Golden Era...

[charcat]

Observations from a guy from the “Dark Ages” 79-83...

Jim phillips describes NU athletics as the front porch of the University...it’s what everyone sees and it is our face to the world at large for most people. Good insight. Great execution.

Morty has his flaws, but his understanding of athletics contributing to NU’s reputation in attracting attention, students and donations has been spot on. NU has its challenges but has a profile that few schools can offer. Big time athletics, top level academics, elite student body. Only a couple of schools offer this, Stanford, Duke, Vandy, NU.

Fitz is the guy that personifies the school in bringing these things together. He is a great fit.

Pat Ryan has been the key donor, during this transformation, not just football but the development of the campus as we know it today. He has been the constant force behind the scenes through multiple administrations. extraordinary vision and leadership.

As a student in the 1980’s I could not have imagined NU would be so fortunate to be where it is today. Go Cats.

 

[Deeringfish]

Observations from a guy from the “Dark Ages” 79-83...

Jim phillips describes NU athletics as the front porch of the University...it’s what everyone sees and it is our face to the world at large for most people. Good insight. Great execution.

Morty has his flaws, but his understanding of athletics contributing to NU’s reputation in attracting attention, students and donations has been spot on. NU has its challenges but has a profile that few schools can offer. Big time athletics, top level academics, elite student body. Only a couple of schools offer this, Stanford, Duke, Vandy, NU.

Fitz is the guy that personifies the school in bringing these things together. He is a great fit.

Pat Ryan has been the key donor, during this transformation, not just football but the development of the campus as we know it today. He has been the constant force behind the scenes through multiple administrations. extraordinary vision and leadership.

As a student in the 1980’s I could not have imagined NU would be so fortunate to be where it is today. Go Cats.

It is the Pat Ryan part I can't get my head around. What it must be like to be able to be so generous and then how do you choose that NU is where your benevolence is going? Let's face it, his donations are what hold it all together.

 

[Jonny2TheP]

Observations from a guy from the “Dark Ages” 79-83...

Jim phillips describes NU athletics as the front porch of the University...it’s what everyone sees and it is our face to the world at large for most people. Good insight. Great execution.

Morty has his flaws, but his understanding of athletics contributing to NU’s reputation in attracting attention, students and donations has been spot on. NU has its challenges but has a profile that few schools can offer. Big time athletics, top level academics, elite student body. Only a couple of schools offer this, Stanford, Duke, Vandy, NU.

Fitz is the guy that personifies the school in bringing these things together. He is a great fit.

Pat Ryan has been the key donor, during this transformation, not just football but the development of the campus as we know it today. He has been the constant force behind the scenes through multiple administrations. extraordinary vision and leadership.

As a student in the 1980’s I could not have imagined NU would be so fortunate to be where it is today. Go Cats.

This is a great post because it helps me realize that every piece of the puzzle you mentioned is important. Shapiro, Phillips, Fitz, and Ryan have all played huge roles in building this program. We’re lucky to have all of them.

If I had to build the Mount Rushmore of NU football that celebrates the contributions of people that have gotten the program to where it is today, it would be Fitz, Ryan, Phillips, and Barnett. But Shapiro and Walker aren’t that far behind.

 

[Turk]

It is the Pat Ryan part I can't get my head around. What it must be like to be able to be so generous and then how do you choose that NU is where your benevolence is going? Let's face it, his donations are what hold it all together.

Is Pat Ryan the exception? I mean, there are some other notable NU alum who are close to being billionaires and are billionaires but precious few (of the many) have been recognized as coming forward, for athletics, with gifts in the 7 figures.

 

[Turk]

Observations from a guy from the “Dark Ages” 79-83...

Jim phillips describes NU athletics as the front porch of the University...it’s what everyone sees and it is our face to the world at large for most people. Good insight. Great execution.

Morty has his flaws, but his understanding of athletics contributing to NU’s reputation in attracting attention, students and donations has been spot on. NU has its challenges but has a profile that few schools can offer. Big time athletics, top level academics, elite student body. Only a couple of schools offer this, Stanford, Duke, Vandy, NU.

Fitz is the guy that personifies the school in bringing these things together. He is a great fit.

Pat Ryan has been the key donor, during this transformation, not just football but the development of the campus as we know it today. He has been the constant force behind the scenes through multiple administrations. extraordinary vision and leadership.

