Winner
Lifetime Achievement award winner
As the head of a leading financial services firm, Jim Tyree leads by example, demonstrating his high standards and dedication to transparency. He believes in going to great lengths to do what’s best for clients by not only providing high-quality products and services but by doing so within the context of long-term relationships built on trust and integrity.
While Tyree works between 80 and 100 hours a week, he includes time to provide leadership to numerous corporate, civic and nonprofit organizations whose work he believes in and enjoys. Examples include: Executives’ Club of Chicago, Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce, Illinois State University Foundation, University of Chicago Hospitals, Mercy Home for Boys and Girls, and UCAN Chicago.
Tyree says there are six key areas as the foundation for his life: family, business, health care, education, kids and community. These six areas overlap and are interrelated, which is why he is able to leverage his efforts to have a positive impact in multiple areas. His work as chairman and CEO of Mesirow Financial is the foundation for much of his support, and his family provides the support that makes all of his efforts possible.
A diabetes sufferer for 25 years, Tyree has had to overcome many obstacles in his personal life, such as complications from the disease that left him temporarily blind at one point and almost dead at another. But Tyree doesn’t give up, and three years ago, he won the fight against diabetes after a successful kidney and pancreas transplant.
Tyree joined Mesirow Financial out of college and became the chairman and CEO in 1994. In that role, he has led the firm to unprecedented levels of growth, expanding the work force from 75 to 1,200 employees and increasing revenue more than tenfold in that time.
How to reach: Mesirow Financial, (312) 595-6000 or www.mesirowfinancial.com
