Category Archives: Giving Back

Donald M. Ephraim (BUS ’52) | Photo by Kathy Hillegonds

Donald M. Ephraim’s path to becoming a successful agent for on-air talent began with a humble job as a stock boy at a grocery store near his home on the South Side of Chicago. He used the money he earned to enroll in DePaul, becoming the first in his family to graduate college.

“My sister had married a DePaul graduate who had studied accounting,” he recalls. “Back then, I wanted to be a lawyer practicing tax law. I thought having an undergraduate degree in accounting would be helpful, and then I would get a law degree. My brother-in-law spoke highly of DePaul, and that’s where I applied.”

Ephraim excelled at DePaul and passed the CPA exam by special permission at age 20, even though Illinois law required test takers to be 21. He added a JD to his CPA after completing law school at the University of Chicago. “I lived at home during my entire college career, both undergraduate and law school,” says Ephraim. “My parents could not afford to send me to college, so I paid for all my college and law school on my own.”

After graduation from law school, Ephraim served in the army and then worked at an accounting firm and law firms before striking out on his own as an accountant-attorney providing tax and estate planning. His career path changed when former Chicago Bears wide receiver Johnny Morris came to him as a client.

“Johnny called me after I did his estate plan and said he had received an offer from WBBM-TV to come on air during football season to do Sunday night post-game commentary,” Ephraim says. “He wondered if I could negotiate his contract. I told him I’d never done that before, but I would like to try. Johnny was so pleased with the result, he talked about it to everyone. All of a sudden, clients just started coming in, and pretty soon I was a major rep in terms of television, radio and newspaper people.” Ephraim’s client list included film critics Roger Ebert and Gene Siskel, news anchor Bill Kurtis, sports announcer Jack Brickhouse, Chicago Mayor Jane Byrne and many others.

Having to fund my own education, I’ve always been interested in helping students fund theirs. I hope to inspire the students in the business school to achieve their best grades through this award.”
— Donald M. Ephraim (BUS ’52)

After decades of success, Ephraim turned his law firm over to two of his sons. “I’m in my give-back phase now,” he says. He actively supports education, arts and culture organizations near his Florida home, including the Palm Beach Jewish Film Festival and the Cultural Council of Palm Beach County. He also gives generously to DePaul through the Donald M. Ephraim Family Endowed Excellence Award, which provides a monetary prize for the highest-achieving DePaul business students at the end of their junior year.

“Having to fund my own education, I’ve always been interested in helping students fund theirs,” he says. “I hope to inspire the students in the business school to achieve their best grades through this award. The awardees with whom I’ve spoken are terrific students who really apply themselves and have great futures.”

DePaul’s commitment to educating students from all backgrounds also motivates Ephraim to give. “One of my very warm feelings for the university is the fact that when I started, there were quotas for Jewish students limiting attendance at most other universities,” he says. “DePaul had no quota. That to me was wonderful and endearing and something for which I have enormous respect, and I want to honor that spirit by giving back.”

Learn more about how the Ephraim Endowed Excellence Award helped alumna Catherine Conrad (BUS ’19).

By Robin Florzak

John Mann MST ’83, MBA ’01

My professors had tremendous business and tax experience from accounting firms, corporations and the IRS. They brought their experiences into the classroom, giving us a practical and impactful education.”

When John Mann (MST ’83, MBA ’01) was in high school, he accompanied his mother on an appointment to have her tax return prepared. The meeting would plant the seed for his successful career in the tax field. “For some reason, the experience left an impression on me,” Mann says. “I was intrigued by the questions the tax advisor asked and the calculations that were made. It made me think about finance in a new way.”

Most recently, Mann was vice president of global tax planning at Abbott Laboratories. He holds an MS in taxation and an MBA in finance from DePaul, which he says helped launch his career and connections in the field. “My professors had tremendous business and tax experience from accounting firms, corporations and the IRS,” Mann says. “They brought their experiences into the classroom, giving us a practical and impactful education.”

