This article originally appeared in Crains

By Shia Kapos

The Illinois Humanities Council will honor stock-fund manager David Herro and his partner, Jay Franke, co-founder of the Chicago Dancing Festival, with the Public Humanities Award at the organization’s annual spring benefit luncheon in May.

“Jay and David have shown a true commitment to making the arts accessible to all audiences, and to using the humanities to enrich and inform their work,” Deborah Epstein, Humanities Council board chair, said in a release. “Through their philanthropy and leadership they have helped raise the profile of Chicago as a premiere cultural destination.”

Mr. Herro is a fund manager at Chicago-based Oakmark International Fund, which he founded in 1992. In 2010, Morningstar Inc. named him the international stock fund manager of the decade. He also serves as a board member for the Chicago Dancing Festival, the Economic Club of Chicago and for the Field Museum. He is a director of the Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago Foundation.

Mr. Franke is a professional dancer and the co-artistic director of the festival. He serves on the city’s Cultural Advisory Council and is on the board of directors for Chicago High School for the Arts, the leadership for the Kovler Diabetes Center and a trustee for the Museum of Contemporary Art.

The benefit luncheon is May 20 at the Palmer House Hilton.

News of the event comes on the heels of the Humanities Council announcing its new executive director.

Follow Shia on Twitter at @ShiaKapos.