“Things You Don’t Measure

in Dollars and Cents”

The Yale Endowment

2021
Endowment Highlights

Fiscal Year 2021 2020 2019 2018 2017

Market Value (in millions) $42,282.9 $31,201.7 $30,314.8 $29,351.1 $27,176.1

Return 40.2% 6.8% 5.7% 12.3% 11.3%

Spending (in millions) $ 1,511.8 $ 1,437.3 $ 1,354.7 $ 1,281.0 $ 1,225.8

Operating Budget Revenues $ 4,543.8 $ 4,273.2 $ 4,181.4 $ 3,874.9 $ 3,692.2
(in millions)
Endowment Percentage 33.3% 33.6% 32.4% 33.1% 33.2%

Endowment Fund Allocation Operating Budget Revenue

Fiscal Year 2021 Fiscal Year 2021
Other Incomes
and Transfers
Financial Aid Undesignated Gifts
Tuition,
Room & Board Endowment

Teaching Miscellaneous
and Research Specific Purposes Medical
Services

Grants and Contracts

Facilities and Operations

Endowment Market Value 1950–2021

$50

$40

$30
Billions

$20

$10

$0
1950 1955 1960 1965 1970 1975 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000 2005 2010 2015 2020

Fiscal Year
contents Introduction 3
The Biography 4
A Unique Record of Achievement 10
The Yale Model 12
An Impact Beyond Yale 14
Yale 1985–2021 18
Colleagues Remember 22
Swensen’s Campus 27
Recognition 28
Management and Oversight 30

1
introduction David F. Swensen, Yale University’s Chief Investment Officer
from 1985 until his death in May 2021, had a unique impact on
the university, the world of institutional investment, his close
circle of family and friends, and on every member of the Yale
Investments Office who was privileged to serve under his lead-
ership. His accomplishments were celebrated and unprece-
dented, his example and teaching were an inspiration, and his
loss is strongly felt.
This special issue of the Yale Endowment Report, a pub-
lication he initiated in 1990, is a tribute to David that we hope
will resonate with all who knew him.

Left: Portrait of David Swensen, by Alastair

Adams pprp, from Swensen House,
Berkeley College.

Below: David Swensen with his parents,

Richard D. Swensen, Ph.D., and Grace
Hartman Swensen, b.a., m.div.

3
 the biography In 1955, a couple named Richard and Grace Swensen moved to River
Falls, Wisconsin, a college town, with their one-year-old son David, who
had been born January 26, 1954, in Ames, Iowa. David’s father taught at
the University of Wisconsin at River Falls (uwrf) for the rest of his
“Things you career, as a Ph.D. professor of chemistry, like his own father before him,
and from 1969 to 1988 as Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences.
don’t measure Eventually David had five younger siblings, and all six Swensen children

in dollars attended the town’s public schools and the college, uwrf.
Life in the Swensen household was modest in material terms. The six
and cents” children occupied two bedrooms, all the way through college, and the
house had just one bathroom. But, as David Swensen would recall later,
“I learned from my parents that there are a lot of important things in life
you don’t measure in dollars and cents.”
The second son, Stephen Swensen, m.d., just a year younger than
David, recalls their childhood experiences and friendship that led to their
strong bond as adults. “I shared a bunkbed with David for two decades.
We would listen to Minnesota Twins games or Beatles music in the even-
ings on the radio. And the fate of the world during football season
seemed to be determined by the weekly performance of the Packers—Bart
Starr, Paul Horning, Max McGee—all on a small black-and-white cathode
ray tube TV. We would also wrestle—in the bedroom, in the rec room, in
the yard – until the day I ended up the winner. We never wrestled after
that day, but our friendly banter continued for the next half-century.
Looking back at our tussles, I believe there was actually much more affec-
tion than squabble.”
The kids had the run of River Falls, a town of about 5,000, where
everyone seemed to know everyone else, both downtown and on the
campus. “At Isaacson’s Grocery,” Stephen recalls, “there was a lined
green sheet of paper, and customers could sign for purchases for later
payment. We children had signing privileges, and the store owner knew
each of us. We could sign for a candy bar, and he’d nod—or an apple,
and then he’d smile. We were, in effect, raised by our parents and the
whole community.”
At home, Stephen said, “our parents set a lively intellectual tone,” and
“dinner-table talk was always about something. The subject might be
marijuana, the Vietnam war, a recycling program, politics, or what we
had done that day. Dad also had many practical science lessons for us.
David always found joy in this learning. He was just gifted intellectually,
skipped third grade, and always excelled.
“We received so much from our parents to broaden our understanding
of the world. They led cultural and international exchanges for decades
and promoted fine arts programs with artists from all over the country,
inviting people of different races, religions, and nationalities.” Their
mother Grace supported programs for an early wave of Vietnam war refu-
gee immigrants, at a time when small towns didn’t always welcome such
initiatives. She eventually became a Lutheran minister. Both parents set
community service as a responsibility, and were significant role models to
David, who in turn also influenced his siblings.
To further the children’s exposure to the world outside River Falls,
Richard and Grace took all six of them to Europe in 1970, where they
camped with a big canvas tent, backpacks, and sleeping bags. David
4
 spoke fluent German at the time and extended the trip with a home stay
and Gymnasium experience in Kulmbach.
During his college years at uwrf, David was on the Student Senate
and actively involved in campus issues. An article in The Student Voice, the
college publication, featured Student Senator David Swensen as some-
thing of a muckraker. “From someone who worked in the university food
service,” Steve recalls, “he found out that the cafeteria hamburgers had a
soy meal additive. He called them on it. It wasn’t that he was against
‘extenders’, but he objected to the fact that they hadn’t been transparent
about it. So, he appeared on the college magazine’s front page, holding a
‘tainted’ burger.” Stephen Swensen sees that sense of justice and honesty
as a hallmark of David’s approach to investing, in his career and “in his
book on personal investing, in which he didn’t hesitate to call out abuses
like conflicts of interest and disgusting ‘piggery.’”
In college, Swensen decided to change majors in his freshman year.
Charles H.C. Kao, a former professor and head of the Economics
Department at uwrf, remembers the strong impression made by
Swensen, a freshman in an introductory course in 1971-72. “He consis-
tently scored highest in every exam,” Kao stated, “and he was excited
about discovering macroeconomics. After the introductory economics
course, he announced he was changing his major from Math and
Chemistry—to Economics.” Investment was not part of the curriculum
Swensen studied at uwrf, but he was fascinated by international eco-
nomics subjects, especially issues of developing countries. “David was the
only student to whom I ever gave A’s in all four courses I taught,” Kao
said. “I was sure he would become an excellent teacher himself. But I also
thought he might end up in a prominent international position, such as
with the World Bank.”
Receiving the dual degrees of b.a. and b.s. from the University of
Wisconsin at River Falls in 1975, Swensen enrolled in the doctoral program
at Yale in economics. With Professors James Tobin (Nobel Laureate in eco-

David lettered in high school diving.

The family, from left to right: Richard, Carolyn,

Stephen, Grace, Linda, David, Jane, Daniel.
5
Charles Kao, economics professor at uwrf. David, with briefcase, off to school with his siblings.

nomics) and William Brainard as his advisers, he completed his Ph.D. dis-
sertation, “A Model for the Valuation of Corporate Bonds,” in 1980. Even
before obtaining his doctorate, however, he began his professional career,
in 1977, as an economist at the International Monetary Fund. He was active
at the imf in the preparation of a new publication, "Government Finance
Statistics Yearbook." In 1979 he started a six-year Wall Street career, first as
an associate in corporate finance for Salomon Brothers.
“At age twenty-seven he earned a permanent place in Wall Street his-
tory,” Forbes reported in 2005, “by inventing the derivative instrument
known as the swap. While working at Salomon Brothers, he spearheaded
a deal that allowed ibm to reverse currency exposure on some foreign
bonds by arranging to have the World Bank issue dollar-denominated
bonds with matching terms.” He next spent three years as senior vice
president at Lehman Brothers, engineering the firm's currency swap oper-
ations and developing new financial products.
In 1985, at the age of thirty-one, Swensen received a surprising offer
from Yale—to head investment operations for its then $1 billion endow-
ment. A pay cut of 80 percent was one of the unusual aspects of this Yale
position. Another was his lack of direct experience managing an institu-
tional endowment portfolio. “It might have looked like an odd choice, but
I didn’t have any anxieties about it,” said William C. Brainard, then the
Yale provost, after he and Professor James Tobin first proposed the
appointment. Both of these former mentors persuaded Swensen of their
confidence in his ability.
“I liked the competitive aspects of Wall Street,” he told the Yale Alumni
Magazine in 2005, “but—and I’m not making a value judgment here—it
wasn’t the right place for me because the end result is that people are try-
ing to make lots of money for themselves. That just doesn’t suit me.”
James Tobin, and William Brainard, who both Another strong argument must have been his fondness for Yale ever since
convinced David Swensen to run the he had first discovered the place as a graduate student in 1975: “I’d never
Endowment. met so many smart people who loved ideas, who liked to engage in intel-
6
Swensen’s educational and lectual debate.” He had lived campus life to the hilt, participating in
career timeline sports and other extracurricular activities and forming strong friendships
with everyone from undergraduates like his freshman advisee, Dean
Takahashi (b.a. 1980, mppm 1983), to Nobel laureate Tobin. In his men-
tor’s later years, friends observed Swensen shoveling snow from Tobin’s
driveway and delivering his Christmas tree.
Still, in 1985 the job as Yale’s Chief Investment Officer looked daunt-
ing. "I was dumbfounded about what to do," he recalled twenty years
later. He promptly hired his friend Takahashi, who remained the Yale
Investments Office second-in-command until his retirement in 2019 to
work on Yale-based environmental projects (the two colleagues also col-
laborated as teachers of classes on investment in Yale College and the
River Falls High School, Class of 1971
School of Management). In the acknowledgments section of his first
book, in 2000, Swensen would write: “The ideas and influence of Dean
Takahashi, my friend for twenty-three years and my colleague for twelve
years, touch every page of this book. In fact, the approach to investing I
describe here really represents joint intellectual property, formed through
more than two decades of spirited discussions of issues large and small.”
To get started, Swensen and Takahashi spent a year going through the
University Wisconsin River Falls,
b.a., b.s., Class of 1975
existing portfolio in detail while considering various approaches. They
drew on expertise at Yale, eagerly conducting talks with the likes of

