Northwestern Trustee Donald Perkins died March 25 at his home in Northfield, Illinois, the school announced Tuesday. He was 88.

Perkins, who joined the Board of Trustees in 1970 and was elected a Life Trustee in 2003, was the former CEO and chairman of Jewel Companies and also served as a trustee of the Ford Foundation, the Brookings Institution and the International Council of Morgan Bank, among other organizations.

He was a co-chairman of Campaign Northwestern in 1998 and was a member of the NU presidential search committees in 1984 and 1994.

Former University President Henry Bienen said in a news release that Perkins was an “exceptional Northwestern trustee.”

“Don was straightforward, honest and fair-minded,” Bienen said. “He deserved all the deep respect and admiration that he received from his many friends, fellow trustees and civic leaders. All those who knew Don will miss him.”

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