Larry Gies on $100 million Donation to Illini Athletics: ‘I’m investing in Josh Whitman’

Eight years ago, Larry Gies told Illinois AD Josh Whitman he’d never donate to Illini athletics. In 2025, Gies has his name on Memorial Stadium after a $100 million gift.

By Matt Stevens - IlliniGuys Football Writer/Analyst

September 12, 2025

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Maybe the lesson for the several Gies School of Business students in attendance on the Memorial Stadium field Friday afternoon was the idea of never using the word ‘never’ in negotiations.

About a year into Josh Whitman being the athletics director at the University of Illinois, he sat across a dinner table from Larry Gies in 2017 . . .

 

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