the public. The Canal and Regional History Collection at Lewis is very important. We have had wonderful support to grow this collection and showcase it. It is one of the unique treasures of the University, and so the Foundation has been very pleased to be able to provide financial support and to bring resources. . .to make this collection better known.”

The Gaylord and Dorothy Donnelley Foundation has established an outstanding tradition of supporting philanthropic and charitable causes. Founded in 1952, the Foundation was created to further the wide-ranging philanthropic and civic interests of Gaylord and Dorothy Donnelley who were active participants in the foundation until their deaths in 1992 and 2002, respectively. The private foundation particularly focuses on providing grants for land conservation and artistic vitality for communities in the Chicago region and the Lowcountry of South Carolina.

Lewis University has received from the Foundation more than $150,000 in funding for the Illinois and Michigan Canal and Regional History Collection and for its web-based exhibit. One of the largest existing pictorial records of the history of the Illinois and Michigan Canal, the Collection is housed in the University Library on the Lewis main campus. More than 200 grants were awarded by the Foundation last year alone, with a number of Chicagoland organizations receiving funding.

Gaylord Donnelley, a grandson of Richard R. Donnelley, served as chair of R. R. Donnelley & Sons Company which had been founded by his grandfather. Based in Chicago, the company is a worldwide printing and communications services firm. Although the couple resided in Chicago, Gaylord and Dorothy also had a home in the Lowcountry of South Carolina that is still owned by the Donnelley family.

After the deaths of Gaylord and Dorothy Donnelley, the Foundation's endowment increased tremendously as a beneficiary of their estates. In 1992, professional staff and investment managers put into action a long-term philanthropic strategy. Responding to the interests of the founding family, the Foundation has supported a wide range of causes over its history, including conservation and wildlife, social welfare, education, art and cultural institutions, healthcare and animal welfare. The Foundation currently manages approximately $185 million in net assets. Since 2001, it has given away more than 577 grants.

The President's Circle Dinner annually honors the University's top donors for their commitment to higher education and their dedication to Lewis University through generous financial support.

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