"What I took away with me from Kenyon was an education in how to appreciate what life has to offer and how to respond appropriately to a wide range of circumstances," says Richard Thomas, 1953. "The College gave me the experience of living and working with people of different backgrounds, of expressing my thoughts both orally and in writing, and of applying a sense of right and wrong to a complicated world It nurtured in me the desire to keep on learning throughout my life."

After graduating summa cum laude with a degree in economics and membership in Phi Beta Kappa, Thomas spent a year at the University of Copenhagen as a Fulbright Scholar, studying international economics. All of these experiences, at Kenyon and beyond, served him well as chairman and chief executive officer of First Chicago Corporation, the holding company for the bank and other enterprises The Chicago Sun-Times has credited Thomas with a "calm, steady hand in turbulent times." Crain's Chicago Business named him Executive of the Year in 1994.

Thomas, who attended the College thanks to a scholarship, recently endowed the Richard L. Thomas Chair in Creative Writing, which brings distinguished visiting writers to Kenyon's campus each year to work and teach.