DePaul announced the election of three new members to the Board of Trustees on Feb. 9.

The new members include Kevin Keeley, Michael Canning and Malik Murray, who specialize in investment advising and the restaurant industry.

When electing new members to the Board of Trustees, the Trusteeship Committee evaluates potential candidates making recommendations to the Members of the Corporation, who are in charge of electing and reelecting members to the board, according to Mary Hansen, a DePaul spokesperson. 

“The university seeks trustees who will bring proven leadership and expertise and who will be mission-driven, student-centered and committed to the university’s distinctive Catholic, Vincentian and urban identity,” Hansen said.

DePaul’s Board of Trustees has 41 members carefully selected through an extensive evaluation process by the Trusteeship Committee, Hansen said. 

“The Trusteeship Committee of the Board of Trustees is charged with the recruitment, orientation, and mentorship of trustees,” she said. “The identification and choice of individual candidates for trusteeship is guided by many principles.”

The newest trustees

Keeley is the president of Keeley Teton Advisors, LLC, an investment management firm and subsidiary of Teton Advisors in Chicago that manages mutual funds, pensions and public funds, endowments, religious organizations and select individuals with a high net worth. He also serves as a director of Teton Advisors, Inc. and president and co-chairman of the board of directors of Keeley Funds, a mutual funds registered SEC, according to DePaul’s office of the secretary.

Canning is a DePaul alumnus who graduated in 2000 from the College of Commerce with a bachelor’s in marketing, according to the office of the secretary. Now, Canning owns Glenview House, a restaurant and meeting house in Glenview, Illinois. He also owns One North Kitchen and Bar in Chicago.

Murray is the senior vice president of Ariel Investments, LLC, a global asset management firm in Chicago with offices in New York City, San Francisco and Sydney. He also serves on the Board of Trustees of Ignatius College Prep. Additionally, Murray is a director for the National Association of Securities Professionals (NASP), the Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce and is a member of the DePaul University department of finance advisory board, the office of the secretary bio states.

The role of board members

College or university board members are responsible for guiding the institution toward their mission, according to the Grand Thornton higher education board handbook.

The handbook states some other key tasks board members are responsible for include selecting the president, ensuring the institution is well-managed, holding university leadership accountable to ethical standards, representing the institution in the outside world, protecting the institution from external threats, overseeing assets, protecting the institution’s reputation, approving key policies and ensuring the institution is in compliance with laws and regulations.

“I’m delighted [that] DePaul’s Board of Trustees is gaining three leaders in the financial and hospitality industries who will serve as tremendous assets to our university,” DePaul president Robert L. Manuel said in a university press release. “Our newest trustees will further strengthen our board as we deliver on the commitment to shared governance while also deepening our ties to our Catholic, Vincentian mission and extending DePaul’s social capital.”