Yale University Graduate

School of Arts & Sciences, Ph.D. 1980
Department of Economics

International Monetary Fund, 1977

Chief Investment Officer Swensen and Senior Director Dean Takahashi were also partners in the
Salomon Brothers, 1979 classroom. Swensen frequently quoted his mentor James Tobin as saying: “I love teaching Yale
undergraduates. I never fail to learn from them.” Starting in fall 1985 as a Lecturer, and continuing
with a Secondary Faculty appointment, Swensen regularly taught two Yale College courses,
assisted by Lecturer Takahashi. Hundreds each year attended their econ 251 class, “Portfolio
Theory and Financial Markets.” The course alternated, and was replaced in fall 1994, with econ
450, an annual seminar (limited to twenty participants at a time) called “Topics in Finance” and,
from 1997, “Investment Analysis.” The senior seminar continued through spring 2021. In addition,
as an affiliated faculty member at Yale School of Management, Swensen also co-taught courses
between 1997 and 2013, including “Institutional Funds Management” and “Endowment
Management.” With other faculty, he helped to establish Yale SOM’s Master’s Degree in Asset
Lehman Brothers, 1982
Management program.
7
Softball provides the Investments Office staff a Tobin, Brainard, then-dean of som Burton Malkiel, and Professor Roger
welcome break. The team, made up of full-time
office staff, interns, and family and friends, Ibbotson. Then they plunged in, testing the viability of portfolio theory
goes up against the other Yale units in friendly and their new orientation away from traditional asset classes (stocks and
competition. (From 2011 Endowment Report) bonds), spreading risk and emphasizing investments mostly new to
Yale across the securities spectrum, like buyouts, venture capital, absolute
return, international securities, real estate, timber, oil and gas. Thanks to
the principle of diversification, investments risky in their own right
proved successful in the right combination.
Beyond Yale, David was a thoughtful, trusted adviser to many. He served
many educational institutions, foundations, councils, and other organiza-
tions, as a consultant, board member, volunteer, and/or supporter.
“David Swensen,” as former Yale Investment Committee Chair Charles
D. Ellis wrote in 2000, “is a man with a deep sense of mission to serve….
Personally modest, in a sober Scandinavian way, Swensen is frequently
enthusiastic about the achievements of others.” And, he added, “Swensen
has made it fun to work on investing for Yale—recruiting a team of
exceptionally talented Yale graduates, who, in their first professional jobs,
get a wide exposure to the world of investing; early responsibility for
enquiry, analysis, and decisions; and an exemplary exposure to teamwork
at work.”
For Swensen, values always played an important role in the work. As Ellis
commented in 2000, “Swensen infuses the process of investing with a sense
8
Attending the Honorary Degrees Dinner, of the important mission of enabling Yale’s faculty, students, and administra-
Yale Center for British Art, during
Commencement weekend. tion to aspire and to achieve.” His brother, Dr. Stephen Swensen, spoke in
2014 of David Swensen’s “passion for giving back to an institution with a
higher purpose. He never aspired to more money or a higher position.”
As Swensen commented to the New York Times, he stayed at Yale
because the work gave him “a sense of mission.” “One of the things that I
care most deeply about,” he also told the paper, “is that notion that anyone
who qualifies for admission can afford to go to Yale, and financial aid is a
huge part of what the endowment does.”
His wife, Meghan McMahon, a 1987 Yale College graduate and ath-
lete, served as coach of women’s tennis at Yale from 1994 to 2001. Ms.
McMahon, Swensen’s three children (Tory, Alex, and Tim), his five
siblings, his mother, Grace Swensen, as well as many of his co-workers
at Yale University, received an outpouring of tributes and condolences
immediately after his death on May 5, 2021, a groundswell of recognition
of the man’s unparalleled accomplishments, his steadfast ideals, and a
life well lived.
His son Alex recalls: "He was an incredible motivational force to do
better, work harder, and ultimately be a better person, and he would not
hesitate to give me the reality check necessary to guide me down the
right path.”

9
 a unique record David F. Swensen’s leadership as Yale’s Chief Investment Officer from
1985 until 2021 had an extraordinary impact on the university’s endow-
of achievement ment value and hence on its financial stability and its ongoing pursuit of
uncompromising excellence. The endowment’s investment return during
his thirty-five-year tenure averaged an unprecedented 13.7 percent per
“He saw the annum, advancing from $1.3 billion on his arrival to $42.3 billion at the
close of the 2021 fiscal year.
world as it was; The support provided by endowment funds is widely considered to be
a key to the stability and prominence of major nonprofit institutions, par-
then he made ticularly the country’s major private colleges and renowned research uni-
versities. The academic standings of Yale, Harvard, Princeton, MIT and
it better” other prominent universities, as ranked in surveys and among peers,
show a strong correlation with the relative market value of their endow-
ments. For the past generation at least, Yale has consistently been among
the handful of universities topping both those scales: recognized academ-
ic distinction and proven financial strength.
As a student of economics, and of Yale’s economics, Swensen was
keenly aware of the damage caused by the inflation of the 1970s and the
need for the university’s investments to have a strong equity orientation.
In the 1990 Endowment Report, Swensen presented a numerical demon-
stration concerning an ongoing challenge to Yale’s purchasing power.
Even the strong market returns of the 1980s, he indicated, had been
insufficient to outweigh the inflation and bear markets of the 1970s along
with the university’s high spending rates. The FY 1990 endowment mar-
ket value of $2.6 billion, despite more than doubling in five years, still fell
$61 million short of the minimum that would have been needed by 1990
to outpace inflation. Strong endowment returns would be required to
ensure Yale’s long-term stability.
Results promptly confirmed that the challenge was being met: Yale’s
1995 results reflected an average annual return of 14.5 percent for the dec-
ade since 1985. In another milestone, the decade had shown an increase in
distributions to the operating budget from $66.6 million in FY 1986 to
$149.3 million in FY 1995, an annual growth rate of 12.4 percent. This
would remain the keynote in Yale’s financial fortunes for the rest of
Swensen’s tenure: strong annual returns increasing value, with steady
growth in the rates of support to university operations. By 2021 the total
market value of the endowment had advanced to a new high of $42.3 bil-
lion and provided 33.3 percent of budget spending (compared to 14.7 per-
cent in FY 1986).
His successful stewardship of Yale’s net worth for more than three dec-
ades was buttressed by disciplined adherence to core investment princi-
ples. Despite occasional downturns or spikes in Yale’s returns in certain
years, often reflecting broader shifts in the world economy, the
Investments Office and the Corporation Investment Committee have
maintained policies and practices geared to the long term, regularly
exceeding Yale’s own benchmarks as well as institutional indices. For the
thirty-year period ending June 30, 2021, the endowment’s investment per-
formance exceeded the mean return of the Cambridge Associates universe
by 4.1 percent annually. Compounded over thirty years, this represents an
incremental $47 billion for the university.
Results on this level came to fascinate the world of finance as well as
10
 higher education, as noted in press reactions, curricula in leading business
schools, and the reception of Swensen’s books about institutional and per-
sonal investing principles. He frequently appeared as a speaker or pan-
elist, won prestigious awards, and, hailed for his stewardship for the pre-
vious twenty-four years with “a record unequaled among institutional
investors,” he was appointed to President Barack Obama’s Presidential
Harvard University Economic Recovery Board in 2009.
$53.2 billion In David Swensen, Yale had an investment chief who was also
uniquely involved in the life of the institution, educated in its doctoral
program, active as a teacher, proud of Yale’s record of accomplishment
and committed to its unique standards. Above all, Swensen was always
aware of the essential link between resources and the university’s capac-
ity to pursue its role in the vanguard of research and educational institu-
tions. Working closely with the Yale Investment Committee as advisers,
he was guided less by mere numbers, important as they are, than by
Yale University service to the institution’s mission. He regularly stressed the necessity “to
$42.3 billion balance the demands of tomorrow against the needs of today” by provid-
ing “substantial levels of cash flow to the operating budget for current
scholars, while preserving endowment purchasing power for future gen-
erations.” His professional commitment to his work and to Yale was
acutely personal.
A leader of his scope and impact leaves a strong legacy. It seemed fit-
ting, and typical, that Swensen appeared, two days before his death,
alongside his longtime associate Dean Takahashi, to lead the 2021 spring
Stanford University term’s final meeting of their Yale College course Economics 450,
$37.8 billion “Investment Analysis.” The Yale Investments Office that they built and
led was also an organization with a significant educational component.
Students taught by Swensen were often awarded internships in the yio
and hired to regular positions after graduation. The yio staff reached a
total of twelve professionals by 1995, and thirty-two in 2021, of whom
twenty are Yale alumni. The 2020 Endowment Report included profiles
of fourteen yio “alumni,” former staff members of the Swensen office
who have moved on to head investment roles at financial firms, consult-
ing groups, museums, foundations, and, in higher education, at MIT,
Princeton University
Princeton, University of Pennsylvania, and Stanford University, among
$37.0 billion others. His teaching and mentorship became an aspect of his legendary
reputation, and a catalyst for sound practices and standards at Yale and
across the field of institutional investing.
The Financial Times called him “a rare ascetic, seemingly uninterested
in wealth even as he transformed the industry that manages it.” Yale
President Richard C. Levin, who worked with him for some thirty years,
called him “irreplaceable,” noting, “The superior performance of the
endowment made possible all that Yale has accomplished in the past
Massachusetts Institute thirty years.” And current Yale President Peter Salovey recalled Swensen
of Technology this way: “Pragmatic and visionary, analytical and compassionate, David
$27.4 billion Swensen saw the world as it was; then he made it better.”

