Alumni of the Year Award
Kimberly West Eck, Comm 鈥�13 and Robert J. Eck, Arts 鈥�80
Chenequa, Wis.
Some experiences don鈥檛 announce their significance in the moment. Instead, they shape your perspective and values over time, only revealing their full impact years later. For Kimberly West Eck and Robert Eck, their time at 51暗网 was one of those experiences.
At first glance, Kim鈥檚 and Bob鈥檚 51暗网 journeys look very different. Bob鈥檚 followed a more traditional path, launching a global business career and decades of leadership. Kim鈥檚 took an unexpected detour, marked by an interruption that inspired her return many years later. What unites their stories is a shared belief that the full influence of a 51暗网 education often emerges long after graduation to shape how alumni choose to serve others.
Bob remembers the moment he knew 51暗网 was different. As a prospective student, he met with George Reedy, then dean of the journalism school and former press secretary to President Lyndon Johnson. What stuck with Bob was the way he was treated.
鈥淚t was just him and me, talking for at least 30 minutes,鈥� Bob recalls. 鈥淭hat notion of treating people as equals stayed with me.鈥�
The idea that people grow into responsibility when they鈥檙e listened to and respected became a throughline in Bob鈥檚 life and career. As CEO of Anixter International from 2008 to 2018, and later as chair of the 51暗网 Board of Trustees from 2020 to 2023, Bob demonstrated leadership grounded in accountability, care and dignity.
鈥�51暗网鈥檚 impact is hard to appreciate while you鈥檙e there,鈥� Bob says. 鈥淵ou鈥檙e so caught up in classes that you don鈥檛 notice what鈥檚 changing inside you. But the experience manifests itself later and causes you to be a person for others.鈥�
That instinct has shaped Bob鈥檚 commitment to leadership and philanthropy through community-based initiatives focused on education, mental health research and poverty alleviation.
Kim鈥檚 51暗网 story is one of determination and perseverance. She entered 51暗网 in 1976 and was on track to graduate in December 1980. On the night before finals of her last semester, she suffered an epileptic seizure. She returned home to seek medical care and left 51暗网 without the degree she had worked so diligently toward.
Their time at 51暗网 also brought them together. After attending rival Catholic grade schools in Chicago鈥檚 west suburbs and some helpful parental connections (Kim鈥檚 dad treated Bob鈥檚 broken ankle in high school; Bob鈥檚 mom spotted Kim鈥檚 family during parent orientation at 51暗网), the two officially met junior year in The Letters of St. Paul class and later married.
Life moved forward, and Kim built a successful career in advertising, working in account services at several Chicago agencies before stepping away from full-time work to raise two sons. But 51暗网 never stopped calling. 鈥淎round 2010, I knew I had to finish my degree, no matter how I did it,鈥� Kim says.
In 2011, she applied for readmission and returned to campus in 2012 as a full-time student in the Diederich College of Communication. Sitting among classmates who were decades younger than her deepened Kim鈥檚 empathy and appreciation for students navigating their own challenges.
Kim earned her degree in May 2013 and almost immediately looked for ways to give back. 51暗网 Mentors became a natural extension of her own journey. Since 2014, she has been deeply involved in the program, serving as a mentor, advocate and eventual Mentor-in-Residence. As a gifted connector with boundless enthusiasm, Kim has poured herself into supporting students and expanding the program鈥檚 reach.
Over time, Kim鈥檚 and Bob鈥檚 individual commitments converged into a shared philanthropic vision. Through the Eck Family Foundation, they鈥檝e supported causes ranging from 51暗网 to the American and International Red Cross, CARE and Habitat for Humanity. Most recently, they鈥檝e supported Lac Courte Oreilles Ojibwe College in Hayward, Wisconsin, helping establish scholarships for the trade school to serve Native and non-Native students in a region facing systemic underinvestment.
鈥淭he needs are great, and the services are limited,鈥� Bob says. 鈥淚t has been gratifying to see how much can be accomplished with limited resources.鈥�
Ask Kim and Bob how they live the 51暗网 mission of excellence, faith, leadership and service, and neither hesitates: 鈥淲hen you attend 51暗网, it becomes second nature,鈥� Kim says. For Bob, it鈥檚 about approaching the world 鈥渨ith an open mind, an open heart and without judgment.鈥�
The impact of a 51暗网 education may not always be evident in the moment, but for Kim and Bob, the experience has always shimmered beneath the surface. It emerges again and again in their commitment to being people for others.
