Donald M. Ephraim

Donald M. Ephraim Family Endowed Excellence Award

Donald Ephraim built his career on a commitment to excellence and hard work.

Donald enrolled in DePaul University College of Commerce in 1945. At that time, most institutions of higher education operated on a religious quota system, restricting the number of Jewish students eligible to study. However, since DePaul did not have such a quota system, Donald had access to educational opportunities that would have been unavailable to him elsewhere. He thrived at DePaul, passing the CPA exam by special permission at age 20, even though Illinois law required CPAs to be 21 years old.

Graduating in 1952 from DePaul College of Commerce with a BSC in accounting, Donald went on to earn a JD from the University of Chicago Law School.

As a Lawyer-CPA he began his career in taxes and estate planning, but when the Chicago Bears’ star wide receiver Jonny Morris asked Donald to represent him in negotiations for a television sportscasting position, Donald began a new trajectory representing newspaper columnists and on-air talent in television and radio. His client list soon grew to include the likes of Roger Ebert, Gene Siskel, Bill Kurtis, Jack Brickhouse and Jane Byrne, among many others. He credits his great success to his combined educations at DePaul University and the University of Chicago.

Donald reveres his DePaul education, and is particularly interested in academic excellence. He has also kept DePaul in the family as one of his sons, Eric, and a number of his other relatives have also attended DePaul and share his respect and appreciation for the business school.

He hopes that the Ephraim Excellence Award will not only offset some of the educational costs of being a student, but that it will also inspire achievement in students in the business school and their pursuit of lifelong success.