Northeastern Illinois University announced today it will rename its college of education after one of its former students, Illinois REALTOR® Daniel L. Goodwin, principal and chairman for the Inland Real Estate Group, Inc., of Oak Brook.

The school noted Goodwin has already provided the school a $1 million grant and pledged to match donations during the next three years of up to $1.5 million more. He is the first to have a college named after him at Northeastern.

The dedication of the Daniel L. Goodwin College of Education will come in January 2016, to kick off a fundraising campaign.

Goodwin was a member of the first freshman class to attend Northeastern at the St. Louis Avenue campus in Chicago, later graduated and became a Chicago public school science teacher. He’s served on the Northeastern Board of Trustees, and was its chairman from 1996 to 2006. He is the first and only alumnus to serve on the Board of Governors of Illinois State Colleges and Universities.

On Oct. 17, a ribbon-cutting ceremony was held at Benedictine University in Lisle for the grand opening of Daniel L. Goodwin Hall, a four-story, 125,000-square-foot building that’s home for undergraduate and graduate business programs. The building was named for the vice chair of Benedictine’s board of trustees who provided the “lead gift” for the project.

On Oct. 15, Goodwin and his company made a $200,000 donation to the DuPage County Historical Museum to help get the roof repaired. According to a story in MySuburbanLife.com, the project was supposed to cost more than $600,000, but Goodwin suggested a change in materials that reduced the cost by almost $130,000.

On Sept. 30, the National Association of REALTORS® selected Goodwin as one of five recipients of REALTOR® Magazine’s Good Neighbor Award winners.

Also, he is a member of the NAR RPAC Investors Hall of Fame.