After completing his MS, Mann went on to lead the tax function at notable corporations, including Dean Foods, ServiceMaster and Walgreens. “A key mentor to me at the start of my career was Bill Zink (BUS ’70, MST ’77),” Mann recalls. “I later learned that Bill had started a scholarship fund at DePaul, so I began to contribute to it. It felt good to support a mentor who I admired and appreciated, while at the same time give back to a cause that I cared about.”

Giving back has always been an important part of Mann’s life, something his mother instilled in him. When he was a teenager, he volunteered with his church youth group to help families in need. “We would do simple things like plant flowers or put together a wagon full of toys for households that may have otherwise had a frugal Christmas.”

As an adult, Mann has continued to give back. He serves on the advisory board and volunteers for the nonprofit organization Ladder Up, which provides free tax and financial assistance to low-income families in Chicago. He leads a prison Bible study group, stays involved with the American Diabetes Association Tour de Cure and donates to DePaul regularly.

“Giving back was modeled to me growing up, but it wasn’t until my 30s that I began to recognize the impact it can make and why it’s so important,” he says.

In 2017, Mann generously established, with his wife, the John and Sharon Mann Scholarship fund in the MST program, to which they recently renewed their commitment with a second significant gift.

“I’m impressed by the MST program, especially under [Faculty Director] Ron Marcuson’s leadership. The expanded online offerings and partnerships with MST programs across the country strengthen the program, which strengthens our tax community. I’ve seen firsthand many graduates go on to achieve major things,” he says. “I wanted to do something that would help students who might not otherwise be able to afford it obtain the same valuable education and mentorship that I did, so they, too, can have fulfilling careers.”

By Nadia Alfadel Coloma | Photo by Kathy Hillegonds

Susan Coe Heitsch (Photo by Kathy Hillegonds)

Susan Coe Heitsch (BUS ’80) learned a few life lessons during the seven years she worked in the trust marketing group at a major financial institution.

“If you don’t have a will, the state determines how your property will be distributed—and it’s not necessarily what you’d have chosen,” says Heitsch, a communications executive in the financial industry. “And if you do have a will, you really should update it every five years because I guarantee that something in your life has changed.”

While discussing their future, Heitsch and her husband, Gary, decided to incorporate philanthropy into their plans by making a substantial planned gift to benefit future marketing students at DePaul.

“If you went to college in the ’80s or ’90s, now is the time to think about the legacy you’re going to leave,” Heitsch says. “If DePaul helped to get you where you are today, maybe there’s a way you want to give back.”

Heitsch has been giving back ever since she graduated. She was active in Delta Mu Delta, the business honor society, as a student. After graduation, she organized the society’s annual membership drive and induction ceremony for several years until her daughter was born.

In 2009, Sue Fogel, then chair of the Department of Marketing, invited her to be an inaugural member of DePaul’s Marketing Advisory Council. Heitsch accepted.

“I did so because DePaul was like family to me, very encouraging and very nurturing,” says Heitsch. “Even as an evening student, my professors were accessible and truly cared about their students. I got to know several of my teachers and maintained contact with them over the years.”

“Serving on a council is another good way to give back to the university while making some great connections,” Heitsch says. “To network with people online is one thing. To spend two or three hours with them several times a year, brainstorming ideas and making them come to life, is a far more meaningful way to connect.”

Learn more how you can making a lasting impact at DePaul.

Matching Gift Launches Accounting Student Initiative

Kent Klaus (BUS ’82)

When Kent Klaus (BUS ’82) looks back at his undergraduate years at DePaul University’s Driehaus of College Business, one thing stands out: the mentoring he received along the way.

“DePaul is unique in the ways that it supports our students by giving them access to lots of mentoring. I am a strong believer in the power of mentoring and credit it with being a lifelong key to my success,” says Klaus, a partner in Global Employer Services at Deloitte Tax LLP who also has served as an adjunct instructor at the Driehaus College of Business periodically since 1988.

Raised on the Southwest Side of Chicago, Klaus commuted to DePaul. As a sophomore, he landed his first professional job at an accounting firm, which he found through DePaul’s Career Center. After 20 years at Arthur Andersen, Klaus began working for Deloitte in 2002. He and his wife, Susan, live in Mount Prospect, Ill.

