As a native of England, Kevin Mills admits that his discovery of Kenyon was a bit of a fluke. But, he says, "Coming to the College was the best thing I could have done."

A double major in economics and psychology, Mills was also named an All-American soccer player and won a prestigious National Collegiate Athletic Association postgraduate scholarship based on both academic and athletic performance. In addition, he won a 1991 Chicago Business Fellowship, which let him begin work on a graduate degree in business administration at the University of Chicago during the summer following his junior year. He completed his graduate training at Harvard University.

Mills joined Deloitte and Touche as a business analyst and quickly became a manager. But shortly after his promotion, he shocked his colleagues by announcing his intention to leave the firm to establish his own organization. Make money now, they advised, and follow your heart later.

Kenyon helped him keep his resolve. "More than any other experience I had at the College," says Mills, "learning to stand up and think beyond what is presented has served me well."

Mills's new venture was The Sims Group, a nonprofit organization serving at-risk children. He has since gone on to become the chief executive officer of DigitalMed, which provides online educational services to health-care professionals. And he continues to help children as a board member of I-Excel, another nonprofit organization.

Says Mills: "Kenyon gave me the will and the courage to say, 'This needs to be done now.'"