Thomas Hall, photographed by Ayman Wadud '25.
Richard L. Thomas ’53 H’72 P’81 lived in Leonard Hall all four years as a member of the Beta Theta Pi fraternity. He remembers those years — and the location — fondly. “It was a happy time, it was convenient and I loved being there,” he said.
Matt Winkler ’77 P’13 H’00 has similar warm memories of his Kenyon homes: first McBride Hall, then Peirce (back when the Collegian staff was allowed to live there), next Hanna and, finally, Caples.
Thomas received a scholarship to attend Kenyon, Winkler graduated with student loans. Since then, each went on to serve as members of the Kenyon Board of Trustees and invest in the College philanthropically, eventually becoming two of Kenyon’s most generous donors.
In recognition of their respective years of service to Kenyon, future generations of Kenyon students will soon be able to make their own memories in the south campus residence halls bearing their names. Thomas Hall, next to Leonard, will open to students in January. A ribbon-cutting and open house will be held for campus Friday. Winkler Hall, on the Hanna side, will open next fall.
“‘Humbled’ is a good word,” Winkler said of his reaction to the news. “This is totally unexpected. It's almost an out of body experience, because I didn’t see it coming and it’s a huge honor.”
President Julie Kornfeld highlighted the honorees’ decades of service to Kenyon. “One of the most powerful testaments to the impact of a Kenyon education is how our alumni remain committed to sustaining our excellence, often for the rest of their lives. Dick and Matt are two of Kenyon’s biggest champions and we are so grateful for their leadership, both as volunteers and as incredibly generous donors,” she said.
Aileen Hefferren ’88 H’12 has had the opportunity to work with both honorees on the board, for which she now serves as chair. “In this year of celebrating Kenyon’s history, we are thrilled to recognize two people who have played such a significant role in it. They understand that investments in Kenyon are about our next two centuries. I hope today’s students will be inspired by Dick’s and Matt’s paths while charting their own.”
Each ADA-compliant building — which will house about 100 students in apartment-style suites with their own kitchen — were built to Duke University’s High Performance Building Framework for sustainability. There are dedicated, fully accessible suites in each. Their construction was made possible thanks to a record-setting $100 million anonymous gift made in January 2021 that allowed for the continuation of the Our Path Forward to the Bicentennial campaign, publicly launched in 2018, until this June.
The historic success of the campaign was made possible by 22,886 donors, including Thomas and Winkler, who served on its leadership committee, combining to give $532 million to Kenyon.
“I am indebted to the College,” said Thomas who, as a student, majored in economics, played varsity baseball and was elected student body president. As president of the Kenyon Beta chapter, Thomas oversaw the pledging of Bill Lowry ’56, for whom the Lowry Center is named. Lowry was a three-sport captain and first Black man to be pledged by any fraternity nationally and the two fraternity brothers remain lifelong friends.
Thomas earned a Fulbright Scholarship to the University of Copenhagen after graduation. He was then drafted into the Army and went on to earn his MBA at Harvard. He went to work for First National Bank of Chicago for nearly four decades, holding successive leadership roles, including four as CEO in the 1990s.
He was elected to the Kenyon Board of Trustees in 1967, became chair in 1985 and was succeeded by Buffy Hallinan ’76 H’91, the first female chair of the Kenyon board.
Throughout his long life — he is 93 — Thomas has remained grateful to Kenyon. He said: “Kenyon was truly where I learned to think, to write, to speak — to lead.”
Hallinan recalls this leadership in their decades together on Kenyon’s board. “He was someone who was always looking out for me and giving me opportunities to lead in a way that women hadn’t been encouraged to before,” she recalls. “He was one of the very best leaders that Kenyon has ever had.”
“I loved being there,” Thomas said of his time as a student. “There isn’t any charity or cause that’s more important to me than Kenyon.”
Thomas is a generous supporter of financial aid and has previously made gifts to establish the Richard L. Thomas Chair in Creative Writing, currently held by Ira Sukrungruang. He was honored during the renovation of Peirce Hall, completed in 2008 during the We Are Kenyon campaign. (Now commonly known as “New Side,” Thomas Hall within Peirce will be renamed Thomas Dining Hall to avoid any confusion not already clarified by one having food and the other having beds.)
Winkler, who co-founded Bloomberg News in 1990 and served as its first editor-in-chief, was a history major and lifelong journalist whose support of Kenyon includes a fund for the Collegian. He serves on the Kenyon Review Board and steering committee for the Center for the Study of American Democracy, and is especially passionate about highlighting distinguished faculty members.
The residence halls were built by Smoot Construction and designed by architect Graham Gund ’63 H’81 and his Gund Partnership. Winkler recently interviewed Gund for the book Place and Purpose: Kenyon at 200 and proclaimed himself a huge admirer. “Knowing how he thinks about buildings and space, and especially about Kenyon in particular, it's sort of overwhelming to think that there is actually a building on campus that tethers me to Graham Gund, I never would have expected that.”
A dedication of Winkler Hall is currently being planned for next year in honor of Winkler’s generosity and strong Kenyon ties.