HWS News
12 November 2025 • Service The Fix Family Honored for Service and Philanthropy
Robert C. Fix and Karen W. Fix P’15, P’17 receive the President’s Medal.
At the annual Cook Parents Circle Dinner in New York City last month, President Mark D. Gearan presented Robert C. Fix P’15, P’17 and Karen W. Fix P’15, P’17 with the President’s Medal, recognizing their remarkable service, advocacy and philanthropy on behalf of Hobart and William Smith.
The honor celebrates the Fix family’s deep and enduring commitment to the HWS community. Through their generosity, leadership and outreach, the Fixes have strengthened HWS’ reach in the Midwest and created lasting opportunities for students.
Gearan cited a record of service that includes establishing in 2018 the endowed HWS Chicago Scholarship, which provides permanent financial aid for students from the greater Chicago area; creating the Fix Family Center for Teaching and Learning Fund and hosting numerous HWS events in Chicago that connect alumni, parents, prospective students and friends of HWS together. Robert has also created professional pathways by hiring HWS interns and graduates at William Blair & Company, the Chicago-based wealth advisory firm where he is a partner. Importantly, the couple served as members and co-chairs of the Parents Executive Committee, fostering a culture of engagement and support among HWS families.
“Hobart and William Smith is fundamentally better, stronger and more connected because of the enduring devotion of Bob and Karey Fix,” said Gearan. “Their generosity of spirit, their commitment to student success and their unwavering belief in the mission of Hobart and William Smith embody the highest ideals of community leadership.”
For Robert, who has sent children and grandchildren to six different U.S. colleges including the University of Vermont, Arizona State University, Miami University in Ohio, the University of Iowa and the University of Colorado, Hobart and William Smith stands apart.
“If I ever had to go back to college, or if I had to do it all over, I would go there in a second,” he says. “Compared to the other schools my kids attended, Hobart and William Smith makes them seem like an adversarial grind.”
He recalls that his sons, William R. Fix ’15 and J. Keenan Fix ’17, were “enriched by the ecosystem at HWS.”
The family’s HWS story began almost by chance, when William's high school organized a tour of East Coast colleges. HWS was the first stop, and he was immediately taken with the campus. “That’s the kind of college experience I want,” he told his parents afterward.
To help others experience that same connection, the Fixes began hosting the Chicago Celebration, a dinner bringing together prospective students, families, alumni and campus leaders. On Wednesday, Nov. 12, President Gearan will join them for the ninth annual event at The Racquet Club of Chicago.
Robert says his involvement with HWS grew organically from the positive relationships he and Karen developed within the community. “My mission was essentially to get Hobart and William Smith more exposure so that people could learn about this wonderful gem,” he says. “Then it was to do all we could to make it accessible. Our country is filled with bright young people who need help to afford a college experience like this.”
The Chicago Celebration, Robert says, was inspired by the Cook Parents Circle, founded in 2012 by Honorary Trustee Lang Cook P’99, P’05, L.H.D. ’12 and Lyn Cook P’99, P’05 to encourage philanthropy among non-alumni parents. Membership begins at a lifetime giving level of $25,000, with additional recognition for gifts exceeding $100,000. Today, the Circle includes 223 members – nine of whom are parents of current students – who gather each fall in New York City for the annual dinner hosted by the Cooks.
The Fixes have built a similar spirit of community in the Midwest. “I always attribute leadership as a critical element to any institution or organization, and I don’t think I’ve ever met a better leader than President Mark Gearan,” Robert says. “He and his wife Mary possess a warmth and confidence that inspire connection and collaboration.”
The Fixes take special pride in the students they have helped along the way, including HWS interns and graduates who have launched successful careers at William Blair & Company. Mathematics major Cody Roberts '20 is one example.
“One of them has been with me for nearly 10 years,” Robert says. “Cody started as an intern from New Hampshire, and my wife and I even gave him an apartment free of charge. He came back summer after summer and eventually joined us full time.”
For the Fix family, that kind of personal connection captures the essence of Hobart and William Smith.
Top: President Mark D. Gearan presents Robert C. Fix P’15, P’17 and Karen W. Fix P’15, P’17 with the President’s Medal at the annual Cook Parents Circle Dinner in October.
