Drake University has named its College of Business and Public Administration the Larry and Kathleen Zimpleman College of Business after former President, CEO and Chairman of Principal Financial Group Larry Zimpleman and his wife, Kathi, who are both Drake alumni.

The naming recognizes a decadeslong relationship between the Zimplemans and Drake as well as the couple’s multimillion-dollar philanthropic commitment to the university’s “The Ones” campaign. The support will enable the Zimpleman College of Business to pursue learning opportunities focused on corporate social responsibility and environmental, social and governance topics, a news release said.

It also plays into a broader vision at Drake to change the narrative around business education “to the point where business is a force for good, not just about making profits,” Larry Zimpleman told the Business Record.

Zimpleman said conversations about naming the college went on for the last several months, during which Drake President Marty Martin and the dean of the Zimpleman College of Business, Alejandro Hernandez, articulated the vision for Drake to lead in this space.

“What Kathi and I came to understand pretty quickly was that the vision they had for the business school aligned very well with the personal priorities that Kathi and I have tried to live out during our time here in Central Iowa, both at Principal and since we’ve been retired, and that is to be a good steward in all elements of both business and personal life,” Zimpleman said.

The vision recognizes that business schools should balance their curricula with courses focused on how to serve everyone a business touches, Zimpleman said.

“Business as a force for good, that is, certainly good for the shareholder. Making money is one of the reasons why you’re in business, but it’s not the only reason,” he said. “You’re there to serve your employees, you’re there to serve your customers, you’re there to serve the environment and the communities in which you operate.”

Zimpleman started working for Bankers Life Association, now Principal, as an actuarial intern in 1971, which is when he was first exposed to the company’s holistic mindset about a business’s purpose.

Starting as a mutual company helped embed the mission of “doing right by the customer” in the organization years before topics like ESG and CSR were defined and entered the mainstream, Zimpleman said.

“I probably didn’t fully appreciate in [the] ’70s, ’80s and ’90s how unique Principal was, but as I moved up in the organization and began to understand other companies, I began to understand how unique this was,” he said.

Martin said the goals stated in Drake’s mission statement to prepare graduates for meaningful personal lives, professional accomplishment and responsible global citizenship are evident in the Zimplemans’ personal and professional lives.

“They are people of compassion, kindness; they are dedicated, competent; they roll their sleeves up and get things done in service to others. … When we say what we’re trying to accomplish through [alumni], Larry and Kathi Zimpleman are exemplars of that,” Martin said.

Both from small eastern Iowa towns, Larry and Kathi Zimpleman received bachelor’s degrees from Drake in 1973 and 1976, respectively. Larry Zimpleman earned his MBA from Drake in 1979. When Zimpleman, the first in his family to attend college, decided in high school to become an actuary he searched for colleges alphabetically. Drake was the first school he found to offer an actuarial science program.

His studies at Drake prefaced a 45-year career at Principal, which included various leadership roles before serving as president and CEO from 2008 to 2015.

The couple’s connection with Drake has endured throughout their lives after graduation and Larry Zimpleman’s career at Principal. They have invested in a number of programs and initiatives at Drake, including the Harkin Institute, the Ray Promenade and Drake’s international programs.

Larry Zimpleman has served on the Drake board of trustees since 2006, including time as board chair and as co-chair of the distinctlyDrake comprehensive campaign. He also strengthened Principal’s relationship with Drake while serving as CEO through support like the company’s investment in the Principal Center for Global Citizenship at Drake University.

Martin said the Zimplemans’ support to further initiatives around corporate responsibility aligns well with Drake’s current comprehensive campaign, The Ones, and specifically the Every Bulldog a Changemaker initiative.

“[The initiative] is grounded in the proposition that you can do well while doing good, and we most certainly have a lot of opportunity to do that in the world of business because of the impact that it has on all of our lives,” he said.

Drake worked last year to better understand what its current and prospective business students value, and the answers were clear, Martin said.

“They’re very interested in the work of business and they want to roll their sleeves up and apply their knowledge and skills to help an enterprise prosper, and they’re looking for that to have real meaning in their lives to connect with their own values to be able to live those out in the work that they’re doing for whatever company they’re working on behalf of,” he said.

The Zimplemans’ gift marks an acceleration of the college’s work led by Hernandez, who came to Drake in 2020 from a role leading corporate responsibility efforts at Wells Fargo.

“This has been a passion of his for a long time, and that’s one of the reasons that he was so attractive to us,” Martin said. “He’s really exerted a great deal of leadership in the college on this topic and been enthusiastically received by our colleagues and our students.”

Another goal of the curriculum at the Zimpleman College of Business moving forward will be engaging and involving Central Iowa businesses, many of which are facing a need for talent, Zimpleman said.

“I can see a lot more opportunity for Central Iowa business leaders like Dan Houston or Mike McCoy or many others that I think about to come in and be involved with students in the College of Business,” he said. “There’s a hundred different ways that this could happen, but the point is to drive a deeper relationship between the College of Business and Central Iowa businesses and Central Iowa business leaders to allow them greater access to talent.”

Zimpleman said when he was growing up he was not a person someone would have picked out to be a future CEO, but “by the grace of God, I found my way to Drake.”

“[This] is not really about Larry and Kathi, although we have tried in our personal life as well as our business life to live out these values, which we didn’t create, but these are values that we inherited,” he said. “We were shown over all the years by others at Principal, so that’s really what’s working here, and we’re forever grateful.”