April 15, 1999
EVANSTON, Ill. - Eric Gleacher, a 1962 Northwestern graduate, has been named a recipient of this year's College Golf Foundation's Rolex Achievement Award. The announcement was made this morning by the College Golf Foundation, which also honored former Wake Forest women's golfer Elizabeth Daniels.
In recognition of the award, Rolex Watch U.S.A. and the College Golf Foundation will donate $2,500 to the Northwestern golf program. The Rolex Achievement Award honors former collegiate golfers, male and female, who have achieved excellence in their chosen career (outside of golf) and in doing so, have made a special contribution to society.
On April 22, 1998, Northwestern University announced a $6.1 million donation by Gleacher to create a state-of-the-art indoor golf facility and to endow the men's and women's golf programs. The Gleacher Golf Center was completed in January 1999 and includes a teaching area with four permanently mounted digital video cameras, a 2,056 square foot pitching and putting green, a 280 square foot sand bunker and a player locker area with 18 custom made wood lockers for club storage.
Gleacher is the chairman and chief executive officer of Gleacher NatWest, an international investment banking firm. He also is an accomplished competitive golfer. Gleacher won the Metropolitan (N.Y.) Golf Association Junior Championship in 1957 and was a member of the Western Illinois University golf team which won the NAIA championship in 1959, his freshman year. Gleacher then transferred to Northwestern where he earned a golf scholarship his junior and senior years. Soon after service as a lieutenant in the U.S. Marine Corps (1963-66), Gleacher won the first of his 15 club championships. He has claimed titles at Shinnecock (N.Y.), Baltusrol (N.J.), Deepdale (N.Y.), Maidstone (N.Y.), Montclair (N.J.) and National Golf Links of America (N.Y.).
Gleacher was elected to the USGA Executive Committee in 1996. He qualified for the 1997 and 1998 USGA Senior Amateur Championships and, last year, tied for seventh at the British Senior Open Amateur Championship.