Mark your calendar for Friday, December 18, as we will honor Erich Hunker ’81 with the 2026 Alumni Service Award and Marty Nesbitt ’81 as the 2026 Distinguished Alumnus at our annual Holiday Luncheon! This year's event will again take place at The Grand Event Center at Grandview Yard with refreshments at 11:30 a.m., followed by lunch and the program at noon.
Distinguished Alumnus Award – Marty Nesbitt ’81
Marty is a founding partner and Co-CEO of The Vistria Group, a private investment firm that seeks to deliver both financial returns and societal impact. With more than $17 billion in AUM, The Vistria Group delivers attractive returns and positive outcomes for the lives and livelihoods its portfolio companies support.
Prior to founding The Vistria Group, Marty served as CEO of The Parking Spot, an operator of off-airport parking facilities. He conceptualized and co-founded the company and was responsible for all strategic and operating aspects of the company. Marty also served as an officer of the Pritzker Realty Group, L.P., the real estate group primarily responsible for the Pritzker family business interests. He also served as Equity Vice President and Investment Manager at LaSalle Partners.
In his various leadership capacities, Marty has been successful at guiding executive teams toward exceeding goals, maximizing investment returns and trailblazing on the importance of diversity and equity in the workplace.
Marty currently serves on the Board of Directors of American Airlines Group and Chewy, Inc. He serves as Trustee of Chicago’s Museum of Contemporary Art and Chairman of the Barack Obama Foundation. He previously served as Chairman of the Board of the Chicago Housing Authority and the Chicago 2016 Olympic Committee and was Treasurer of President Barack Obama’s 2008 and 2012 presidential campaigns.
Marty has an MBA from the University of Chicago and a BA and honorary doctorate from Albion College.
Alumni Service Award – Erich Hunker ’81
From 1991 to 2024, Erich Hunker ’81 was the Assistant Head of School for Development and External Relations. Overseeing fundraising, alumni relations, parent relations, marketing and communications as well as serving on the Leadership Team and as the school’s COVID Response Team leader, it is fair to say Erich impacted most aspects of school life during his time at CA. Over those 25 years, the areas of responsibility he led witnessed remarkable growth and development, and he was a tremendous ambassador for all things Columbus Academy.
Erich would be the first to tell you that what he loved most during his years at CA were the relationships he built with alumni, students (especially his advisories), parents and his colleagues.
This was evident when after leaving the Academy in June of 2024 to assume the role of CEO at Columbus Humane, he was diagnosed with breast cancer later that fall. Erich resigned from this leadership position in April 2025 as he was in the midst of cancer treatments. He has often said that the Academy community’s support of him, along with that of his family, carried him to a successful recovery.
Today, Erich is the Executive Director of Dreams on Horseback, a thriving equine therapeutic riding and education center in Blacklick, Ohio, where in 2025 children and adults spent over 35,000 hours participating in the center’s programming. He and his wife of 34 years, Mary, live in New Albany and are the proud parents of CA grads Samantha ’16 and Ryan ’20.