CHF Hosts Benefit Evening & Public Program with Walter Isaacson Tonight

Chicago Humanities Festival (CHF) has announced its 26th Annual Benefit Evening tonight, September 15 at the Four Seasons Hotel Chicago (N Michigan Ave at Delaware Pl). The Benefit Evening will feature author and Aspen Institute president Walter Isaacson in conversation with Mellody Hobson, president, Ariel Investments. Isaacson will participate in the CHF Benefit Evening following a public program at 5:30 p.m. the Fourth Presbyterian Church of Chicago (126 E Chestnut St). Proceeds from both programs will directly advance the CHF's mission to create opportunities for people of all ages to support, enjoy, and explore the humanities. Additionally, proceeds from the event's paddle raise will support CHF's EdLab education and outreach initiatives.

Tickets to the Gala Benefit are available at chicagohumanities.org/gala. Tickets to the public program with Isaacson are $20 for the public, $15 for CHF members, and $10 for students/teachers. Tickets are on sale now to CHF Members and will go on sale to the public at 10 a.m. on Thursday, Aug. 6 at chicagohumanities.org or by calling the CHF Box Office at 312-494-9509.

"We are excited to feature Walter Isaacson in a timely and thought-provoking conversation with Mellody Hobson at this year's Benefit," said Phillip Bahar, executive director of the Chicago Humanities Festival. "They each contribute so thoroughly to the ongoing discussions about civic and corporate responsibility, as well as driving national conversations about the importance of innovation, ideas, and education, themes central to our 2015 Fall Festival theme of Citizens."

Walter Isaacson is the president and CEO of the Aspen Institute, a nonpartisan educational and policy studies institute based in Washington, DC. He has been the chairman and CEO of CNN and the editor of TIME magazine. Isaacson's most recent book, The Innovators: How a Group of Hackers, Geniuses, and Geeks Created the Digital Revolution (2014) is a biographical tale of the people who invented the computer, Internet and the other great innovations of the digital age. He is the author of Steve Jobs (2011), Einstein: His Life and Universe (2007), Benjamin Franklin: An American Life (2003), and Kissinger: A Biography (1992), and coauthor of The Wise Men: Six Friends and the World They Made (1986). He is a graduate of Harvard College and of Pembroke College of Oxford University, where he was a Rhodes Scholar. He is on the board of United Airlines, Tulane University, the Overseers of Harvard University, the New Orleans Tricentennial Commission, Bloomberg Philanthropies, the Society of American Historians, and My Brother's Keeper Alliance.

Mellody Hobson is president of Ariel Investments and is responsible for firm-wide management and strategic planning, overseeing all operations outside of research and portfolio management. She also serves as chairman of the board of trustees for Ariel Investment Trust. Hobson is a regular contributor and analyst on finance, the markets, and economic trends for CBS News. She is chairman of the board for DreamWorks Animation SKG, Inc., as well as director of The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. and Starbucks Corporation. Her community outreach includes serving as chairman of After School Matters, a non-profit that provides Chicago teens with high-quality, out-of-school time programs. She is a board member of The Chicago Public Education Fund, George Lucas Education Foundation, Lucas Museum of Narrative Art, and Sundance Institute. In 2015, she was named to TIME magazine's list of "100 Most Influential People in the World."

The Benefit Evening is spearheaded by co-chairs John W. and Jeanne M. Rowe and Harrison I. and Lois M. Steans. Gala Planning Committee Co-Chairs are Allegra E. Biery (Region President, Wealth Management, Northern Trust) and R. Scott Falk (Partner, Kirkland & Ellis LLP).

Leadership commitments include: The Allstate Insurance Company, Richard and Mary L. Gray, Grosvenor Capital Management, L. P., Illinois Tool Works, Kirkland & Ellis LLP, Robert R. McCormick Foundation, Northern Trust, J. B. and M. K. Pritzker Family Foundation, John W. and Jeanne M. Rowe, Lois M. and Harrison I. Steans, and Annette W. Turow.

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