As a student in the 1980’s I could not have imagined NU would be so fortunate to be where it is today. Go Cats.

you know, I know what you are saying, but it just doesn't look right with our name being in the same sentence as Duke and Vandy. Those two schools didn't marry academics and athletics as we did. We are exceptional and have kept the academic qualifications very competitive, as opposed to Vandy and Duke who have both lowered the academic bar pretty low for some recruits.

 

[FloridAlum]

I would also like to mention Dan and Susan Jones who sometimes get overlooked because Mr. Ryan is such a major donor. They are huge north western football fans And have certainly been at least seven figure donors.I have met Mr. Jones, not his wife, and he is also an extremely nice man.

 

[stpaulcat]

Pretty soon we'll be building a dome?

 

[Deeringfish]

Is Pat Ryan the exception? I mean, there are some other notable NU alum who are close to being billionaires and are billionaires but precious few (of the many) have been recognized as coming forward, for athletics, with gifts in the 7 figures.

There are many people who are generous. And of course generosity is relative to ability. The Jones as Florida as mentioned by Florida and there are others who get a bit of recognition, others still who may wish to stay totally anonymous, I suppose. But unless I have misunderstood the giving history Mr Ryan has provided the leadership and seed commitment for NU sports over the past decade at least.
As you mention there are other wealthy people associated with NU. There are also other non sports projects to give to. I just don't know about those endeavors.

 

[DaCat]

There are many people who are generous. And of course generosity is relative to ability. The Jones as Florida as mentioned by Florida and there are others who get a bit of recognition, others still who may wish to stay totally anonymous, I suppose. But unless I have misunderstood the giving history Mr Ryan has provided the leadership and seed commitment for NU sports over the past decade at least.
As you mention there are other wealthy people associated with NU. There are also other non sports projects to give to. I just don't know about those endeavors.

I am guessing Pat Ryan has given well over $100 million to Northwestern over his lifetime.

 

[Alaskawildkat]

It is the Pat Ryan part I can't get my head around. What it must be like to be able to be so generous and then how do you choose that NU is where your benevolence is going? Let's face it, his donations are what hold it all together.

That is true. But those of us who have been paying premiums to his insurance companies deserve some credit. (Which reminds, my annual multi thousand dollar AON "contribution" is upcoming.)

 

[gocatsgo2003]

I am guessing Pat Ryan has given well over $100 million to Northwestern over his lifetime.

Yeah... that’s a lowball.

https://news.northwestern.edu/stori...-matching-gift-challenge-to-support-faculty-/

 

[pawildcat]

The school has an endowment of billions, which I would assume means more than a few people have been generous over the years. The athletics are nice and call attention to the school, but the endowment fund is the lifeblood of any university. Northwestern is lucky to have had such support over the years. The small state school where I got my bachelor's would kill to have 5 percent of NU's endowment.

 

[zeek55]

The school has an endowment of billions, which I would assume means more than a few people have been generous over the years. The athletics are nice and call attention to the school, but the endowment fund is the lifeblood of any university. Northwestern is lucky to have had such support over the years. The small state school where I got my bachelor's would kill to have 5 percent of NU's endowment.

Yeah, in just the past 5 years, the We Will campaign has raised over $4 billion from 151,000 donors.

It takes all sizes of donors; from the largest like the Ryans, Walters, Wilsons, and the other major donors who've given 8+ figures to those who have given in the 3-5 figures consistently to reach the multiple billions needed to build on all of the priorities of the university leadership across departments.

 

[JoeWildcat]

I tell people that since I left NU their contributions and endowment have increased by a factor of ten, their sports teams have improved dramatically, all sorts of new buildings have gone up and their national ranking has risen. If I had known my leaving would have produced all that, I would have left sooner.

 

[zeek55]

Is Pat Ryan the exception? I mean, there are some other notable NU alum who are close to being billionaires and are billionaires but precious few (of the many) have been recognized as coming forward, for athletics, with gifts in the 7 figures.

He's not an exception per se; the university has at least a dozen or so other donors or families who give in the 8 figure range on a "regular" basis.

Then there's around several dozen 7 figure donors who give on a "regular" basis.

The Ryans certainly lead the effort, but there are quite a large number of families with multi-hundred million to billion dollar fortunes that are regular contributors alongside them.


That's the only way to raise $500 million to $1 billion roughly every year.

 

[WildcatWillie]

The long-standing wisdom in fund-raising is that 90% of contributions will come from no more than 10% of donors. Yet you need the other 90% of donors to reassure and motivate the major contributors. That's why the "every little bit helps" cliche is usually true.