If it weren’t for DePaul, I wouldn’t be where I am today. I want to pay that forward to a new generation of students.”

An outspoken advocate for diversity and inclusion for people with disabilities in the professional services industry, Klaus has been instrumental in making the accounting profession a more inclusive place. “This is always a delicate topic because it puts a mirror up against my profession,” he says. “From my perspective, it would serve professional services well if we could project an image in the marketplace that shows that not only do we want people with disabilities to work with us, but we encourage them to do so.”

Klaus is a member of the college’s advisory council and past president and board member of Ledger & Quill, the School of Accountancy and MIS giving society. Now he is giving back to DePaul yet again.

Through a generous gift from Klaus, matched by the Deloitte Foundation, the School of Accountancy & MIS will soon gain a valuable addition: the Office of Student Success and Engagement.

This one-stop shop for skills training and access to professionals in the field aims to give students the comprehensive support they need for career and life success, from résumé and interviewing workshops to regular interactions with top Chicago employers.

“The idea is to tie all of those resources together so that students can access the full breadth of services available to them from the school and the university,” says Klaus.

Not surprisingly, what excites him the most is the mentoring. “The biggest thing that I hope we’ll accomplish with this initiative is to identify mentors for students who will be available to them for the length of time that they’re here at the university,” he says.

This project brings Klaus full circle. “If it weren’t for DePaul, I wouldn’t be where I am today. I want to pay that forward to a new generation of students,” he says.

By Robin Florzak

Chris McCauley (MAC ’87)

In 2000, Chris McCauley (MAC ’87) decided it was time to assess where he was in his career. He had graduated from DePaul 13 years before with a master’s degree in accounting and then began his career as an auditor with accounting giant Coopers & Lybrand (now PwC). He then moved on to Quaker Oats and later to Ameritech, in the benefits group.

He found that something new was calling to him.

“As much as I like working with numbers, I like working with people more,” McCauley says.

Now a Certified Financial Plannert with the Strategic Planning Group Inc. in Indianapolis, McCauley looks back on the first half of his career as great preparation for his current role. “I can quickly understand a person’s situation, and with an accounting background, I hit the ground running with their tax situation.”

McCauley came to DePaul as a transfer student, attracted to the outstanding reputation of the business school’s accountancy program. “DePaul is very open-minded about accepting transfer students’ coursework from other schools. I paid for my own education, so I was particularly grateful about that.”

McCauley, a native of Will County, just southwest of Chicago, enjoyed being away from home. “Living in Lincoln Park, getting on the ‘L,’ was very exciting.” Any anxieties he might have had were dispelled by Bro. Leo V. Ryan, C.S.V, then dean of the business school. “He got to know me by my first name. He was welcoming that way and just made me feel I made the right choice in DePaul.”

McCauley also connected with DePaul’s Vincentian mission. “I got a great deal out of those courses in religion and philosophy. They teach you how to be open-minded and think.” McCauley lives the mission not only by helping his clients, but also by serving on the board of a nonprofit that helps victims of violence and their families, and volunteering at his church and local Catholic school.

McCauley and his wife, Clarice (JD ’98), recently became members of The 1898 Society, an annual giving program DePaul founded for alumni who want to increase their commitment to the university and its students with an annual donation of at least $1,898. “What kind of got us was that 40 percent of the students are first-generation college students,” McCauley says. Helping financially challenged students with the ambition to make better lives for themselves is the McCauleys’ way of saying “thank you” to DePaul.

Join the 1898 Alumni Society by visiting alumni.depaul.edu/1898Society.

Jim Ryan (MBA ’87), chair of DePaul’s Board of Trustees, is full of gratitude to the university. “Both of my parents attended DePaul. That’s where they met. I like to tell people I’m eternally grateful for DePaul, because if it were not for (the university), I probably wouldn’t be around,” Ryan says.

