CHICAGO — DePaul University is honored to announce a transformative gift from Gerald and Jennifer Beeson, exemplary leaders and partners, who have long supported DePaul’s leading, purpose-driven academics and Catholic, Vincentian mission.
The gift, which is one of the largest in DePaul’s history, provides substantial funding and resources for scholarship programs, a new endowed professorship and the Vincentian Mission Institute.
“Gerald and Jennifer exemplify what it means to live DePaul’s Catholic, Vincentian mission with purpose and heart,” said DePaul University President Robert L. Manuel. “Their commitment will transform lives, advance academic excellence and strengthen our collective capacity to serve as a catalyst for the public good. I am profoundly grateful for their long-standing partnership and for the faith they place in DePaul’s mission — to educate, to serve and to position our students to address the most critical questions and issues facing society today.”
The Beeson Family’s gift provides critical momentum for Mission: Forward, DePaul’s most ambitious philanthropic campaign to date, which was publicly launched in October 2025. With its fundraising goal of $650 million, Mission: Forward is a significant investment in the future of DePaul’s students, faculty and community and a reaffirmation of the university’s mission to demonstrate higher education’s impact as a catalyst for societal good.
Gerald A. Beeson (BUS ’94), Chief Operating Officer at global investment firm Citadel LLC, is a DePaul alumnus and has served on the university’s Board of Trustees since 2008, including as Board Chair from 2020 to 2024. Jennifer Beeson is a former Catholic school teacher and drives the Beeson Scholars Program in partnership with Big Shoulders Fund, supporting hundreds of students to access quality, values-based education in Catholic schools with demonstrated need in Chicago. Together, the couple’s philanthropic efforts have centered on providing access to and supporting the mission of Catholic educational institutions. They were recognized with the J. Donald Monan, SJ Distinguished Catholic Philanthropy Medal by the Leadership Roundtable in 2023.
This latest gift from the Beesons primarily supports the Gerald & Jennifer Beeson Endowed Scholarship, established in 2009, which is awarded to incoming students who are highly promising graduates of Catholic high schools in Illinois and Indiana. It also funds the Robert M. Peters Endowed Scholarship given to junior and senior students enrolled in an accounting honors program at DePaul’s Driehaus College of Business. Dr. Peters was the head of the Strobel Honors program when Gerald Beeson was a student at DePaul.
Additionally, it creates the Beeson Family Professorship in Catholic Studies, a new endowed professorship in the Catholic Studies Department at the College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences, and provides funding for the Vincentian Mission Institute, a collaborative program among DePaul University, Niagara University and St. John’s University that engages faculty and staff in Vincentian and Catholic coursework, discussion and field study trips to France, where St. Vincent de Paul served as a priest in the 17th century.
The Beeson family has long supported other scholarship and priority initiatives at DePaul including a scholarship program in the School of Accountancy and MIS and the Holtschneider Chair in Vincentian Studies, as well as DePaul Athletics, including the planned basketball practice facility that will benefit student-athletes and strengthen the future of the entire university.
“I am beyond grateful for the impact of my DePaul educational experience and the life-changing opportunities it enabled. At a moment when higher education is facing unprecedented challenges, it is a privilege to help others pursue and achieve their dreams as well,” Gerald Beeson said. “DePaul’s mission to benefit the common good is truly genuine, heartfelt and woven into academic pursuits and community service opportunities across the entire university. Jennifer and I are proud to be part of the DePaul family.”