Lawrence Levy

Lawrence Levy General Information

Biography

Mr. Lawrence Levy is the Chairman of Levy Restaurants and the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of The Levy Organization. He also is a Co-Founder at Diversified Real Estate Capital. He is also the Founder and serves as Managing Partner at Levy Family Partners. He is currently employed at Chicagoland Entrepreneurial Center, Investment Arm, and Illinois Innovation Accelerator Fund. He founded Levy Restaurants in 1978. Mr. Levy served as the Chief Executive Officer of Levy Restaurants until December 2003. Since its founding in 1978, he has built Levy Restaurants into a dynamic culinary and hospitality business known nationwide for award-winning restaurants, and as the innovator and market leader of sports and entertainment dining. With his guiding creativity, Levy Restaurants has blossomed from a single delicatessen in Chicago into a specialized food service organization with a network of internationally acclaimed restaurants, the leading market share of high-end sports and entertainment facilities throughout North America and England, and a new growth initiative in resort and hotel dining. Mr. Levy's commitment to excellence and passion for quality in each of the business groups has made Levy Restaurants one of the fastest-growing foodservice companies in America. His vision for real estate has also guided many of Chicago's major real estate projects in the last three decades including One Magnificent Mile, Woodfield Lake Office Campus, Waterfall Glen Office Park, Chicago Mercantile Exchange Center, and Butterfield Center for Business. He and his wife Mrs. Carol also founded the Levy Institute of Entrepreneurial Practice at Kellogg Graduate School of Management. Mr. Levy was the Chairman of the Chicago Chapter of the Young Presidents Organization, and is currently on the Board of Directors of Burrell Communications, Northern Trust's Hedge Fund, and the Chicago Central Area Committee. Serving the community, he is a Director of the Chicagoland Association of Commerce and Industry, a Member of the Board of Advisors of Northwestern's Kellogg Graduate School of Management, a Member of the Board of Trustees of the Lincoln Park Zoo and Northwestern Memorial Hospital Foundation. Mr. Levy also served on the Rhodes Scholarship Selection Committee for six years, later acting as its Chairman. He received St. Coletta's Crystallus Award in recognition of the company's charitable contributions nationwide and the Torch of Liberty Award from the Anti-Defamation League. Mr. Levy has been recognized by his industry and peers with numerous awards including the 1999 IFMA Gold Plate Award as Restaurateur of the Year in the United States as well as the Ivy Award, the restaurant industry's Academy Award, in 1992 for Spiaggia, for Bistro 110 in 1993, and in 2003, the Sports & Entertainment Group received the first Ivy Award ever given to a sports and entertainment foodservice company. Mr. Levy was awarded the prestigious Northwestern University Alumni Award in 1982, the Kellogg School's Shaffner Award in 2003, and was honored by the creation of an annual student enterprise, which funds The Larry Levy Entrepreneur Scholarships at Kellogg Graduate School of Management. Most recently, Sports Business Journal included Mr. Levy in its ranking of the "20 Most Influential People in Sports Facilities". His commitment to Chicago and its ongoing development continues through his varied personal and professional contributions to Chicago's business and charitable communities. In 2001, Mr. Levy received Ernst & Young's Master Entrepreneur of the Year Award in Illinois. St. Louis-born, his love for Chicago was inspired and cultivated during his days at Northwestern University, where Mr. Levy received his B.S. in 1966 and his M.B.A. in 1967.