Flanagan Foundation Deepens Feinberg Impact with Support for Neuroscience and Scholarships
With two generous gifts directed to the Department of Neuroscience and to scholarships at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, the Flanagan Foundation doubled down this year on its mission to advance medical research and jumpstart the careers of future physicians.
The gifts reflect the philanthropic vision of John Flanagan, a 1958 graduate of Northwestern’s Kellogg School of Management. An investment executive who once juggled four jobs to pay for college, Flanagan spent more than 40 years giving back to the university that helped shape his life. Before his death in 2019, he established the foundation to ensure that support would continue for generations to come.
“John was incredibly proud to be a Northwestern alum,” said John Boyle ’11 MD, who serves on the foundation’s board. “His faith and his connection to Northwestern meant the world to him.”
In January, the Flanagan Foundation pledged $600,000 to support fellows in the Department of Neuroscience and gifted $300,000 to support the John R. Flanagan Charitable Foundation Medical Scholarship, which supports fourth-year medical students who have matched into residency programs. The Flanagan Fellowship Fund in the Department of Neuroscience supports early career researchers working on Parkinson’s disease, an area of personal interest to Flanagan in his later years.
“He had a very curious mind,” Dr. Boyle said. “As he got older and faced medical challenges of his own, he became even more interested in the work being done at Feinberg. He loved learning from students and researchers alike.”
D. James Surmeier, PhD, chair of the Department of Neuroscience and the Nathan Smith Davis Professor of Neuroscience, said the department is honored to be included in Flanagan’s legacy.
“Our fellows represent the future of neuroscience,” Dr. Surmeier said. “John Flanagan understood that. His investment in these exceptional trainees is helping drive the next wave of innovation in Parkinson’s disease research.”
Founded in Friendship
The Flanagan Foundation is managed by a small board that includes Dr. Boyle, longtime Flanagan friend and attorney Dave Crossett, and estate attorney Rebecca Wallenfelsz.
Dr. Boyle met Flanagan while a second-year medical student at Feinberg. In 2008, while riding a crowded bus into downtown Chicago on a holiday weekend, Flanagan invited Dr. Boyle—after noticing his Feinberg white coat—to sit next to him. They struck up a 45-minute conversation about current events, sports, and medicine.
The young Dr. Boyle thought little of it at the time, but a few weeks later, Feinberg Development staff reconnected them, explaining that Flanagan had enjoyed their conversation and hoped to meet again. They made dinner plans, and the rest was history.
“That was the beginning of a friendship that lasted for the rest of his life,” Dr. Boyle recalled. “He became close with me and my wife. We shared holidays with him.”
Flanagan’s approach to philanthropy was molded by his own experience as a student. Born in Bath, New York, Flanagan traveled to Chicago on a whim in the 1950s after receiving a full scholarship to Northwestern’s business school. Equipped with a single suitcase and no money, he shared that, as a student, he was keenly aware of the “haves” and the “have-nots.” While in business school, he also lived with medical students whom he saw struggle with the steep cost of medical school tuition.
After graduating with his Master of Business Administration in 1958, he served for many years as a partner at investment firm Stein Roe & Farnham and later founded Fundamental Equities International.
“When I think about philanthropy, I always remember where I started,” he once said. “My family had limited means. I worked four jobs at once in college. Now that I have some modest wealth, and I know
I can’t take it with me, I want to do something good with it.”
In addition to its support for scholarships and neuroscience, the foundation has also contributed to global health initiatives. A recent $1 million gift to the Center for Global Oncology at the Robert J. Havey, MD Institute for Global Health is helping address HPV-related cancers in West Africa.
“We talk often about what John’s interests were and how we can carry those forward,” Dr. Boyle said. “Supporting students, early-career researchers, and global health—those are all things that mattered to him, and they still matter to us.”
For more information about supporting fellows, please contact Andrew Christopherson at andrew.christopherson@northwestern.edu or 312-503-3080. For more information about supporting scholarships, please contact Larry Kuhn at larry-kuhn@northwestern.edu or 312-503-1717.
This story was published in the September 2025 issue of The Philanthropist, a newsletter for supporters and friends of Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. View our publications here.