 Continued funding was secured from the state legislature in 1977 by way of a campaign by current and former students of the school organized by Corbally.Corbally was elected to the board of directors of the Chicago-based MacArthur Foundation in 1979.He later resigned his position at the University of Illinois to become the first president of the foundation, serving from 1979–89, after which he remained on the board of directors, and as chairman of the board from 1995 to 2002.