Susan Crown

Philanthropist & Business Executive, Chairman & CEO , Owl Creek Partners

About This Expert

Susan Crown is a philanthropist and business executive with a strategic, results-oriented approach. She is Chairman and Founder of the Susan Crown Exchange (SCE) and Chairman and CEO of Owl Creek Partners.

For nearly three decades, Susan Crown dedicated time and talent to social causes and the business world. As Partner of Henry Crown & Co, she helped manage businesses as diverse as oil and gas, defense, banking, cellular technology, and real estate. As Chairman of the Crown Family Philanthropies, she professionalized an ad hoc family process and spearheaded numerous initiatives including the celebrated Crown Fountain in Millennium Park and the Covenant Awards for leaders in Jewish education.

The first woman board member of Illinois Tool Works (ITW) – a multi-faceted manufacturing and engineering business with a market cap in excess of $30B – Ms. Crown now chairs its Executive Committee. She’s also a board member of The Northern Trust Corporation and a former board member of Baxter International.

Ms. Crown serves as Vice-Chair of Rush University Medical Center. She led a $1 billion effort to transform the medical center campus, including the development of Chicago’s first gold level LEED-certified hospital which in 2014 won the World Architecture Prize for best designed health care facility. She’s a former Fellow of Yale Corporation and co-chaired the Yale Tomorrow Campaign. She’s a director of CARE USA and, in 2011, co-chaired its National Conference on Global Poverty, which led to legislative reforms.

Susan Crown graduated with honors with a B.A. from Yale University, earned an M.A. from New York University, and attended the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University. She lives with her husband, William Kunkler, in Chicago, IL. They have two children.