John and Anne Landgraf were a young couple with a family in 1984 when they made their first $10 gift to the NIU Foundation. Like most young families, money was tight, but for John and Anne, supporting their alma mater was a priority.
The Landgrafs have been loyal donors for over 35 years. As their wealth grew, so did their gifts—from $10, then $100, to larger gifts to fund a scholarship endowment.
The couple’s consistent pattern of giving paired with their resourceful use of a company match from John’s employer Abbott Laboratories has increased the Landgraf’s current total lifetime commitment to NIU of more than $1 million.
In the hopes of inspiring others to begin a philanthropic journey, the Landgrafs funded a new donor wall, the “Founders Forum Wall,” in Altgeld Hall. The wall honors members of the Founders Forum—donors who have given $50,000 or more over the course of a lifetime.
“Consistent giving really adds up,” said John, ’74, M.S. ’75. “You might think, ‘I could never give $50,000.’ But the idea of giving $2,000 over the course of a year seems much more manageable.”
The Landgrafs view the wall as a “living monument,” illustrating donors’ growth in philanthropy. Every donor, no matter how small their current gift, can build their total over time to one day secure their spot on the wall.
The Founders Forum is named for the University’s founding figures, who established the school in 1895. As NIU marks its 125th anniversary, dedicated donors are being celebrated as new founders, said Catherine Squires, President and CEO of the NIU Foundation.
“Northern Illinois University was established through the vision and leadership of our founders,” Squires said. “Much in the way that the founders helped launch NIU, the members of the Founders Forum have laid the foundation for the University’s future success.”
Education is the greatest gift
The Landgrafs’ most recent gift expands the reach of their unrestricted endowed scholarship fund, providing assistance to even more deserving Huskies.
“Scholarships matter,” John explained. “When we went to school in the 1970s, you could pay your tuition by working over the summer. Today, students are working multiple jobs and still taking on debt to pay for their education.”
Though the cost of tuition has risen dramatically since John and Anne were in school, the couple empathizes with today’s students. John went back to school for his M.B.A. after the couple had started a family, and they remember vividly the personal and financial sacrifices education requires.
“Education is the most important gift you can give to a young person,” said Anne, ’73. “Education is the key to so much—the key to a good start in life; to progress in health care, research, empathy, and everything we value as a society; the key to making the world a better place.”

The Landgraf scholarship helped to support Robert Carolan, ’20, while he completed an internship with the West African Network for Peacebuilding in Senegal. A student of Francophone studies and political science, Carolan hopes to pursue a career as a diplomat in West Africa and Eurasia.
“The support from the Landgrafs made my time at NIU unforgettably unique,” Carolan said.
He said he agrees completely with the Landgrafs’ philosophy of giving whatever you can and building your legacy over time.
“A common misconception about donating is you need to give a large sum right away,” Carolan said. “As John and Anne clearly exemplify, advocating for yourself and others is a step-by-step process. Donating to causes you believe in is something anyone can do, one day and one dollar at a time.”
Paying it Forward
John and Anne Landgraf met and fell in love while attending NIU. John was studying biology and Anne was studying history, but they shared a passion for education. John’s father was a teacher and Anne had grown up playing school to a classroom of dolls.
“Education is so important to society,” Anne said. “It affects so many important issues—the environment, research, health care, everything.”
John completed his master’s degree in microbiology in 1975. He went to work as a scientist at Inolex, developing diagnostic tests, while Anne taught science and history to middle school students.
Remembering the value they received from their NIU experience, each year the young couple scraped together the few dollars they could afford to donate, believing every gift makes a difference. Their early gifts were as little as $10 or $20.
Once their three children were born, Anne left the workforce to be a stay-at-home mother. She remained deeply engaged in education, teaching religious education at her church, leading parent-teacher organizations, and serving on district boards of education.
John went to work at Abbott Laboratories and began climbing the corporate ladder. Over the next 30-plus years, he worked his way up to executive vice president of Abbott Nutrition Worldwide. When he retired, John was the executive in charge of Abbott’s largest division, with 15,000 employees and $7 billion in sales worldwide.
As John advanced in his career, the family’s gifts to NIU grew in proportion. Because giving to the University was a priority, he and Anne made it a habit.
Throughout their decades of giving, the consistency of the gift remained as important to John as the size of the donation.
“Start giving early and keep giving consistently,” he said. “Consistent giving really adds up.”
NIU President Lisa Freeman praised the Landgrafs for their philanthropic vision.
“The mechanism they are creating to celebrate transformative contributors to NIU by recognizing them as ‘new founders’ is meaningful to NIU’s future,” she said. “These gifts keep NIU progressing and moving forward.”
In November, the Landgrafs’ generous giving provided inspiration during the NIU Foundation Thousands Strong campaign, which brought in more than $2 million to support NIU students.
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