The five leading American university endow-

ments in 2021. “Endowment size correlates
closely with institutional quality,” Swensen
stated in his book Pioneering Portfolio
Management. Source: Figures from online
reports by the respective universities. Rankings
by U.S. News, September 21, 2021.
11
 the yale model David Swensen, in the words of former Yale President Richard C. Levin,
“revolutionized the field of institutional investment management; his
influence is felt around the world.” Early in his Yale career he developed a
disciplined approach to investment which in his hands became a science
“The risk of and in some respects an art.
The investment philosophy, which came to be known as the Yale Model
being different” and sometimes the Endowment Model, was based on principles elaborated
by Yale economists whose works Swensen had studied closely—primarily
Nobel laureates Harry Markowitz and James Tobin.
The “modern portfolio theory,” developed by Markowitz in the 1950s,
was aimed at designing an ideal investment portfolio that will provide max-
imum returns by assuming optimal degrees of risk, based on the discipline
of mean-variance analysis. Tobin, Swensen’s adviser and mentor at Yale,
affirmed that asset allocation—rather than either market timing or individ-
ual security selection—is “the single most important investment decision”
and, as researchers have demonstrated, is responsible for over 90 percent of
the variance in institutional fund performance results. The teachings of
Markowitz and Tobin showed the weakness of the traditional portfolio
structure that dominated most universities’ investment policy since the
early twentieth century—nearly 40 percent fixed-income (e.g., bonds) and
60 percent domestic stocks.
The Yale Model depends on rigorous attention to risk analysis and to the
shifting proportions of individual asset classes in the endowment invest-
ment portfolio, proportions that change over time depending on market
factors and institutional requirements. Given the high inflation rate of uni-
versities and the need to ensure excellence and solvency in perpetuity, Yale’s
strategy relies on equity investments, broadly defined. This means that over
“A masterful work by the master himself,” 60 percent of the portfolio includes global equities and the illiquid asset
Harvard’s investment chief Jack R. Meyer called classes of leveraged buyouts, venture capital, real estate and natural
Swensen’s book. First published in 2000, the resources—“inefficient” asset classes in which active management can add
classic work on the Yale Model appeared in a
revised and expanded edition in 2009.
significant value. The model also leverages the perpetual character of
endowments to invest with longer-than-usual time horizons. In applying

Spending Growth Surpasses Inflation 1950–2021

$1,600

$1,400

$1,200

$1,000
Millions

$800

$600

$400

$200

$0
1950 1955 1960 1965 1970 1975 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000 2005 2010 2015 2020

1950 Spending Inflated Spending from Post-1950 Endowment Gifts Inflated Actual Spending
12
 its model, Yale relies on carefully selected investment managers to outper-
By focusing on less form market indices by applying exceptional research capabilities.
Swensen himself said that Yale willingly exposed itself to “the risk of
efficient markets, and being different”—and gained from it. The Yale Model has frequently been
cited as a role model by other investors pursuing private equity invest-
pursuing less liquid, ments, a key element in the unprecedented strong returns realized by Yale
value-oriented since 1985. The success of Yale’s program led to a 1995 Harvard Business
School case study, “Yale University Investments Office,” by Professors
opportunities, inves- Josh Lerner and Jay Light. Harvard frequently updated this popular case
study over the ensuing decades, most recently in November 2020, and
tors increase the odds Swensen traveled annually to Cambridge to teach the HBS course on the
of winning the loser’s Yale Model.
The university’s application of the model has other essential features that
game.…Markets contribute to its success. One is the spending rule, which balances two
with inefficiently competing objectives—to provide a stable flow of income to the university’s
operating budget, and to protect the real value of the endowment over
priced assets ought to time. Spending policy combines a long-term spending rate target with a
smoothing rule, which ensures gradual adjustment of expenditures to
be favored by active changes in endowment market value and serves to mitigate market volatil-
managers; markets ity. As Swensen himself regularly emphasized, “The spending rule is at the
heart of fiscal discipline for an endowed institution.”
with efficiently priced Another crucial factor in the Yale Model is the role of the Yale Investment
Committee, which has been responsible for oversight of the endowment
assets should be since 1975. The Committee consists of at least three Fellows of the
approached by Corporation and other persons with particular investment expertise. The
Committee, currently consisting of eleven members, meets quarterly to
active managers review policies and endowment performance, proposed objectives and
strategies, and adjustments to spending or asset categories.
with great caution. Adherence to this array of principles and practices that make up the Yale
–Pioneering Model is a matter of ongoing adjustment among competing considerations
such as risk and return, as well as strong working partnerships with outside
Portfolio managers. The model’s success at Yale for more than three decades was a
function not just of analytical rigor but also, as former Yale President Levin
Management pointed out, Swensen’s “extraordinary judgment about people.”

Yale’s Performance Exceeds Peer Results July 1, 1985 to June 30, 2021
1985=$100
12,500

10,000

7,500
Growth off $100

5,000

2,500

0
1985 1990 1995 2000 2005 2010 2015 2020

Endowment Mean of Broad Universe of Colleges and Universities Inflation

13
 an impact beyond yale
“He brought out the very best in each person with
whom he interacted”
The passing of David Swensen prompted a range of reac- His lunchtimes were often given over to students, helping
tions from all over the world, including accolades from the them think through what kind of career to pursue, and what
press, academia, and Wall Street, celebrating his near-legen- kind of life they wanted to live. David believed that one of his
dary status. More directly and more personally, the Yale most important responsibilities was to teach.
Investments Office received nearly one hundred messages in This has become a mantra now, here at Hillhouse: “Spend
May 2021 from his affiliated investment managers, former quality time with quality people.” I think this is perhaps the
colleagues, and other associates beyond the university. We most important lesson there is about investing, and David knew
offer just brief excerpts here from some of the tributes it by heart. David called mission-driven firms “organizations
received, with thanks to all the groups and individuals who with a soul.”
expressed sympathy and shared such diverse recollections. One of the last times I saw David was in New Haven, a few
months before the pandemic put the world on hold. David was on
a new course of
cancer therapies,
which had caused
his legs and feet
to swell. I imag-
ine it must have
been quite pain-
ful for him to
walk. Despite
this, and our
strenuous expres-
sions of concern
for his comfort,
David insisted on
giving my family
his famous Yale
Tour; the sun-
shine and fresh
air would be good
for him, he said. David accompanied us for nearly two hours,
criss-crossing Old Campus and Cross Campus. Yale’s buildings
are replete with gargoyles and other statues that are tucked into its
many nooks and crannies. David took us into the Sterling
Memorial Library to show my family his favorite statue. “Here it
is!” He pointed gleefully to a small statue of a student bent over a
book, into which the architect, James Gamble Rogers, had carved
“U.R.A. JOKE.” My young son started laughing, and David
Lei Zhang, Hillhouse Capital Management joined him, letting out one of his distinctive guffaws.
David was my first teacher in the discipline of investing; he
taught me what it meant to be a fiduciary, to be truly long term,
and to build an organization with a soul.
He had an office but he barely used it, preferring to sit out on David’s presence in a
the open trading floor with all of our colleagues, so that we knew
he was always available to speak to. Outside the office, he meeting raised the level
answered my questions in between squash sets and during breaks
in our summer softball games with his cherished Investments of discourse.
Office team, the Stock Jocks.
14
Neal Aronson, Roark Capital Valerie Friedman, Bracebridge
Whenever we met or talked, Roark’s Core Values and mission He brightened our lives at Bracebridge and taught us an infinite
were always discussed. He truly appreciated our core amount about how to think and behave. In every business decision
tenets....“Treat everyone the way you want to be treated, always we made, we thought about how he would view the situation.
do what you say, and always do what’s right and long-term David’s presence in a meeting raised the level of discourse. He
smart, regardless of conventional wisdom.” brought out the very best in each person with whom he interacted.
One favorite recollection that comes to mind is when David
said to me: “I like how Roark manages its team and its com- Henry McCance, Greylock
David was a Packers and Aaron Rodgers fan, an enthusiastic
golfer and a tennis player. I think he loved the thrill of competi-
David was always more tion—whether in a sporting event or in the performance of Yale’s
endowment each fiscal year.
interested in you and what For all his success and his recognition as an investment guru,
David was always more interested in you and what you were

you were doing instead of doing instead of talking about himself. One always came away
from a meeting with David feeling better about oneself.

talking about himself. One Gabriel Sunshine, Bracebridge

I remember vividly the tour of Yale that David gave my kids a
always came away from a few years back, and the glee that he and my son Teddy, then a
middle schooler reading Macbeth, shared poring through early
meeting with David feeling folios of Shakespeare in the vault of the Elizabethan Club.

better about oneself.

panies. Now, I want you to manage your investors the same way.
You need to fire some of them. Keep looking for the best of the best.
They will understand you, support you, and make you better.”

