{"id":3845,"date":"2024-08-09T14:54:36","date_gmt":"2024-08-09T14:54:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.siuf.org\/?p=3845"},"modified":"2024-08-09T14:54:36","modified_gmt":"2024-08-09T14:54:36","slug":"coba-alumnus-donates-100k-to-endow-scholarship","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.siuf.org\/?p=3845","title":{"rendered":"COBA alumnus donates $100K to endow scholarship"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"
Brian Wilson celebrates his graduation outside SIU Arena in 1991, standing proudly with his parents, Cheryl and Lyle Wilson. Continuing the Saluki legacy, Brian follows in the footsteps of his parents, both SIU graduates, further solidifying the Wilson family’s deep connection to the university.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

By Jeff Wilson<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Brian
Brian Wilson headshot<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Brian Wilson has deep roots at SIU, and his decision to endow a $100,000 scholarship fund in the College of Business and Analytics only strengthens that connection.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Cheryl and Lyle Wilson on her graduation day in June 1966. Cheryl, who served as a resident assistant at Smith Hall until she married Lyle over Thanksgiving in 1965, joined her husband in Southern Hills’ married housing. Lyle received his Bachelor’s from SIU in 1964 and his Master’s in 1966. The Wilson family’s legacy at SIU runs deep, with 12 graduates across siblings, kids, nieces, and nephews.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cMy mother and father met at SIU, and several other family members went there,\u201d he said. \u201cIt was probably the first university I was exposed to as a kid.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Brian Wilson and Family Finance Scholarship Fund will benefit students from Southern Illinois who are studying finance and other business-related majors.<\/p>\n

A Waterloo native, SIU was on the short list of possible universities for Wilson to attend, but the scholarship support he received his freshman year made the choice simple.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat really clinched the deal for me and my parents,\u201d he said. \u201cI always thought that someday I would like to pay that back.\u201d<\/p>\n

Wilson had a typical college experience. He lived at Thompson Point and studied finance. He participated in intramural sports and played pickup basketball at the Student Recreation Center. He graduated with a bachelor\u2019s degree in 1991.<\/p>\n

\u201cI enjoyed the experience all around \u2013 the academics, the social life, the campus, everything. It was very positive,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

After SIU, Wilson earned a master\u2019s degree from the University of Miami and took a job with Ryder System. Over a 15-year career with Ryder, he worked in Miami, Detroit, Dallas, Toronto, and Singapore. He was then recruited into the world of private equity and is now the chief financial officer in North America for Barentz, a Dutch chemical distributor.<\/p>\n

Today, he and his wife, Kris, live in Chagrin Falls, Ohio, and have two adult children who make their homes in the Chicago area.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt all started back with the finance education at SIU,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

His SIU and professional experience intersected when fellow Saluki, Chuck Lounsbury, became senior vice president for supply chain solutions at Ryder System in the early 2000s.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Brian Wilson continuing his family’s Saluki legacy at SIU, pictured here in Smith Hall, 1990.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

As a student, Wilson had heard of Lounsbury from his professors. Lounsbury, a 1965 SIU graduate and member of the COBA Hall of Fame, had an illustrious career in the business world.<\/p>\n

Recently, Lounsbury made a $500,000 donation to establish the Charles and Barbara Lounsbury Endowed Scholarship in the College of Business and Analytics.<\/p>\n

\u201cChuck Lounsbury ended up working two offices down from me, and we got to know each other and shared memories of SIU,\u201d Wilson said. \u201cI saw an article about his gift in the SIU Alumni Association magazine, and it sparked interest in me to go ahead and fulfill my plan to repay my scholarship.\u201d<\/p>\n

Beyond financially supporting SIU students, Wilson hopes his scholarship helps drive the college and SIU forward.<\/p>\n

\u201cI want to do whatever I can to help the school continue to attract the best students and professors and allow more people the opportunity to get their education from SIU\u2019s College of Business and Analytics,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

To learn more about making a similar gift, visit siuf.org.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Jeff Wilson Brian Wilson has deep roots at SIU, and his decision to endow a $100,000 scholarship fund in the College of Business and Analytics only strengthens that connection. \u201cMy mother and father met at SIU, and several other family members went there,\u201d he said. \u201cIt was probably the first university I was exposed … Continue reading COBA alumnus donates $100K to endow scholarship<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7,3,4,2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3845","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-donor-stories","category-higher-education","category-illinois-higher-education","category-siu"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.siuf.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3845","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.siuf.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.siuf.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.siuf.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/13"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.siuf.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3845"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blog.siuf.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3845\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3850,"href":"https:\/\/blog.siuf.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3845\/revisions\/3850"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.siuf.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3845"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.siuf.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3845"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.siuf.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3845"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}