Jack Commodore Richmond (1917-2011) | University of Illinois Archives

Jack Commodore Richmond (1917-2011) (B.A., Agriculture, 1943) was a University of Illinois alumnus, businessman, and philanthropist.  As a student in the 1940s, he was an accomplished gymnast, a member of the Phi Gamma Delta fraternity, and was instrumental in bringing weightlifting to the UI campus. 

Following his service in World War II, he worked as a county farm planner, a salesman, and stock trader.  With his mother, Mildred, and, later, his wife Marjorie (Marge), he became a signficant donor to the University. 

The Richmonds contributed funds for, among other things, the endowment of the men's head basketball coach, the Richmond Gallery at the Alice Campbell Alumni Center, the Richmond Studio, and the restoration of the Champaign County Courthouse clock tower. 

He is buried in Mount Hope Cemetery with his wife and mother, directly south of the campus he cared for so much.