Roger Sherman, Cyrus

I remember, during the financial crisis, meeting David at
Yorkside for dinner before a basketball game. Some of you
actually might have been with us. He had just gotten off the
Amtrak from Washington, having just met with President
Obama. I remember at the time thinking what a unique and
amazingly special guy he was—to have met with the president of
the United States to provide his insight, and then immediately
hop on a train back to New Haven just in time to get pizza and
catch the Yale basketball game. The Elizabethan Club, on College Street, was founded in 1911 as a private
association, noted for its collection of rare books including Shakespearean
Jim Mooney, Baupost Group folios and quartos. A frequent visitor to the club, David Swensen served
I asked him to speak to the Holy Cross investment committee on its board. Pen-and-ink drawing by Richard Rose.
many years ago. Not only did he agree without hesitation, but he
spent an entire evening with us, earnestly engaging every ques- Pulak Prasad, Nalanda
tion. I remember so clearly feeling like I had brought Michael I doubt the U.S. universities would have the impact they do with-
Jordan to talk basketball with my friends. As I thanked him pro- out the capital provided by the endowments, all of whom owe
fusely at the end of the night, he stopped me and said, “Jim, you their success to David. In fact, David’s enduring impact was
don’t understand, I love doing this.” He was so magnanimous and much wider than just the U.S. endowments because I have met
kind and had an incredible ethos, which I’ve seen in you and so family offices and foundations, from U.S., Germany, France,
many others who worked with him, that it was important to help UK, who claim that they follow the Yale Model.
other schools be successful, particularly the little ones. Everyone he David changed the way institutions think about investing. He
encountered was better as a result. was a true investing legend like Graham and Buffett. Pioneering
Portfolio Management stands up there for me along with The
Intelligent Investor. He was no less than Einstein and Darwin
of his field.
15
 I tried to characterize some of its outstanding qualities in the
chapter on Yale in my book. Many other people will pay tribute to
the extraordinary performance—and I think only practitioners can
truly appreciate how unbelievably difficult it is to generate such
market-beating returns on such a huge, diversified endowment.
But what always amazed me about David was his ability not only
to preside over a myriad of complex inputs and make original and
value-adding calls, but that he could pull this off while maintain-
ing a collegial atmosphere that reflected his deep humanity AND a
great sense of fun.
Every interaction with David was imbued with his essential
warmth and integrity, and none was complete without him teasing
me on a variety of subjects, the result: always gales of laughter!

Leslie Dahl, Lone Pine

Upon hearing this news, I wondered how many of us could recall
one of many interactions with David when his seemingly low-key,
"aw-shucks" Midwestern demeanor prefaced an absolute zinger of
investment acumen from his razor-sharp mind! So while he has
left quite a legacy on so many dimensions, the simple truth
remains that he will be sorely missed.
Kai Bynum, Hopkins School, New Haven
Steve Freidheim, excerpt from Cyrus Quarterly Letter
David’s devotion and generosity to Hopkins went beyond his serv-
David had a truly beautiful mind. No other individual has done
ice as a Trustee. Two of his three children attended Hopkins
more for Yale; no other has done more for institutions dedicated to
(Victoria and Alexander). He established The Swensen Family
doing good in this world.
Scholarship Fund in 2002 and the McMahon Family Scholarship
Fund in 2014 to provide financial assistance for Hopkins stu-
dents. He was also instrumental in supporting Pathfinder, an
enrichment program for New Haven area public and parochial
school children. In November 2007, David was awarded the David changed the way insti-
Hopkins Medal, the school’s highest honor, for his “devotion of
significant time and wisdom in helping provide the school with tutions think about investing.
strong financial legs on which to stand and prosper.”
David’s gifts to Hopkins are immeasurable. He will be remem-
bered for the grace, professionalism and kindness with which he Kim Sargent, Chief Investment Officer,
served our community. David and Lucile Packard Foundation
What people may not know about David is what a dedicated
Bob Izzo, Hamden Hall School, Hamden
teacher and mentor he was to young people.
David joined the Hamden Hall Board of Trustees in the fall of
2009. He stated, “Because of my love for education, I’ve devoted Austan Goolsbee, former chairman, Council of Economic
my professional life to advancing educational institutions. I’m Advisers (on cnn)
honored to work with Hamden Hall, where my son Tim is an David Swensen will be remembered for how great he was at
enthusiastic tenth grader.” his job, but I hope we will all take a moment to remember what
At Hamden Hall's 2013 Commencement, David was honored a kind, decent person he was and how much he cared for the
with the Connecticut Association of Independent Schools Award. public good. And how that very decency was what made him
Tim Swensen presented his father the award during the gradu- great at his job.
ation ceremony. Hamden Hall Board President Joyce Lujic, who
worked with David on various subcommittees, said David’s stew- John Bogle, founder, Vanguard Group
ardship with regard to Hamden Hall’s endowment and invest- Swensen is one of only a handful of investment geniuses on
ments was invaluable. the planet.

John Walton, formerly avi (Asset Value Investors) Ben Jacobs, jbg Companies
I have never experienced anything quite like the extraordinary My initial impression of David matured to become my definition
organization that was the Yale Investments Office in the period I for a “great” individual, my iconic standard by which to measure
knew it best, from 1993 to 2007. others and a goal for my life.
16
Mark Simon, Centerbrook Architects and Planners, llp Julie Greenwood, Executive Director, Squash Haven
We were lucky enough to have David Swensen as an architectural Squash Haven, founded in 2007, is a community of 160 young
client for his office renovations. Dave was very enthusiastic and people (and growing) in New Haven, in fifth grade through college
encouraging but careful—he challenged us to find the right balance and early career, an intensive program that supports them as stu-
between ‘Wall St. and Main St.’ He did not want offices that were dents, athletes, and citizens.
I first met David at the Yale squash courts in Squash Haven's
early years. He was an avid fan of the game and, as was his way,
He was always himself, he saw an opportunity to help build a fledgling program, making
an annual contribution and organizing an Investments team for
and never full of himself. our Showdown fundraiser, where he and his colleagues duked it out
with and alongside Squash Haven’s kids.
David loved Squash Haven’s commitment to working with our
ostentatious, but he knew that he had to appeal to the best and students through college, and became particularly excited about the
brightest of the investment world with the offices’ interest, comfort high numbers who become college student-athletes. David hosted
and respect for its hard-working inhabitants. It was a challenge, a three dinners in New York City to help us launch an endowment
tricky equilibrium but in the end, with his guidance, the offices fund. He agreed to have our development funds managed by Yale
turned out to be just like David—practical, poised, and warm. Investments. He made an annual designation to Squash Haven
through funds raised for the community at the Salovey-Swensen
Tim Hillas, Chan Zuckerberg Initiative Extravaganza tennis event and helped with the renovation of a
He wasn’t afraid of shedding tears when Dean Takahashi retired. facility at 78 Ashmun Street for Squash Haven’s office and class-
He treated us as family. room use. He did so in a characteristic David way—humbly, per-
sonally, and passionately.
David Page, lifelong friend, River Falls, Wisconsin
Squash Haven was, thankfully, among the people and places
He was always himself, and never full of himself.
everywhere whom David touched with his magic. No one has done
Valbona Schwab, Grinnell College Investments Office more to help us grow and ensure our long-term financial stability—
It was like the sun was shining on you while he spoke to you, you and create opportunities for future generations of New Haven
had his full attention. Very few people have that effect on others. young people—than David. He was a dear friend to all of us.

Squash Haven, in New Haven, a Swensen enthusiasm.

17
 yale 1985–2021

The Swensen
years in
1985 1989
perspective June
Bart
30, 1985
University President A. Bartlett Giamatti
Giamatti announces decision to
(b.a. 1960, Ph.D. 1964) announces his
June 30, 1985
Maya Lin (b.a. 1981, m.arch. 1986) is
Bart Giamatti announces decision to
commissioned to create a sculpture com-
step
decision to as
away University
depart president,
the following year.Beno
In step away
memoratingasthree
University president,
centuries Beno
of women’s
Schmidt assumes
September post in
1986, Benno C.early 1986Jr.
Schmidt, Schmidt at
presence assumes post
Yale. The in earlyTable
Women's 1986
(b.a. 1963, ll.b. 1966), is inaugurated as sculpture is dedicated on October 2, 1993.
Yale’s twentieth president. He announces
plans to improve relations with New
Haven, strengthen science programs, and
renovate the campus after a period of
“deferred maintenance.”

1989 1990 1992

June 30, 1985
The first of Yale’s twelve residential col-
June 30, 1985
President Schmidt and New Haven Mayor
June 30, 1985
Howard Lamar is inaugurated as acting
Bart
leges,Giamatti announces
Grace Hopper decision
College, to
then known Bart
John Giamatti
C. Danielsannounces decisionfor
sign an agreement to Bart Giamatti
university announces
president decision toas
(later recognized
step away as University president, Beno
as Calhoun, undergoes renovation, fol- step
Yale to make annual payments to theBeno
away as University president, city step
the twenty-first Yale University pres-Beno
away as University president,
Schmidt assumes post in early 1986
lowed by the other eleven colleges in the Schmidt
in lieu of assumes
taxes. Thepost in early
program 1986the
reflects Schmidt
ident). Inassumes post Yale
appreciation, in early 1986
establishes
course of the next twenty-two years. university’s important aim of improving The Howard R. Lamar Center for the
relations with New Haven. Study of Frontiers and Borders, to
advance scholarship and teaching in
his own field of historical study, the
American West.

