Kirk Farney
Dr. Kirk D. Farney is Vice President for Advancement, Vocation, and Alumni Engagement, Wheaton College. Kirk Farney is an historical scholar and teacher, and an academic, corporate, and philanthropic leader. Currently, Dr. Farney leads Wheaton College’s Alumni and Parent Engagement, Development, Gift Planning Services, Marketing Communications, Media Relations, Advancement Services, and Center for Vocation & Career departments, and serves as a member of the College’s Senior Administrative Cabinet. He also holds faculty rank in the History Department. Prior to his Wheaton duties, Kirk worked in international banking for 26 years, with roles at J. P. Morgan Securities and its merged firms — First Chicago, First Chicago NBD, and Bank One. He most recently served as Managing Director and Global Head of Asset-Backed Finance, where he led 125 professionals in Chicago, New York, London, Hong Kong, and Sydney. This industry-leading group provided structured finance solutions around the world to a broad range of companies, in numerous industries, funding multiple asset types.
Kirk has served in board positions at Concordia University Chicago, Wheaton College Alumni Association, Emmanuel International Ministries, Lutheran Life Communities, We Raise Foundation (formerly Wheat Ridge Ministries), the Commission on Theology and Church Relations of the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod (LCMS), the LCMS Blue Ribbon Task Force on Funding the Mission, and St. John’s Lutheran Church of LaGrange, IL. He recently concluded twelve years of service on the board of Thrivent Financial, a faith-based Fortune 500 company where he had been Vice Chair. Kirk is currently a board member of the Wheaton College Trust Company and Lutheran Hour Ministries.
Dr. Farney earned a B. S. in Finance and Agricultural Economics from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, an M.B.A. in Marketing from the Kellogg Graduate School of Management at Northwestern University, and an M.A. in Theological Studies from Wheaton College. He also holds an M.A. in History and Ph.D. in American Religious History from the University of Notre Dame.