Rockhurst University Leadership Series: Jim McKelvey

Jim McKelvey is best known for co-founding Square, now called Block; a trustee of Washington University, now called WashU; and former Chair of the St. Louis Federal Reserve. McKelvey is also an artist/designer who authored the world’s top textbook on glassblowing. His industrial designs are in both the Smithsonian and Museum of Modern Art. He co-founded Third Degree Glass Factory, one of the top centers for glass artwork. McKelvey’s current projects include creating the world’s first plastic-free diaper and radically increasing the speed at which drugs are tested and approved. He and his wife, Anna, are giving away their entire multi-billion-dollar fortune. Also during the event, Rockhurst University will honor the recipients of the 2026 Rashford-Lyon Award for Leadership and Ethics, the Dunn family. For more than a century, the family’s business, J.E. Dunn Construction, has left an identifiable mark on Kansas City and beyond, both as one of the nation’s largest general contractors and through the family’s philanthropic efforts. The company’s longtime CEO, Bill Dunn Sr., is a 1946 graduate of Rockhurst. He and his late wife, Jean, gave each of their sons the gift of a Jesuit education at Rockhurst as they prepared to help lead the family company: Bill Jr., ’70, ’82 EMBA; Terry, ’71; Steve, ’74; Kevin, ’80; and Bob, ’83, ’90 MBA. Those members of the family, along with their spouses, will be honored as part of the event.