Shaun Finnie ’95 MBA left oil and gas law in Canada for Wall Street, helped build a Houston investment banking office from scratch and still can’t stop talking about a sunny walk he took along Lake Michigan 32 years ago.
“I went to the school on a Friday, and it was like God was delivering a message,” he says. “It was a beautiful, sunny day, and I went for a walk along the lake. It had these perfect views of downtown Chicago. I walked away from there and told my wife, ‘I’ve found my home.’”
Since his first visit to Evanston, he knew Kellogg was the place for him. Over the years, he has dedicated countless hours to sharing the joys of Kellogg and Northwestern with as many young people as possible. As a Kellogg admissions volunteer, a member of the Pete Henderson Society, a former member of the Kellogg Alumni Council and a member of the board of advisers for Northwestern’s Bienen School of Music, he is a prominent figure both on and off campus and the winner of the 2025 Wade Fetzer Award.
“He’s so passionate about Northwestern, it just makes sense that he would be receiving an award for Northwestern,” says Caitlin Finnie ’16, Shaun’s eldest daughter and a graduate of Bienen.
Championing Kellogg graduates
Since graduating from Kellogg, he has seen immense success as an investment banker, even though he took a nonlinear path to his current role. Before he was a partner at Evercore, Shaun worked in oil and gas mergers and acquisitions for 16 years at various firms in both the U.S. and Canada. Prior to Kellogg, he earned a law degree at the University of Western Ontario and then practiced oil and gas law in Calgary, Canada.
He joined Evercore in 2011 and helped build the Houston office from the ground up, recruiting heavily from Kellogg along the way. “A big part of the culture at Evercore is being collaborative, being a team player,” Shaun says. “And that’s why we have tremendous success hiring from Kellogg.” Shaun is dedicated to creating Kellogg alumni networks across industries.
“To say Shaun is a loyal person would be an understatement,” says Santiago Garavito ’12 MBA, a managing director at Evercore. Shaun values Kellogg graduates for their consistency, well-roundedness, and excellent communication and collaboration skills, and he works hard to ensure success for as many of them as possible.
He often hosts panels in the lobby of Evercore, as well as an annual lunch for new grads who move to Houston and a yearly dinner for prospective students. “I try to do anything I can to help the school, especially to help young people interested in Kellogg really see the difference it can make in their lives,” Shaun says. “The more people see the Kellogg culture in action, the more passionate they’re going to be about going to Kellogg.”
A ‘Poster Boy’ for Kellogg
As Shaun transitions into a “semi-retired” phase of his career, he continues to use the guiding principles he learned at Kellogg to influence his actions amid global uncertainties and set an example for new Kellogg grads. “There are a lot of external factors in the world I can’t control,” Shaun says. “All I can control is how I behave, how I conduct myself and how my team conducts themselves.”
In 2025, Kellogg presented Shaun with the Wade Fetzer Award, which recognizes outstanding dedication and loyalty in support of the Kellogg alumni community. And while he is grateful for the honor, Shaun insists that his contributions are a direct result of the school’s emphasis on teamwork. “When Dean Francesca Cornelli or others think about an example of what we hope Kellogg graduates look like, what we want Kellogg alumni to do, I hope they can point to me as one of those examples.”
Creating lasting impact
Discover how this year’s Wade Fetzer Award winner continues to make a positive impact at Kellogg and Northwestern.