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Supporting the Partner Pledge


Philip R. May (BBA '67) owns a marketing
consulting firm for nonprofits.

Philip R. May (BBA ’67), a longtime Loyola supporter, is one of the inaugural participants in the University’s new Partner Pledge program. “What I am today, I owe in large part to Loyola,” says May. “Now I want to do my part.” Created as part of the University’s capital campaign, the Partner Pledge gives all donors who pledge to contribute at least $2,500 annually for five years the opportunity to create and name a fund supporting the school, scholarship, or program of their choosing, depending on the total amount of the pledge.

May has directed his Partner Pledge to the School of Business Administration’s Dean’s Venture Fund, which supports projects selected and approved by the dean in collaboration with the fund’s investors. As a Loyola business student majoring in economics, May was president of his fraternity and of the Economics-Finance Society, both experiences which he found beneficial later. “I learned a lot about leadership,” he says.

May is now owner of Philip May & Associates, a Chicago-based marketing-consulting firm for nonprofits, and is a former senior vice chairman of the advertising agency Cramer-Krasselt. The first in his family to attend college, May credits Loyola’s Jesuits with teaching him how to think. “Loyola professors encouraged us to reason and not accept things at face value,” he says.

Because of the foundation Loyola gave him, May is now happy to show his gratitude. “I believe people should support Loyola at whatever level they can,” he says. “Loyola has been good to me—it’s time for me to pay it back.”