By: Dan Weissmann

December 13, 2004, Crain's Chicago Business

In 26 years as dean of Northwestern University's Kellogg School of Management, Donald P. Jacobs, the son of a baker from the West Side, turned an also-ran into one of the top business schools in the country. Retired as dean in 2001, Mr. Jacobs teaches at Kellogg and keeps an office in a building that now bears his name. His reading list:

Wall Street Journal. ''Corner columns first, and then I go in. I stay away from the markets until the end, or else I'll quit too soon.'' Likes the Chicago Tribune's take on stock listings: ''Quotes are underlined when it's a Chicago company.''

The Economist. ''The analysis is the best around for the popular press.''' Especially likes ''Survey''-in-depth breakdowns on big topics (''Digital Security,'' ''The Global Environment,'' ''Spain,'' ''The Car Industry''). Mr. Jacobs is tapping Survey material on the European Union for a course he'll start teaching in January.

Research publications from all 12 Federal Reserve districts. Web users can search studies online at www.frbsf.org/publications/fedinprint/index.html. Recent Chicago titles show range of subjects: ''Sibling similarities, differences and economic inequality,'' ''The dynamics of work and debt,'' ''Fiscal policy in the aftermath of 9/11.''

Studies from consulting firms on topics of interest. ''McKinsey just had a volume on China that was quite good.'' Some content is free with registration at www.mckinsey.com/ ideas; premium membership is $150 per year.

Summer reading-during a week or two of sailing in France-is all ''pulp and pop,'' recommended by crewmates.