1993 1993 1994

June 30, 1985
Inauguration of Richard C. Levin (Ph.D.
June 30, 1985
Yale-New Haven Hospital opens the
June 30, 1985
Yale establishes its Homebuyer Program
Bart
1974)Giamatti announces decision
as Yale’s twenty-second to
president. Bart Giamatti
Children’s announces
Hospital, decision to
the top-ranked chil- Bart Giamatti
to assist announces
university decision
employees to
in purchas-
step away as University president, Beno
His career included service as Department step away as University president, Beno
dren's hospital in Connecticut. Associated step
ing homes in New Haven. As one of Beno
away as University president, the
Schmidt assumes post in early
of Economics chair and dean of the1986 Schmidt
with Yale assumes
School ofpost in earlythe
Medicine, 1986
hospi- Schmidt
strongest,assumes post inexamples
longest-lasting early 1986
of
Graduate School of Arts & Sciences. He tal is noted for its two-story neonatal Yale’s commitment to its home city, the
announces plans to “focus even more on intensive care unit, a model for other hos- program has benefited thousands of new
global issues if our students are to be well pitals according to the American Academy homebuyers.
prepared for world leadership, if we are to of Pediatrics.
be a world university.”

18
1994 1997 1998
June 30, 1985
Completion of the Yale policy of divesting
June 30, 1985
Yale completes the largest capital cam-
June 30, 1985
Founding of the Gilder Lehrman Center
Bart Giamatti
its funds announces
associated decision
with South to
Africa. Bart
paignGiamatti announces
in the history decision
of higher to
education, Bart Giamatti announces decision to
for the Study of Slavery, Resistance, and
step divestment
The away as University
began in president, Beno
1978 and acceler- step“and
the awayforasYale”
University president,
Campaign, raisingBeno
a step away as University
Abolition. With president,
the support Beno
of business-
Schmidt
ated after assumes post in early
campus protests in the1986
1980s. Schmidt
record assumes
$1.7 post five
billion over in early
years.1986
The Schmidt
men assumes
Richard Gilderpost in 1954)
(b.a. early and
1986Lewis
campaign adds $636 million to the univer- Lehrman (b.a. 1960), the Center fosters
sity’s endowment. academic scholarship, school curricula,
and public education programs by such
means as conferences, publications, fel-
lowships, prizes, and lectures.

1999 2000-2001 2001

June 30, 1985
Kurt L. Schmoke (b.a. 1971), mayor of
June 30, 1985
The yearlong celebration of Yale’s
June 30, 1985
Yale College institutes need-blind admis-
Bart Giamatti
Baltimore fromannounces decision
1987 to 1999, becomesto the Bart Giamatti announces decision to
Tercentennial recalls highlights since its sions for international students, as one of
step away as University president, Beno
first African American to serve as senior step
founding inas1701,
away University
featurespresident, Beno
talks by former five U.S. universities to adopt the policy at
Schmidt assumes post in early 1986
fellow of the Yale Corporation. As a Yale Schmidt assumes post in early 1986
U.S. presidents, and presents its first open the time. The financial aid policy supports
undergraduate he had been a leader of the house, attended by more than 35,000 the university’s global presence by making
Black Student Alliance during the May people from New Haven and beyond, who a Yale education accessible to greater
Day protests in 1970 and active in the visit 100 sites on campus. numbers of qualified applicants from out-
founding of the Calvin Hill Day Care side the U.S.
Center in New Haven.

2002 2003 2003

June 30, 1985
The Anlyan Center for Medical Research
June 30, 1985
Yale School of Art completes the major With the renovation of the last two col-
Bart Giamatti announces
and Education decision
(tac), at Yale Schooltoof Bart Giamatti
restoration announces
of its decision
premises on Chapelto leges, Morse and Ezra Stiles, Yale com-
step away as University president, Beno
Medicine, constructed at a cost of $176 step away as University president, Beno
Street and other sites, while the School of pletes the program (inaugurated in 1989)
Schmidt assumes post in early 1986
million, opens, as part of the university’s Schmidt assumes post in early 1986
Architecture occupies the fully renovated to restore and modernize the spaces and
$1 billion investment (2002-2012) for new Rudolph Hall (formerly the Art & systems in all twelve of its residential col-
and reconstructed biomedical research Architecture Building). leges, the first full-scale renovation of stu-
facilities. tac is notable for expanding dent accommodations since the changes
the school’s research and education in for the admission of women in the 1970s.
immunology.

19
 2005 2005 2005
June 30, 1985
Inauguration of the Class of 1954
June 30, 1985
In 2005, Stephen Adams (b.a. 1959) and
June 30, 1985
The Malone Engineering Center, built in
Bart Giamatti
Chemistry announces
Research decision
Building, 285 to Bart Giamatti
Denise announces
Adams donate $100decision
million toto the Bart Giamatti
alignment withannounces decision
the U.S. Green to
Building
step awayStreet,
Prospect as University
thanks topresident,
the largestBeno
Yale step School
Yale away asofUniversity president,
Music, enabling Beno
the school step awayleed
Council’s as University president,
rating system Beno
at the Gold
Schmidtclass
College assumes
gift topost
date.inThe
early 1986
alumni Schmidt
to provideassumes post award
a full tuition in earlyand
1986
fellow- Schmidt assumes
certification post in
level, offers early 1986
expanded facil-
financed the world’s first laboratory certi- ship to all students. The free tuition has ities for biomedical engineering and head-
fied by the Leadership in Energy and continued for all of the School’s more than quarters for the reorganized School of
Environmental Design (leed) rating. The 200 students per year. Engineering and Applied Science.
class also supported the Class of 1954
Environmental Sciences Building, in 2001.

2006 2006 2007

June 30, 1985
Yale-New Haven Hospital breaks ground
June 30, 1985
President Hu Jintao of China visits Yale,
June 30, 1985
Yale purchases the 135-acre Bayer
Bart Giamatti
for the Smilowannounces decision
Cancer Hospital, to
which Bart Giamatti
signaling announces
a series decision
of exchange to
programs Bart Giamatti announces
Pharmaceutical decision
facility in West to a
Haven,
step away
opens as University
in 2009 as the newpresident, Beno
treatment facil- stepjoint
and awayventures
as University president,
with several Beno
Chinese stepmiles
few awayfrom
as University
New Haven, president,
adding aBeno
Schmidt
ity for theassumes postCenter
Yale Cancer in early 1986 in
(founded Schmidt assumes
universities post incenters
and research early 1986
in ensu- Schmidt assumes
state-of-the-art post inspace
research earlyto1986
acceler-
1974 and designated as one of the coun- ing years. ate the university’s expansion plans in
try’s inaugural comprehensive cancer science and engineering. West Campus
centers by the National Cancer Institute). accommodates seven scientific core pro-
grams, which have well-equipped labo-
ratory space at their disposal.

2008 2009 2010

June 30, 1985
Opening of the fully redesigned, ren-
June 30, 1985
Yale’s School of Forestry & Environmental
June 30, 1985
Yale Health moves to a new building on
Bart
ovatedGiamatti
Anne T.announces
and Robertdecision
M. Bass to Bart Giamatti
Studies announces
is renamed the Yaledecision tothe
School of Bart
Lock Giamatti announces
Street. Founded decision
in a unique andto
step away as University president, Beno
Library, the starting point for undergradu- step away as University president,
Environment (with the Yale School of Beno step away as University president, Beno
historic experiment as a multidisciplinary
Schmidt assumes post in early 1986
ate research support and library instruc- Schmidt assumes post in early 1986
Forestry continuing as a component) to Schmidt assumes post in early 1986
health maintenance organization on
tion (with 61,000 volumes) as well as a reflect the development of its curriculum campus, Yale Health continues to provide
popular student workspace. Bass Library focus. Since 2009 the school has been health services to its faculty, staff, and
supports the Yale College curriculum based at Kroon Hall, a leed Platinum- their families. In 2021 the organization
across all subject areas. certified facility named a top 10 green celebrates its fiftieth anniversary.
building by the aia Committee on the
Environment.

20
2011 2012 2013
June 30, 1985
The “Yale Tomorrow” capital campaign,
June 30, 1985
Air Force and Naval programs return to
June 30, 1985
Inauguration of Peter Salovey (Ph.D.
Bart Giamatti
launched announces
in 2006, decision
raises a total to
of $3.88 Bart
Yale’sGiamatti announces
campus in decision
the Reserve to
Officers Bart
1986)Giamatti
as Yale’s announces
twenty-thirddecision to
president.
step away
billion, theas University
second largestpresident,
fundraisingBeno step awayCorps
Training as University
(rotc). president, Beno
Both programs step president’s
The away as University president,
speech outlines Beno
his goals:
Schmidt assumes
campaign reportedpost
by aninAmerican
early 1986
uni- Schmidt
offer assumes
courses post in train
and actively early on
1986
cam- Schmidt
to exploreassumes
pioneeringpost in earlytechnol-
teaching 1986
versity to date. Nearly 2,000 donors gave pus with a residential cadre of military ogies; to make a Yale education accessible
$100,000 or more during the Campaign, personnel. to more students; to forge even stronger
and ten donors made “transformative” town-gown ties; and to develop a more
gifts of $50 million or more. global and more unified university.

