Famed Chicago investor and philanthropist Richard H. Driehaus, founder of the boutique asset management firm Driehaus Capital Management, died of natural causes Tuesday at age 78, according to a press release issued by the firm late Wednesday.

Driehaus founded his namesake active growth management firm in 1982 and it had grown to oversee $13.2 billion in assets by the end of February. Driehaus’s investment style focused on small and midcap stocks with high growth potential. His style often earned him the sobriquet, “the father of momentum investing.” This involves looking at price and earnings signals suggesting that a continuing market trend will continue. Various authors disagree about whether Driehaus was actually the first to pursue the strategy, but the title stuck.

In 2000, Barron’s named Driehaus as part of its “All-Century Team” of the 25 most influential individuals in the mutual fund industry over the last century. In its bio of the money manager, the magazine said, “He focuses keenly on earnings growth and trades his portfolio relentlessly to get it.”

That approach continues at the firm: The Driehaus Small Cap Growth Investor fund, rated five stars by Morningstar, has a 206% turnover and a three-year return of 33.39%. Driehaus Microcap Growth Fund had a 38.64% total return over five years and also enjoys a five-star rating.

In late 2006, Driehaus spoke to Financial Advisor and made what now look like prescient statements about the coming financial crisis. In explaining why he was seeking more aggressive growth opportunities abroad, he worried about a slowdown hitting the U.S. in 2007, and said the economy was going to have to deal with an oversupply of housing.

"There's been a lot of speculation,” he said, “and a lot of people that own homes have withdrawn money from equities and now their home values are flat or falling. That creates economic consequences for financial institutions and those who bought the mortgages. These things don't correct in three to six months."

Driehaus was also known as a philanthropist, giving to his alma mater of DePaul University, where he got his M.B.A. In 2002, he helped DePaul establish the Driehaus Center for Behavioral Finance. Ten years later, he gave the university's business school $30 million.

The Richard H. Driehaus Foundation and the Richard H. Driehaus Charitable Lead Trusts give away more than $5 million per year, says Driehaus Capital. They support programs “that help working people avoid poverty.” They also support the arts, “including design and architecture, fashion, theatre, music and dance,” landscape design and beautification, and small museums and cultural centers.

Driehaus was born and raised in Chicago. According to his bio, after graduating he started his career at A.G. Becker. He worked from 1973 to 1979 at brokerage firms including Mullaney, Wells & Co. and Jesup & Lamont. He formed Driehaus Securities Corporation, a brokerage, in 1979 before launching the current firm in 1982.

“Richard led a life of zest and intellectual curiosity. His path and personal story were larger than life, and the impact he made as an investor is perhaps only rivaled by the extensive legacy he left as a philanthropist,” said Driehaus President and CEO Steve Weber. “Our thoughts are with his daughters Tereza, Caroline and Kate, his sisters Dorothy and Elizabeth, and his extended family. Richard will be dearly missed by all who were fortunate enough to know him.”

Driehaus Capital said in the statement that it remains an employee-led independent investment advisor indirectly owned by trusts established in 2011 to manage Richard Driehaus’s estate.