Kirk Farney has been a member of the Thrivent Board of Directors since 2011. He serves as vice chair, and previously chaired the Strategy committee.
He also serves on the Executive committee. Farney brings a wealth of educational, financial and business experience to the board, which helps ensure Thrivent remains strong and stable and is well-positioned to help people achieve financial clarity and lead full lives.
He currently serves as vice president for advancement, vocation and alumni engagement at Wheaton College in Illinois. In that role, Farney oversees alumni and parent relations, development, planned giving, the college’s career center, media relations, marketing communications and advancement services. Additionally, he holds faculty rank in Wheaton’s history department. Farney spent more than 25 years as an international banker with J.P. Morgan Securities, most recently as managing director and global head of Asset-Backed Finance.
He graduated with honors from the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign, where he received a Bachelor of Science in finance and agricultural economics. He earned a Master of Business Administration in marketing from the J.L. Kellogg Graduate School of Management at Northwestern University, a Master of Arts in theological studies from Wheaton College, and a Master of Arts in history and a doctorate in American religious history from the University of Notre Dame. He is the author of Ministers of a New Medium: Broadcasting Theology in the Radio Ministries of Fulton J. Sheen and Walter A. Maier (IVP Academic, 2022).
Farney has served in various offices at his church, St. John’s Lutheran Church in La Grange, Illinois. Throughout his career, he has held leadership positions with a variety of ecclesiastical, educational and human care organizations, including service on the boards of Concordia University Chicago, Wheaton College Alumni Association, Wheat Ridge Ministries (now We Raise Foundation), and Lutheran Hour Ministries.
Farney, his wife, Cheryl, and their family reside in Hinsdale, Illinois.
About
For over 120 years, Thrivent has been helping people build their financial futures and live more generous lives. Today, Thrivent is a Fortune 500 diversified financial services organization committed to providing advice, investments, insurance, banking and generosity programs and solutions to help people make the most of all they’ve been given.
For the last 12 years, Thrivent has been named as one of the World’s Most Ethical Companies® by Ethisphere. As of Dec. 31, 2022, Thrivent had $162 billion in assets under management and advisement, and total revenue of $9.4 billion.