Gies College of Business has received a $1.2 million gift from alumnus Bill Chase (FIN '88) to establish a research fund supporting scholarship and dialogue around fiduciary responsibility and ethical decision making in business leadership. The newly established Chase Family Research Fund will provide research grants and sponsor annual forums, with an emphasis on interdisciplinary perspectives and long-term impact.

The Chase Family Research Fund will enhance collaboration among scholars confronting one of business’ most overlooked questions: how do leaders navigate ethical ambiguity while honoring fiduciary responsibility? The Fund builds on the College’s broader investment in values-driven business education and research, adding a new dimension to Gies Business’ growing portfolio of support for inquiry that connects classroom learning and academic theory to practice.

Since graduating from Gies Business with a bachelor's in finance in 1988, Bill Chase spent more than 20 years at Abbott Laboratories before becoming CFO of AbbVie, where he helped lead the company through its historic spinout and early growth. Today, Chase serves on multiple corporate boards and draws on a career shaped by global experience and problem-solving to invest in his family, education, and public service. That perspective led to a simple conviction: business needs a better way to talk about right and wrong.

“Right versus wrong is not quantifiable,” Chase said. “But it still matters in every decision that gets made."

He wants to see the next generation of business leaders equipped to wrestle with that gray area.

“How does management negotiate its fiduciary responsibility to shareholders when faced with profitable actions that, while legal, are not in the medium- or long-term interest of a customer, industry, society, or capitalism in general?” said Chase. “At what point should they allow a focus on share price maximization to be curtailed by the broader ethical considerations at play? How do we ensure that the measurement of an action’s degree of ‘right vs wrong’ doesn’t simply collapse into a legal standard? And what roles should fields like ethics, philosophy, law, and education play in helping the business world deal with this issue?”

As conversations around ethics and long-term value grow more urgent, Gies Business faculty are already asking the kinds of questions Chase hopes to elevate. That shared ambition makes the College a natural home for the Chase Family Research Fund, which invites scholars across disciplines to help build a more thoughtful, rigorous framework for making ethical decisions. The University of Illinois’ academic breadth – including top-ranked programs in engineering, computer science, information sciences, and more – makes it an ideal setting for cross-campus inquiry.

That vision for collaborative and forward-thinking research excites faculty like Mark Peecher, executive associate dean of faculty and research and Deloitte Professor of Accountancy.

"Here at Gies, we want to be the spark for creative thinking on fiduciary responsibility and ethical decision making, supporting work from our own faculty and from scholars across Illinois who share that vision," said Peecher. "We're excited to welcome perspectives from across campus, from psychology to political science, that help enrich our understanding. This work reflects our commitment to excellence in both business and interdisciplinary scholarship."

That shared sense of purpose connects faculty and donors alike. At Gies, ethical inquiry isn't just academic. It's what makes the College's approach to business education distinct. It's also a key reason Chase chose to invest in Illinois.

“I am incredibly indebted to the University of Illinois,” said Chase. “This organization educated and molded me as a young individual and ultimately gave me the tools to achieve success in my life. Nothing would make me prouder than to see this gift as a first step toward Gies becoming a center of research excellence in business ethics and ultimately becoming known for producing business leaders who think differently – and better – when faced with the tough questions they’ll encounter in their careers. That is the best way I can give back.”

The Chase Family Research Fund joins a growing ecosystem of support for research and scholarship at Gies, with an emphasis on interdisciplinary inquiry and real-world relevance. The College has been awarding Gies research grants since 2021. To date, Gies faculty have been awarded nearly $3 million to support scholarship in areas such as sustainable supply chains, fintech innovation, healthcare analytics, and the future of accounting education. This support doesn’t just shape the learning experience at Gies Business – it fuels research that holds influence well beyond the University of Illinois campus.

"I'm so grateful for Bill Chase's investment in our faculty and for his belief in the importance of continued scholarship in these important areas of business," said W. Brooke Elliott, Josef and Margot Lakonishok Professor in Business and Dean of Gies College of Business. "This type of funding is extremely important for high-impact research, and I have no doubt our faculty will continue to create and share knowledge that will change how business is taught and reshape how business is done."