WHEREAS, Kenneth A. McHugh, DePaul University's Executive Vice President of Operations, has overseen the business and financial affairs of DePaul University for twenty–two years, helping it to become Chicago's largest private university and the country's largest Catholic university, serving 23,227 students; and
WHEREAS, Kenneth A. McHugh will be stepping down from his university executive position; and
WHEREAS, Kenneth A. McHugh, since he joined DePaul in 1981, has launched more than $750 million in real estate projects that have benefited the university and community; and
WHEREAS, Kenneth A. McHugh has sponsored a unique campus–community partnership in Lincoln Park that enabled the development and construction of six new residence halls, as student center, a library, an athletic center and a recreation center on DePaul's Lincoln Park Campus; and
WHEREAS, Kenneth A. McHugh supported a Lincoln Park neighborhood initiative to build a new public library branch and secure that 1150 West Fullerton Avenue site to make that dream a reality; and
WHEREAS, Kenneth A. McHugh contributed to the revitalization of Chicago's South Loop in 1993 by envisioning the $70 million transformation and preservation of the dormant, historic Goldblatt's Department Store into the DePaul Center, providing the area with needed academic, retail and office space; and
WHEREAS, Kenneth A. McHugh brought together the City of Chicago, DePaul University, Roosevelt University and Columbia College to create the nation's largest multi-college residence hall, which will provide student housing for 1,700 students and retail in the South Loop when it opens in 2004; and
WHEREAS, Kenneth A. McHugh has attracted national recognition for his expertise in innovative real estate financing and mixed-use design-expertise that he will extend to the next generation of financial leaders through the Real Estate Center at DePaul; now, therefore,
BE IT RESOLVED, That we, the Mayor and the members of the City Council of the City of Chicago, gathered here this 9th day of April, 2003 A.D., do hereby extend our gratitude and our heartiest congratulations to Kenneth A. McHugh as he retires from an outstanding career in higher learning, and we extend to this fine citizen our very best wishes for continuing success and fulfillment; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be prepared and presented to Kenneth A. McHugh.
