Cornell alumnus’ $5 million gift helps launch center for economics, business, public policy

MOUNT VERNON — A Cornell College alumnus has donated $5 million to endow a program that will prepare future leaders in business and public policy, as a tribute to his grandfather who rose from meager beginnings to run one of the most successful businesses distributing industrial bearings.

Cornell officially launches the Berry Center for Economics, Business, and Public Policy with an 11 a.m. lecture today by Robert Solow, winner of the 1987 Nobel Prize in economics. The Berry Center is the centerpiece of an academic program that provides students training in applied economics and public policy, with an emphasis on experiential learning through opportunities including internships, off-campus study and summer research.

The center is named for Lester Berry, founder of Berry Bearing Co. in Chicago, which was the largest privately held industrial bearings distributor in the world when the family sold it in 1993.

“The story of my grandfather is the classic tale of a poor, uneducated kid from New York City with a vision and a dream,” says his grandson, James McWethy of Downers Grove, Ill., a 1965 Cornell graduate who was actively involved in the leadership of Berry Bearing Co. for 23 years.

“My grandfather was a smart man who really understood what it took to succeed in business and in life,” McWethy said. “At the time we sold, Berry Bearing had well over 1,000 employees and it was still a family business. He provided a level of service that nobody could match.”

McWethy graduated from Cornell with a bachelor’s degree in economics and business and mathematics. He earned a master’s degree in economics from Indiana University and taught economics there for three years, later teaching part time for several years at community colleges.

For more than a decade now, McWethy has been involved in agriculture, golf courses, charity, real estate development and local politics. He was a Cornell trustee from 1995 to 2004. He and his family pledged the lead gift of $2 million toward the $5.3 million renovation of McWethy Hall for the art department, which reopened in 2002. Additional McWethy gifts funded The Berry Lobby in Youngker Hall (2002), home of Cornell’s new theater, and the renovation of Law Hall Technology Center (2000).

“Jim McWethy generously credits his success in part to his Cornell education and professors who served as his mentors. With this gift endowing the Berry Center for Economics, Business, and Public Policy, he is providing an extraordinary opportunity for a new generation of Cornell students preparing to embark on their own careers in business,” said President Les Garner.

McWethy was part of a 14-member planning committee of alumni, faculty and administrators who met over the past two years. He will chair an advisory committee including alumni and business executives who will provide broad oversight and high-level strategic direction for the Berry Center.

McWethy’s gift is part of Cornell College’s comprehensive campaign “Extraordinary Opportunities: The Campaign for Cornell College” which concludes in December 2009. The campaign seeks to enhance the Cornell experience by increasing the college’s endowment, upgrading its facilities, and enhancing the academic program.

For more information about the campaign or making a gift, please visit www.cornellcollege.edu/campaign