Gordon Segal ’60 (’93 P)

Design visionary and retail industry pioneer

Gordon Segal is cofounder and former chairman and CEO of Crate & Barrel, an internationally recognized, multichannel home furnishings retail chain. He led the company as CEO from 1962 until his retirement in 2008. Today, he is managing director of Prairie Management Group, a private investment firm.

Segal joined the Northwestern Board of Trustees in 1990 and became a life trustee in 2009. As a member of the Board’s Educational Properties Committee since 1990, and as chair from 1994 to 2017, he oversaw the planning of several Northwestern buildings—including the Kellogg Global Hub, Louis A. Simpson and Kimberly K. Querrey Biomedical Research Center, Patrick G. and Shirley W. Ryan Center for the Musical Arts, and Walter Athletics Center. He is a life member of the Kellogg Global Advisory Board and a member of the Northwestern University Libraries Board of Governors.

A former chairman of the National Retail Federation, Segal also serves on several civic boards, including the Art Institute of Chicago, the University of Chicago Medical Center, the Chicago History Museum, the Lyric Opera of Chicago, and Window to the World Communications, Inc.

In 2007, Segal was inducted into the World Retail Congress Hall of Fame. His other awards include the Retailing Hall of Fame at Texas A&M University, the American Furniture Hall of Fame, the Cooper-Hewitt Design Patron Award, House Beautiful magazine’s Giant of Design designation, and the National Retail Federation Gold Medal Award.

Segal earned a bachelor’s degree in business from Northwestern. He is married to Carole Browe Segal ’60 (’93 P), whom he met as a student at the University. She received the Northwestern Alumni Medal in 2008. The Segals have three children—Robert, Katie, and Christopher ’93 MBA. Their daughter-in-law, Karen Segal ’93 MBA, also graduated from Northwestern.