2014 2017 2019

June 30, 1985
Opening of Edward P. Evans Hall as the
June 30, 1985
The founding of two new residential col-
June 30, 1985
The new Yale Science Building (ysb) at
Bart
mainGiamatti announces
building of decision
the Yale School of to Bart
leges,Giamatti
Benjaminannounces
Franklin anddecision
Pauli to Bart GiamattiAvenue,
260 Whitney announces decision
on Science to
Hill,
step away as University
Management. president,
The sustainable Beno
building’s step away
Murray, onasProspect
University president,
Street, designedBeno
by step away
signals as University
a major president,
step in the Beno
university’s
Schmidt rooms,
breakout assumeslounges,
post inlibrary,
early 1986
other Schmidt
the firm ofassumes
architectpost in early
Robert A.M.1986
Stern, Schmidt assumes
wide-ranging post research
scientific in early enter-
1986
common spaces, and faculty offices are raises undergraduate enrollment from prise. The seven-story facility contains
positioned to maximize interchange and 5,400 to 6,200 students, an all-time high. 280,300 square feet of research space in
collaboration, hallmarks of the school’s The last significant growth in the Yale biology and related disciplines, with a
integrated approach to mba education. College student body had begun with the cryo-electron microscopy suite, a rooftop
admission of women in 1969. greenhouse, insectary, and specialized labs
and equipment rooms.

2021 2021 2021

June 30, 1985
Opening of the Yale Schwarzman Center
June 30, 1985
In a new enhancement to financial aid
June 30, 1985
A landmark gift from entertainment
Bart Giamatti
(ysc), announces
a new campus decisionsocial,
educational, to Bart Giamatti
funding announces
(the fourth decisionstarting
in six years), to Bart Giamatti
executive announces decision
and philanthropist to
David Geffen
step away as University president,
and cultural hub. Supported by the sec-Beno step away as University president, Beno
in 2022 Yale College will reduce families’ step away as University president,
makes the School of Drama at Yale the Beno
Schmidt assumes post in early 1986
ond-largest gift in Yale history, made by Schmidt assumes post in early 1986
contributions by 34 percent for most stu- Schmidt assumes post in early 1986
only U.S. institution of its kind to elimi-
Stephen A. Schwarzman (b.a. 1969), ysc dents on aid, and will provide free educa- nate tuition charges for all degree and cer-
includes a renovated Commons along with tion for families earning less than tificate students. The school is renamed in
all-new venues including theaters, studios, $65,000 annually. the donor’s honor.
a gallery, café, and social gathering areas.

21
 colleagues remember
“The eternal contest to win the best results for Yale”
Close Yale associates of David Swensen share memories of the granular level. This passion and knowledge led to a number
time spent together, on and off the job. of groundbreaking strategies and structures—and generated sub-
stantial savings for Yale.
Matt Mendelsohn (b.s. 2007), Chief Investment Officer He recognized early-on the importance of having the universi-
The university and all who love it suffered an enormous loss last ty’s assets and liabilities managed by the same team, something
year when David’s nine-year battle with cancer came to an abrupt not found at most universities, even today. David brought a cor-
end. More than anything, I will remember David as the consum- porate strategy to debt management that set Yale apart from tra-
mate Yale citizen. Former Yale President Kingman Brewster once ditional tax-exempt nonprofit educational borrowers. Under his
wrote that selecting Yale students was a combination of looking for leadership, Yale became the first tax-exempt institution to provide
those who would make the most of the extraordinary resources its own liquidity to support its variable rate debt and the first to
assembled here, those with a zest to stretch the limits of their tal- issue a 100-year Century bond, in 1997. The bond remains
ents, and those with an outstanding public motivation. In David, unique for its thirty-year call option at a price of 103, a feature
Yale found all three, to its eternal benefit. Brilliant but approach- which made him really proud.
able, hyper-competitive but genteel, uncompromising but devoted David had a keen sense for the value of optionality and how to
to the greater good, David established himself as a larger-than-life extract relative value across different markets. Yale pioneered a
figure on campus over thirty-six years at the helm of Yale’s multi-modal structure for its tax-exempt bond issues, providing
Endowment. The broader world will primarily remember David’s greater flexibility in setting term to maturity and managing inter-
investment acumen, and rightly so; generations of students and est rate exposure. The aggressive use of undervalued call options
scholars will benefit from his enormous financial impact. Here in Yale’s tax-exempt fixed-rate debt led to substantial savings over
within our community at Yale, though, he will be remembered the course of his career. Our analysis in 2018, after exercising the
first and foremost as a professor, mentor, and friend to many. And final tax-exempt call, showed the savings to have a net present
that’s just the way David would have wanted it. value of $791 million.
He was a strong proponent of using swaps to manage interest
Alex Banker, Senior Director of Finance rate exposure. Early in his career, David was involved in one of
While David is appropriately regarded for the innovation he the first cross-currency swap transactions, so he knew the space
brought to asset allocation and portfolio management, his over- really well. Yale took full advantage of systematic differences in
sight of Yale’s debt and capital markets activity, although lesser the shape of the taxable and tax-exempt yield curves to extract
known, was equally noteworthy and creative, and I had the pleas- relative value and lower borrowing costs.
ure of having a front-row seat. If you look back at his early career,
to his Ph.D. thesis and the few years on Wall Street, it’s clear that Amy Chivetta, Managing Director
David had a passion for capital markets and how they worked at David set the tone for the culture of the Yale Investments Office.
His love of Yale was legendary. His commitment to its mission
inspired all those who worked with him. Every year, David
aspired to deliver the best possible returns to Yale. Yet David’s love
for Yale was matched by his love for people. He always made time
for others, whether his colleagues, external investment managers,
or students. At the same time, David was an entrepreneur at
heart. He and Dean pursued a novel (and unorthodox!) style of
endowment management that shaped an entire generation of
investors. His investment philosophy still influences institutional
investors today.
I will always cherish my time with David. I learned so much
from him over the years about what it means to invest in the best
but to do it in the right way. His strong moral compass made him
willing to take a contrarian position, if it served Yale’s goals. At
the same time, he celebrated well-earned wins along the way. He
David and friends at the annual Salovey-Swensen Extravaganza, a fund- especially enjoyed honoring partnership anniversaries with invest-
raising celebration that raised $21 million dollars in support of New ment managers. Some reached over thirty years! He liked to sur-
Haven-based community outreach programs since its inception in 1997. prise firms with dinner as a token of Yale’s gratitude.
22
 I last spoke with David during a Zoom meeting about setting linked in my memory of going to games with him. And he always
the asset allocation targets—one of his favorite exercises—for fiscal ordered the same thing: sausage & onion pizza, large Greek
year 2022. Our team vigorously debated where to tilt the portfolio. salad, and a pitcher of beer. He was such a creature of habit. He
Everyone weighed in with their perspective. When we finally loved that place and all the people there loved him.
decided our targets, David signed off with “Great stuff, thanks so
Kenneth Miller (b.a. 1971), Former Senior Associate
General Counsel
To me, he was Yale’s most What I recall so clearly from my many years working with David
was the office climate he fostered. It reminds me of a famous com-
loyal fan. ment after Teddy Roosevelt’s funeral in 1919, when a former asso-
ciate said to TR’s sister: “Oh…do you remember the fun of him?”
Well, David made it fun to work in the Yale Investments Office.
much.” I couldn’t have asked for a better last moment with David, Recreation with the crew was important to him, whether it
one where he passionately engaged in matters of great importance was intramural softball or other sports, whitewater rafting on the
to him and to the university. New River in West Virginia, where Yale had timber properties to
Dave personified terms like tenacious and vibrant and mis- check up on, or canoeing on the St. Croix in Maine. Or throwing
sion-oriented. To take up the difficult task of continuing for- around a ball with us—or an axe.
ward, our team must maintain focus on doing what is best for You could imagine a person in his position having close rela-
Yale. To that motivation, we now add our intention to continue tionships with his section chiefs or top-tier managers, no one
our journey in a way that honors David’s legacy. below that rank. David maintained all the activity outside the
office because he wanted to have a personal relationship with
Alex Hetherington (b.a. 2006), Managing Director everyone in the office, including the first-year staffers just out of
To me, he was Yale’s most loyal fan. college. That was how he operated, one-on-one with every
At any game, David’s cheer was always “Go Blue!” I’ve rarely member of the staff. There were practical reasons for his hands-
heard others use that. It always stuck out to me as his own on management, which kept him on top of developments at all
unique cheer. levels. But at the same time, having this closeness with each indi-
He always stayed to the final whistle. In my family when I was vidual on the team seemed to fill a basic need for him.
little, we would try to beat the crowd at the end of a game by
leaving as soon as the outcome was determined. David would sit
in his seat until 00:00 even if we were down 49-0.
He loved giving really, really enthusiastic high fives. Like he
would wind up and see if he could smack my hand so hard that
I’d complain. He would also kind of bang my shoulder or leg
when a call went against us—his passion for the game literally
spilled out physically. He was kind of sneakily proud of losing his
temper and shouting things at the refs that one would not expect
from someone in his position. He loved sitting in the “adminis-
tration” seats and then behaving like a student, rather than a
stately senior member of Yale’s administration.
He would travel to see away games. He took lots of pride in
getting to give a pep talk to the football team. He was probably
more nervous about doing that than presenting to the Investment
Committee! And he loved being part of the Ivy League champion-
ship celebrations for basketball and football—you can see him in a
few of the commonly used pictures of those events. He’s kind of
like a Where’s Waldo of Yale sports. I think it’s so cool that his
last Yale-Harvard football game was our great 2019 comeback.
He loved Yorkside Pizza, too, on York Street. He had such a
tradition of always going there before walking over to basketball
games (probably hockey games, too, but I credit myself with steer-
ing him way more into basketball than hockey). The two are very

