Milwaukee-based Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Co. Inc. has agreed to donate $4.2 million over the next five years to The American College in Bryn Mawr, Pa., to create The Northwestern Mutual Granum Center for Financial Security.
When completed, the donation to fund the center will be the largest single corporate gift ever received by The American College.
The Northwestern Mutual Granum Center for Financial Security was named in honor of O. Alfred Granum, a Northwestern Mutual managing partner who led the company’s Chicago office and innovated the business.
The new center will focus on several key objectives, including promoting lifelong learning and the pursuit of excellence among financial services industry practitioners.
“As the nation’s leading hub of financial services knowledge, there could be no better home for The Northwestern Mutual Granum Center for Financial Security than The American College. This advanced center will serve as an intellectual home for scholars and thought leaders dedicated to creating long-term financial security for all Americans,” said Todd Schoon, executive vice president-agencies at Northwestern Mutual and chairman of The American College board of trustees.
Granum served as a managing partner for a Northwestern Mutual office in Chicago where he built one of the most successful offices in the world. His office broke numerous company records for volume of business. Granum also is the creator of the One Card System, a tool that forever changed how sales professionals manage and monitor their activity.
Larry Barton, president and CEO of The American College, said, “Al Granum and the people of Northwestern Mutual represent the best of the financial services industry. Our research center must meet and exceed their high standards of excellence. Only in this way can The American College fulfill its role as the steward of the Northwestern Mutual Granum Center for Financial Security and the incredible legacy of O. Alfred Granum,.”
