Chen, who attended the academy in the mid-1990s, is one of its many alumni who went on to make their names in Silicon Valley and the tech industry. The roster of alumni donors includes Mike McCool, one of Netscape's earliest employees; Sam Yagan, the co-founder of local startup accelerator program TechStars Chicago (formerly Excelerate Labs) and current chief executive of Match.com; and Jessica Droste Yagan, who works at McDonald's USA as director of sustainable supply. (The Yagans met in high school.)