Swensen greets Kurt Rawlings (b.a. 2020), Yale’s winning quarterback in

two Ivy League championship seasons and the Ivy League’s Offensive
Player of the Year for 2019.
23
 The fun extended into the workplace. We had the institution
of the Monday morning meeting each week, attended by the
whole staff. It typified the flat organizational structure, rather
than a lot of hierarchy. The meetings, over coffee and bagels,
were serious but casual. Where else at a university like Yale
would you have found a meeting room dominated by an easel
displaying a framed Green Bay Packers #4 jersey? It had been
autographed by quarterback Brett Favre, a hero of David’s. And
we knew on Monday mornings that if Green Bay (or the Yale
football team) had played poorly the preceding weekend, then the
“Boss” was more likely to be in a bad mood first thing Monday
morning. The Packers were his home team, from Wisconsin like
David. That was sacred.
In some ways, he could be old-fashioned. I recall, in earlier
years when he worked on his books, I sometimes came into the
office to catch up on work at 7 or 8 a.m. on a Saturday. There
I’d find David, working on one of his books, with the legal pads
and pen or pencil, doing his writing by hand. He could easily
have used his laptop or desktop, but he clearly preferred the
physical act of writing down the words, in his clear handwriting.
His revised drafts looked like something for a law review, with
the hook and a line out to the margin for changes or addenda,
the way a lawyer does it. Of course, he was no Luddite, he had
no problem getting a Tesla. There was nothing old-fashioned
about his view of the economy or his grasp of changes in the
world of finance. But alongside his innovative, cutting-edge Timothy Sullivan (b.a. 1986), Senior Director of
work in portfolio theory, you’d still notice his fondness for old- Private Equity
fashioned, Midwestern values and habits. David always had tremendous confidence. There was a striking
On the serious side, in business matters he was 100 percent demonstration of that, back in 1987, a really defining moment in
concerned about any conflicts of interest. It never mattered to David’s career. I had only been in the office a little more than a
him if “everyone else was doing it”; that was never an acceptable year and he’d been there just a year or so longer. On Black
answer to a question of professional ethics. This is a field with so Monday in October 1987, there was a real crash, when the mar-
ket lost 25 percent of its value in one afternoon. A lot of people
feared it would be 1929 all over again. Important people on the
Investment Committee at the time were really nervous, urging us
It never mattered to him if to sell stocks, raise cash, increase holdings in fixed income—reac-
tions that would have been the right thing to do in 1929.
“everyone else was doing it”; And David resisted. He answered them forcefully, insisting,
“We’ve done all this work to establish this allocation framework,
that was never an acceptable and we aren’t market-timers. We’ve got to stay true to what we
said we’d do. We can’t let panic charge our long-term appropria-
answer to a question of tions.” That meant actually buying more stocks, to maintain the
total value of our stock allocation. Despite the greater maturity
professional ethics. of those advisers, and their success and prestige, he wasn’t shy in
arguing, and he stood his ground. We basically did what he said
we should, although he made a few minor concessions. He held to
the plan, and it proved to be the right thing to do. That experi-
much wealth being made, where it’s easy to lose sight of a tenth ence—at age thirty-three—helped cement his reputation as a
of one percent going astray, or one small corner of a bond coupon shrewd investor, very sure of his strategy and his opinions. This
getting clipped off. For him basic honesty was at the core. It was really set him on his way. The rest is history.
a little like his sense of fairplay on the field, so if things got For me, there was just something especially stimulating and
rough or bad calls got made, he was immediately right in the rewarding about being part of the team with David and Dean,
center of it. He could be all these things, the investment innova- back when we were all pretty young, most of us between college
tor, the fierce competitor, and the champion of the little guy. graduation and thirty-five or a little more. It was a small office
24
 then, with a really collegial atmosphere. We had the sense of
working things out, learning the business together as we went, a
It was an amazing ability, really great opportunity—trying to figure out what was the real
opportunity in a situation, and just who we ought to be partner-
a gut feeling, and his calls ing with. There were a lot of late nights, over pizza delivered
from Naples, as we hashed out what we should be doing in
were right far more often investment. What an opportunity, to be learning from him, inter-
acting, making decisions alongside him.
than not. He could cut right I was always super impressed by David’s gut feeling. The rest
of us, mere mortals in comparison, would put in all this work,
to the chase, decide what meet all the potential managers, and figure out which cases to
bring before David. And David—within the first ten minutes of a
issues mattered in an meeting, he’d know if this manager was someone we should back
and partner with. It was an amazing ability, a gut feeling, and
opportunity or a relation- his calls were right far more often than not. He could cut right to
the chase, decide what issues mattered in an opportunity or a
ship, whether it would fit relationship, whether it would fit in with what we needed and
wanted to do. He had a supernatural ability to figure out whether
in with what we needed the guy across the table from him was a good investor and would
be a good partner for us. There were partnerships that eventually
and wanted to do. had to be dissolved, but a good number of them held steady for
more than thirty years.
Another important instance, pretty early in his career, was the
decision not to partner with a particular firm, despite their prom-
ise of a huge gift to Yale in exchange for doing business with
them. He always objected to managers or firms that risked con-
David in the courtyard at Berkeley College.

25
 ric game in 2019, his last home Harvard game, with Yale’s crazy

...he cared deeply about Yale, comeback, the overtime victory, with no lights still on at the Bowl.
He really loved what he did professionally, and I thought he

got such joy out of teaching would keep doing it to the end. People in the office are still talking
about his final business meeting late in the afternoon, hours
before he passed away—he was there, up to the last minute, try-
classes and hearing back ing to win the eternal contest to win the best results for Yale.

from students years later Dean Takahashi (b.a. 1980, mppm 1983),
Former Senior Director
about their career, and deci- David Swensen’s Secret Sauce. I am forever grateful to David
Swensen. I was fortunate to meet Dave in the fall of 1976 when he
sions they needed to make. was my freshman counselor, and since then he has been my men-
tor, boss, colleague, best man to my wife Wendy and me, and best
friend. It was always great fun to partner with Dave—from
flicts of interest by being involved both in advising and market- canoeing in the Boundary Waters to playing bridge and tennis
ing, or investment as well as banking. That was what held him together. In addition to working for and with him for more than
back in this case: they had their hand in too many places. David thirty-three years, I was lucky enough to co-coach our kids in soc-
may have faced some heat for that decision, which appeared to be cer and baseball for many years and to co-teach a senior economics
costing Yale some philanthropic support. But he wasn’t going to seminar with Dave for three decades. I had countless opportunities
let anything compromise his principles. to behold Dave teach, coach, mentor, and lead by example.
He was very comfortable with who he was, could always dom- I recently finished teaching a class on endowment management
inate a room, and you knew he’d be the center of attention at his as part of the School of Management Asset Management program
table at any gathering. A huge personality, obviously very smart, that David helped create. David was not listed as a co-teacher,
well informed about all kinds of things—sports, politics and so but his legacy was ever present. In usual fashion, I had many
on. And he cared deeply about Yale, got such joy out of teaching current and former Investments Office colleagues come to guest-
classes and hearing back from students years later about their teach. The students loved meeting and learning from such accom-
career, and decisions they needed to make. plished experts, and frankly, it made my job much easier. We dis-
He enjoyed so many things—teaching, interacting with stu- cussed the various aspects of the Yale Model ranging from long-
dents, Yale sports, sitting on the sidelines at basketball games, sit- term horizons, the need to generate strong inflation-adjusted
ting near the tunnel at football games at the Bowl, where the team returns, diversification, asset allocation, alternative asset classes,
came in. The excitement of beating Harvard, especially that histo- alignment of interest, and partnering with extraordinary invest-
ment managers. In essence we taught right from David’s book
Pioneering Portfolio Management.
In 2000, when David first wrote that book, many wondered if
it was a mistake to publish the playbook for the Yale Model. Why
give away all of Yale’s intellectual property? Listening with
amazement at the quality and thoughtfulness of our guests who
had all been trained by David, I realize that the real secret ingre-
dient was not just David’s conceptual framework for the invest-
ment endowment portfolios, but vitally, his extraordinary invest-
ment in people. The Yale Model needs highly intelligent, com-
mitted, and selfless team players to excel. David’s investment in
people—that is the secret sauce!

26
swensen’s campus

451 College Street Payne Whitney Gym Humanities Quadrangle

First home of the Investments Office, The gymnasium houses Brady Squash Center, The Quadrangle, as viewed from above, which
1985–1990. where Swensen and staff fought it out at includes Swensen Tower, named for Swensen
lunch time. in 2020, and surrounding dormitories where
he lived as a grad student.

230 Prospect Street Squash Haven Swensen House

Second home of the Investments Office, 78 Ashmun Street, clubhouse and study hall A residence for the head of Berkeley College,
1990–2003. where over 125 New Haven high school stu- named for David Swensen in 2013. Swensen
dents learn squash and play in the nearby gym. was a Berkeley Fellow of many years’ standing.