Ryan credits his parents’ strong work ethic and values as driving forces in his life and his successful 37-year career at W.W. Grainger, an industrial supply company based in Lake Forest, Ill., where he served as president, CEO and board chairman. “Both of my parents grew up in Chicago. They were both first- generation college students, which is very much a big part of the profile of students at DePaul,” says Ryan. “My parents, like a lot of students at DePaul, worked to put themselves through school.”

His father, the late James Ryan Jr. (BUS ’53), had a long career in labor relations and human resources, working for companies such as General Dynamics and Freeman United. His mother, Patricia Ryan (BUS ’53), served as an assistant for many years to a number of different executives at Chicago-based companies.

Ryan took many of his DePaul MBA classes while he was working at Grainger in the 1980s. Ryan says that he was attracted to the program’s practical approach. “There were theories, concepts and ideas that I got to explore during my MBA that were directly applicable to the things I was doing during the day at work,” he says.

Dr. Gabriel Esteban and Jim Ryan, trustee and chair of the Presidential Search Committee, share a laugh as they chat about tie colors on stage Thursday, Feb. 16, 2017, at the Student Center on the Lincoln Park Campus. (DePaul University/Jamie Moncrief)

In May, Ryan was elected chair of the DePaul Board of Trustees, which he has served on since 2007. Playing an active part in the DePaul community is important to both him and his wife, Michelle. “My wife and I have been blessed in a lot of ways, and I feel like it’s a responsibility for us to give back to organizations like DePaul that have such a worthwhile and honorable mission.

DePaul transforms people’s lives, not only by providing a high-quality education, but also by providing access to that education to people who might otherwise not have access to it,” says Ryan.

The Ryans established the James T. and Michelle A. Ryan Family Scholarship earlier this year to fund tuition and expenses for graduates of the Chicago Jesuit Academy, a middle school in Chicago’s Austin neighborhood where Michelle is a volunteer teacher and board member. “Education will help the trajectory of these kids’ lives,” says Ryan. “This is great opportunity to (make) a very positive impact.”

For Joe Kosinski (BUS ’78), DePaul is not just a path to his personal success, but an avenue he helps open for many others.

Kosinski and his wife, Sue Kosinski (BUS ’78), a Strobel Scholar, have made contributions to DePaul every year since they graduated, increasing their annual donations as they became more successful. In 2014, they established the Joseph and Susan Kosinski Endowed Award in Accountancy, which provides recognition and financial assistance to students in accounting and management information services at the Driehaus College of Business.

“Sue and I both came from nowhere in terms of financing a college education,” says Joe. “Our families didn’t have a lot of resources. We knew we would have to stay in town for college and work while we went to school. Scholarships and financial aid made a huge difference, and it’s even more important today.”

For most of his long career at Abbott, where he retired recently as director of corporate manufacturing accounting and customs and trade compliance, Joe Kosinski made a significant contribution to promote diversity within the global health care company. In the process, he helped a number of DePaul graduates start and advance their careers. Throughout his own career, he was highly committed to broadening diversity in the accounting field at large, and allied his efforts with the National Association of Black Accountants and the Association of Latino Professionals for America among other groups. He helped make Abbott a nationally recognized leader in promoting diversity. In 2013, Kosinski received the Illinois CPA Society’s Outstanding Leadership in Advancing Diversity Award.

“I’ve heard so many stories over the years about how financial aid made a difference, especially to first-generation college students.”

“I believe in diversity and inclusion as a way of life, a necessity. A diversity of perspectives and experiences are critical to drive innovation—something that DePaul has always believed, he says. “I’ve been fortunate to be associated with Abbott for more than 30 years, and for them, diversity and inclusion is a business priority.”

Decades after they were students, the Kosinskis stay connected to DePaul. They both are members of Ledger & Quill, the DePaul accountancy alumni and friends association. Joe has spent years as a corporate champion to attract DePaul students to careers at Abbott. He currently serves on the Finance Advisory Board for the finance department in the college, and continues to work formally and informally to mentor DePaul students and counsel alumni.

“Whether it’s mentoring, networking, advising or financial support,” Joe says, “we stay involved because there were people before us who stayed involved and helped us along our way.”

By Chris Anderson