John Madigan and Don Wycliff retire from the Robert R. McCormick Foundation board

The Robert R. McCormick Foundation announced the retirement of long-time directors John Madigan and Don Wycliff, effective at the Foundation's most recent board meeting.

"John and Don each made important contributions to ensuring the Foundation operated consistent with the ideals and principles of Col. McCormick while allowing for experimentation and innovation, which were hallmarks of the Colonel's life. We are in a stronger position today because of their service to the McCormick Foundation," said Dennis FitzSimons, board chair.

John Madigan is the retired chairman and CEO of Tribune Company, having served as chairman/CEO from 1995 through 2003. He served as a director of the McCormick Foundation for 40 years, including 11 as chairman. During his tenure on the board, the Foundation made grants of over $1.8 billion, and endowment increased from $129 million to more than $2 billion at the end of 2021.

Don Wycliff served as a director of the McCormick Foundation for 12 years, during which the Foundation issued grants of over $600 million. He spent 35 years in the newspaper industry as a reporter, editor, editorial writer and columnist. His career included almost 10 years as editorial page editor at the Chicago Tribune, five years as the newspaper's public editor (ombudsman), and five years as a member of the editorial board of The New York Times. While serving as the Tribune's editorial page editor, the paper won a Pulitzer Prize for editorial writing and was a finalist for a second.

The Robert R. McCormick Foundation envisions a Chicagoland with educated and informed individuals who are engaged in improving their communities. The Foundation invests in organizations working to build thriving communities where all individuals have the resources and opportunities to succeed without regard to income, race, ethnicity, gender or ZIP code. Established in 1955 upon the death of Col. Robert R. McCormick, longtime editor and publisher of the Chicago Tribune, the McCormick Foundation has issued grants of approximately $1.9 billion. The Foundation's Board also oversees Cantigny, Col. McCormick's 500-acre estate in Wheaton, Illinois, which encompasses a park, formal gardens, a museum dedicated to the 1^st Infantry Division of the U.S. Army and a 27-hole public golf facility. Learn more at mccormickfoundation.org, cantigny.org, fdmuseum.org and cantignygolf.com.