Richard H. Driehaus
Richard H. Driehaus (1942-2021) was a Chicagoan through and through: he attended St. Margaret of Scotland for elementary school, St. Ignatius College Prep for high school, and received both his B.A. and M.B.A. from DePaul University (in 1965 and 1970 respectively). His career in finance kicked off at A.G. Becker, where he became its youngest portfolio manager. Over the next decade, he worked at various brokerage firms including Mullaney, Wells & Co. and Jesup & Lamont, before founding Driehaus Securities Corporation LLC in 1979. In 1982 he formed Driehaus Capital Management LLC, an investment advisory firm widely known for expertise in growth-oriented equity and alternative investment strategies. In a life devoted to preservation, his business initiatives in Chicago and around the world, like the museum he founded, occupy space in historic buildings that he acquired and carefully restored.
The Driehaus Museum is a testament to Richard Driehaus’ vision to inspire minds and bring joy to the hearts of the public through transformative experiences with great works of art, architecture, and design. His loving restoration of the 1883 Nickerson Mansion not only brought it back to its Gilded Age splendor, but the conversion of it for use as a museum preserves the legacy of this house as an immersive space for learning through significant art collections. In particular, he cherished his collection of decorative art objects from the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Among them, objects by Louis Comfort Tiffany, The Wiener Werkstätte, Hector Guimard, and many other Art Nouveau artists and designers - works of art that are at the heart of the Museum’s collection.
To learn more about Richard H. Driehaus, view The Man and His Museum: Making a Masterpiece below:
On March 26, 2021, the University of Notre Dame School of Architecture presented