 

[hdhntr1]

This is a great post because it helps me realize that every piece of the puzzle you mentioned is important. Shapiro, Phillips, Fitz, and Ryan have all played huge roles in building this program. We’re lucky to have all of them.

If I had to build the Mount Rushmore of NU football that celebrates the contributions of people that have gotten the program to where it is today, it would be Fitz, Ryan, Phillips, and Barnett. But Shapiro and Walker aren’t that far behind.

Big question is what comes after Ryan? He has been instrumental on bringing this forth but is there any similar force following in his footsteps?

 

[Figrating]

I can remember years when following NU football meant sneaking up on the sports page to see if they covered the spread, foregone that they would lose.

NU finally discovered the relationship between donations and winning athletics.

 

[zeek55]

Big question is what comes after Ryan? He has been instrumental on bringing this forth but is there any similar force following in his footsteps?

There are enough large donors (7-8 figure donors) that can follow, but realistically, there won't be that many large athletics projects to undertake once the stadium renovation occurs.

I expect the Ryans to lead the stadium renovation effort (somewhere over $250 million total with Ryans as the anchor donor), but again, once that's done, I think we'll just have minor athletics projects after that for a while.

 

[Alan Smithee]

There are enough large donors (7-8 figure donors) that can follow, but realistically, there won't be that many large athletics projects to undertake once the stadium renovation occurs.

I expect the Ryans to lead the stadium renovation effort (somewhere over $250 million total with Ryans as the anchor donor), but again, once that's done, I think we'll just have minor athletics projects after that for a while.

Maybe the Dyches will swoop in with a cool billion to get their name back on there.

 

[gocatsgo2003]

Big question is what comes after Ryan? He has been instrumental on bringing this forth but is there any similar force following in his footsteps?

There are very few people who can be counted amongst the richest 1,000 people in the world.

 

[zeek55]

What else does athletics need after a stadium renovation though? As far as the AD goes, some more endowments for coaches and other "minor" projects that would come in under $10-20 million seem like all they'd look at for the next decade or two.

You can't replace the Ryans and what they've meant to Northwestern, but at the same time, they seem like they're going to leave all the major projects done.

 

[NJCat]

There are very few people who can be counted amongst the richest 1,000 people in the world.

My guess is no more than 1,000......

 

[Alan Smithee]

My guess is no more than 1,000......

Math major?

 

[hdhntr1]

The school has an endowment of billions, which I would assume means more than a few people have been generous over the years. The athletics are nice and call attention to the school, but the endowment fund is the lifeblood of any university. Northwestern is lucky to have had such support over the years. The small state school where I got my bachelor's would kill to have 5 percent of NU's endowment.

Endowment is lifeblood for a private university but not so much public universities where they have the taxpayers to fall back on.

 

[hdhntr1]

He's not an exception per se; the university has at least a dozen or so other donors or families who give in the 8 figure range on a "regular" basis.

Then there's around several dozen 7 figure donors who give on a "regular" basis.

The Ryans certainly lead the effort, but there are quite a large number of families with multi-hundred million to billion dollar fortunes that are regular contributors alongside them.


That's the only way to raise $500 million to $1 billion roughly every year.

But not for athletics and FB in particular. In that there is Ryan Jones and not a long list after

 

[zeek55]

But not for athletics and FB in particular. In that there is Ryan Jones and not a long list after

I mean yeah, as far as athletics goes, you've got Ryans, Jones, Combes, Walters, Wilsons, Trienens, Slotnicks and a couple of other individuals or families that have each given around the 8 figure or more range, but what other projects will there be in the near or medium term?


After the stadium renovation, what kind of major projects will there be for football?

I know there are some other athletics coaches that aren't endowed at the AD yet, but there really isn't that much that would require 8 figure paychecks in the next 20 years once the stadium renovation occurs.


Unless a mega donor wants us to field ice hockey or men's lacrosse teams and is willing to foot the complete bill ($100 million or so for ice hockey, at least $20 million for lacrosse probably depending on how Title IX would be implemented), I just don't see what else we need money for...?


The Ryans are going to lead the stadium renovation effort, and then we'll probably see very few major athletics projects for the next 10 years or so.

 

[Purple Pile Driver]

I hope I can see that stadium renovation in my lifetime. I need skin grafts on my ass from those metal benches.

 

[SimpsonElmwood]

I hope I can see that stadium renovation in my lifetime. I need skin grafts on my ass from those metal benches.

The benches are a step up from the fiberglass ones from the 80's. Those glass strands were brutal!