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Annual Giving

Northwestern Celebrates 10-year Anniversary of Combe Family Vice President for Athletics and Recreation Jim Phillips

July 30, 2018 sandglass_2_line 4 minute read

During Phillips' decade of leadership, Northwestern student-athletes have piled up 123 All-America honors, 39 Player of the Year awards, and more than 2,200 Academic All-Big Ten honors

Northwestern University is celebrating the 10-year anniversary of Combe Family Vice President for Athletics and Recreation Jim Phillips, and with it a remarkable decade of success for Wildcats student-athletes in the classroom, in the community and in competition.

"Over the past 10 years, Jim has worked tirelessly to transform the opportunities for our student-athletes as well as facilities that benefit them and the entire University community," Northwestern President Morton Schapiro said. "Jim is the best there is, and I'm proud that his position will now be known as the Combe Family Vice President for Athletics and Recreation."

Named in recognition of a $10 million gift from University trustee and alumnus Chris Combe '70, the endowed position provides a perpetual source of funding for the vice president to pursue important projects and address new opportunities. The commitment was announced previously and is part of We Will. The Campaign for Northwestern, for which Combe serves as co-chair.

"We are so grateful to Chris and his family for their ongoing leadership, volunteerism and generosity, which have helped shape many areas at Northwestern, both in Athletics and Recreation and throughout the University," President Schapiro added.

Phillips, a native of Chicago's Portage Park neighborhood, arrived in Evanston in 2008 to lead the department, The recently completed spring quarter saw the group of more than 500 Northwestern student-athletes post an average 3.36 GPA, with a remarkable 81 percent earning GPAs over 3.0. In November, it was announced that Northwestern earned a 97 percent Graduation Success Rate (GSR), the best mark in the Big Ten and the second-best among all FBS institutions nationally. The football program's 99 percent GSR is the top score among all FBS institutions in the country and paces the Big Ten conference by 14 percentage points.

During Phillips' decade of leadership, Northwestern student-athletes have piled up 123 All-America honors, 39 Player of the Year awards and more than 2,200 Academic All-Big Ten honors. The Wildcats have also been recognized with 26 Coach of the Year awards, and have won 34 conference championships. This spring Phillips was honored as Sports Business Journal's Athletic Director of the Year.

"I am deeply honored and humbled to serve as the Combe Family Vice President for Athletics and Recreation," said Phillips. "Chris personifies what Northwestern is all about. He understands the emphasis Northwestern places on providing a world-class experience for our student-athletes -- academically, socially and athletically. We are extremely grateful for this extraordinary gift and his commitment to the long-term success of our athletics programs."

The department also has undergone a facilities transformation, one that is ongoing, as a result of the first-ever Athletics Master Facilities Plan that Phillips commissioned upon his arrival. The first step in that evolution was a 30,000-square foot expansion of the Henry Crown Sports Pavilion, the primary recreation hub for the Northwestern community, and a first-class, multimillion-dollar sailing center on the south end of campus. In succeeding years, the University introduced the new Rocky and Berenice Miller Park for baseball, Lanny and Sharon Martin Stadium for soccer and lacrosse, Chap and Ethel Hutcheson Field for football, and Lakeside Field for field hockey.

Most recently, the department dedicated Ryan Fieldhouse, Wilson Field and the Slotnick Family Atrium on the shores of Lake Michigan. This week, the Walter Athletics Center will open as the final component of the transformational new lakefront facilities. Collectively, they will serve as the new home of Northwestern Athletics and Recreation, integrated into the heart of the University's campus providing world-class training, nutrition, sports medicine and academic space. In November, the new Welsh-Ryan Arena, the Wildcats' most used and versatile venue, will open as the home of basketball, volleyball and wrestling. In conjunction with the Trienens Performance Center, slated for a spring 2019 opening, the facility will offer Northwestern's hardcourt programs with the finest in competitive and practice venues.

Chris Combe is chairman of Combe Incorporated, a global health and beauty products company. He received his bachelor's degree in economics from the Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences. He serves in numerous volunteer roles, including as a co-chair of We Will. The Campaign for Northwestern and the New York Regional Campaign Committee and of his class reunion committees. A University trustee since 1997 and director of the Alumni Admissions Council for Westchester, New York, since 1975, he is also a founding member of the Weinberg College Board of Visitors, established in 1981.

"Jim Phillips exemplifies all that is good about Northwestern Athletics," said Combe. "He is as caring for his 500 true scholar-athletes as he is for his own dear family. Jim and his outstanding 19 head coaches know academics and character building come before athletic excellence, though under his leadership we have achieved all three!"
Combe is a proud parent of two Northwestern alumnae. His eldest daughter, Keech '99, '06 MBA, graduated from Kellogg's two-year Master of Business Administration program and Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences, and his youngest daughter, Cameron '09, graduated from the School of Education and Social Policy.

Combe's father, Ivan '33, '36 JD, the founder of Combe Incorporated, attended Northwestern's Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences and Pritzker School of Law. He was a member of the first Northwestern men's tennis team to win the Big 10 championship. A number of other members of the Combe family also are Northwestern graduates.

A steadfast supporter of Northwestern through the years, Chris Combe made his first gift to Northwestern, an annual fund contribution of $100, in 1975. Since then, the Combe family has made significant gifts in support of numerous areas of the University, including the Pritzker School of Law, Bienen School of Music, Weinberg College, Student Affairs, School of Education and Social Policy, and Athletics and Recreation. Combe's support for Athletics and Recreation has included gifts to establish the Combe Family Head Women's Lacrosse Coach and the Combe Family Endowed Scholarship Fund for varsity tennis players. Additional gifts to Northwestern Athletics and Recreation have named the University's indoor tennis center, as well as a main scoreboard, six individual scoreboards and six sets of bleachers at the Vandy Christie Tennis Center.

In addition to the Vice President endowment, three head coaches hold an endowed position at Northwestern – the Sullivan-Ubben Head Men's Basketball Coach, held by Chris Collins; Dan and Susan Jones Family Head Football Coach, held by Pat Fitzgerald '97; and the Combe Family Head Lacrosse Coach, held by Kelly Amonte Hiller.

The funds raised through the "We Will" Campaign are helping realize the transformational vision set forth in Northwestern's strategic plan and solidify the University's position among the world's leading research universities. More information on We Will. The Campaign for Northwestern is available at wewill.northwestern.edu.