Christopher Wilmont Vickrey

Chris was born in Harvey, Illinois in 1961. He attended Homewood Flossmoor High School, where he forged many lifelong friendships. A student with an insatiable curiosity about foreign cultures and mathematics, Chris obtained BA/MA degrees in economics from Boston University and an MBA in finance from Columbia University. He also studied at Waseda University in Tokyo, where he became fluent in Japanese.

Chris started his career in Manhattan in Capital Markets at Manufacturers Hannover Trust (now JP Morgan/Chase) and eventually led the bank’s emerging markets group in Tokyo, where he refined his Japanese mannerisms and love for sake and karaoke. Chris’ never-ending quest for new adventures and intellectual pursuits led to extensive travel in Asia (including a visit to Peshawar during the Soviet/Afghan War) which resulted in a scholarly treatise on the region. In 2001, Chris returned to the U.S., where he joined MSA Partners, a Manhattan consulting company serving Japanese clients; he led MSA from 2004 until his semiretirement in 2023.

Chris made frequent visits to Japan to see his son, Kenzo, as well as friends and clients. He cherished the many close friends he developed at and through MSA and treasured their friendship until his last days. He also traveled with Kenzo throughout the U.S. and enjoyed returning to Chicago to see his family and his H-F friends. In addition to his son, Chris is survived by siblings Melinda (Golub), Texanne (Corrigan), David, Paul, and many nieces and nephews. Chris died on September 28, 2026 in the Park Slope neighborhood of Brooklyn, where he lived for the past 25 years. There will be a memorial service in New York at a later date to be announced.