Economics Department 55 Whitney Avenue Cullman-Heyman Tennis Center

28 Hillhouse Avenue, where Swensen studied The Investments Office location since 2003. Near the Yale Bowl on Route 34, a mile west of
for his doctorate. central campus. Swensen played at the center,
which is open year-round.

Yale Bowl Harkness Hall Cedar Avenue

The Bowl, a mile west of central campus, is William L. Harkness Hall, one of the main Cedar Avenue in the Grove Street Cemetery,
where Swensen watched the Yale-Harvard venues where Swensen and Takahashi taught site of the David Swensen granite marker to be
games with friends and family. their popular “Investment Analysis” and other installed in 2022.
courses, for more than three decades.
27
 recognition The honors and awards bestowed on David Swensen, both by Yale and by
many other institutions, are too numerous to be treated in full. Some of
the most prominent examples are cited here.

“One of our Yale University Honors and Distinctions

great university 2006

The Mory’s Cup “for conspicuous service to the university,” which has
citizens” gone to a selected body of some 100 alumni and staff since 1927. Those
honored have included a U.S. president, Yale presidents, legendary ath-
letic coaches, selected faculty, and notable alumni volunteers.
2012
The Yale Medal, “the highest award presented by the Alumni Association
honoring outstanding individual service to the university.” Established in
1952, the Yale Medal has been bestowed on such individuals as Dean
Acheson (b.a. 1915), William S. Beinecke (b.a. 1936), Kingman Brewster
(b.a. 1941), Hannah H. Grey, David S. Ingalls (b.a. 1920), Robert J.
Kiphuth, Margaret H. Marshall (j.d. 1976), Paul Mellon (b.a. 1929),
George W. Pierson (b.a. 1926, Ph.D. 1933), Kurt Schmoke (b.a. 1971).
2013
The Head's House at Berkeley College was named as the Swensen House
to honor Berkeley Fellow David Swensen's contributions to Yale as the
Chief Investment Officer, his dedication to Berkeley, and his service on
behalf of Berkeley students.
In addition, by 2013, the Swensen Initiative, a group of ninety colleagues,
friends, and family, donated more than $36 million in Swensen’s honor;
the gifts are invested in the Yale endowment in support of several initia-
tives, notably:
• A chair in the Economics Department, where he studied and then
taught for more than thirty years. William C. Brainard, the Arthur M.
Okun Professor Emeritus of Economics, stated: “Nothing could be a
more appropriate recognition of [Swensen’s] devotion to Yale and its
academic mission than a professorship in his name.”
• The Swensen-McMahon Head Coach of Women’s Tennis, a position
named in honor of David Swensen and Meghan R. McMahon (b.a.
1987), a former standout Yale athlete and tennis coach.
• Funds to supplement innovative teaching in Yale College, in addition to
the existing David Swensen Scholarship Fund, and support for
additional teaching and research efforts across the university.
2014
Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters (hdhl), presented to Swensen at
Commencement, with a citation which read: “You are one of our great
university citizens. A steward of gifts past and present, you have used
your own gift to secure our future. Your unconventional success has
allowed Yale to grow and prosper, and the Yale Model has become the
gold standard for endowment portfolio management. You have trained
and mentored a new generation of investment managers for institutions
of higher education across the country, imbuing them with knowledge,
values, and strong ethical principles. And you have regularly taught
28
Above: Swensen Tower classes in Yale College and the School of Management. For your devotion
Above right: In 2014, at a celebration of and dedication, we are delighted to grant your second Yale degree: Doctor
Swensen’s thirtieth year at Yale, he is shown of Humane Letters.”
with Meghan McMahon, former Yale Art
Gallery Director Jock Reynolds, and former 2015
Yale Athletics Director Thomas A. Beckett. A gift from Lisbet Rausing and Peter Baldwin (b.a. 1978) led to the
renaming of the landmark tower at the newly renovated Humanities
Quadrangle (formerly known as the Hall of Graduate Studies) as
Swensen Tower in honor of David Swensen.

Honors and Distinctions from Other Institutions

He was a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and a

trustee or adviser to the Brookings Institution, Cambridge University, the
Carnegie Corporation, the Carnegie Institution of Washington, the Chan
Zuckerberg Initiative, the Hopkins School, tiaa, the New York Stock
Exchange, the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, the Courtauld Institute
of Art, Yale-New Haven Hospital, the Investment Fund for Foundations,
the Edna McConnell Clark Foundation, and the States of Connecticut
and Massachusetts. Two particularly distinguished appointments:
2009
Appointment to President Barack Obama’s Economic Recovery Advisory
Board, on which he served until 2011.
2017
Affiliation as an investment adviser to the Council on Foreign Relations,
followed in 2019 by the Council’s creation of the position of “David F.
Swensen Chief Investment Officer” in his honor, “with an endowment
from Stephen C. Freidheim and contributions from other generous cfr
members to honor David F. Swensen and his many important contri-
butions to institutional investment strategy as well as to the Council.”

NOTE: The Swensen family requests that donations be made in David's memory to the David
Swensen Initiative at Yale. This particular fund supports activities, projects, and people that
were especially meaningful to David. Donations can be sent to Yale University, PO Box 2038,
New Haven, CT 06521.
29
 management Since 1975, the Yale Corporation Investment Committee has been respon-
sible for oversight of the Endowment, incorporating senior-level invest-
and oversight ment experience into portfolio policy formulation. The Investment
Committee consists of at least three Fellows of the Corporation and other
persons who have particular investment expertise. The Committee meets
quarterly, at which time members review asset allocation policies,
Endowment performance and strategies proposed by Investments Office
staff. The Committee approves guidelines for investment of the
Endowment portfolio, specifying investment objectives, spending policy
and approaches for the investment of each asset category.

Investment Committee Michael J. Cavanagh ’88, Chair Peter Salovey ’86 PhD
Senior Executive Vice President and cfo President
Comcast Corporation Yale University

O. Francis Biondi, Jr. ’87 John Shrewsberry ’92 MPPM

Founder and Former Managing Partner Former cfo
King Street Capital Management Wells Fargo & Company

Matt Cohler ’01 Carter Simonds ’99

Former General Partner Former Managing Director
Benchmark Capital Blue Ridge Capital

Anne Glover ’78 MPPM Josh L. Steiner ’87

ceo and Co-Founder Senior Advisor
Amadeus Capital Partners Bloomberg l.p.

Charles W. Goodyear iv ’80 Michael Warren ’90

President Global Managing Director
Goodyear Investment Company Albright Stonebridge Group

Ben Inker ’92

Partner
gmo

30
 The Investments Office manages the Endowment and other university
financial assets, and defines and implements the university’s borrowing
strategies. Headed by the Chief Investment Officer, the Office currently
consists of thirty-two professionals.

Investments Office Matthew S. T. Mendelsohn ’07 Daniel J. Otto ’12

Chief Investment Officer Associate Director

Amy M. Chivetta Celeste P. Benson

Managing Director Senior Portfolio Manager

R. Alexander Hetherington ’06 Michael Knight

Managing Director Senior Business Associate

John V. Ricotta ’08 Bertan Akin

Managing Director Senior Performance Associate

Alexander C. Banker Ahmed L. Sarhan ’16

Senior Director of Finance Senior Associate

Timothy R. Sullivan ’86 Ryan A. Healy

Senior Director of Private Equity Manager of Business Intelligence

Carrie A. Abildgaard Jordi M. Bofill ’19

Director Senior Investment Analyst

Alan S. Forman Michael J. Byrnes ’18

Director Senior Investment Analyst

John T. Ryan ’14 Claire D. Goldsmith ’18

Director Senior Investment Analyst

Xinchen Wang ’09 Ilana M. Kamber ’18

Director Senior Investment Analyst

Stephanie S. Chan ’97 Joyce E. Koltisko ’18

Senior Associate General Counsel Senior Investment Analyst

Deborah S. Chung Joseph T. Doran ’20

Senior Associate General Counsel Investment Analyst

Lauren Caplan Yusuke Imamura ’20

Associate General Counsel Investment Analyst

Sohail S. Ramirez ’10 jd Alan Liu ’21

Associate General Counsel Investment Analyst

Peter N. Steinwachs Vishal V. Patel ’20

Associate General Counsel Investment Analyst

Chris Unseth Cheryl M. Xiang ’18

Associate General Counsel Investment Analyst

31
Swensen Tower
Swensen’s handwritten notes emphasized an important lesson.

Sources Information for “Achievements” and Voice, University of Wisconsin at 2017, ramsa.com; 2019, Pelli Clarke
“Yale Model” Sections River Falls, March 7, 1974. Pelli Architects; 2021, Yale News; 2021,
Financial and Investment Historical data from previous Page 6 (above left): Courtesy of Dr. Yale Office of Admissions;
Information Endowment Reports (1990 through Charles H. C. Kao. 2021, Tom Strong.
Educational institution asset alloca- 2020); Pioneering Portfolio Page 12 (book cover): Swensen’s Page 27 (Swensen’s campus): Payne
tions and returns from Cambridge Management by David F. Swensen Pioneering Portfolio Management, Whitney Gym: Yale Daily News;
Associates. (New York: Simon & Schuster, © The Free Press, Simon & Schuster, Humanities Quadrangle: Anna Beha
Much of the material in this publica- 2000); press accounts (as identified); revised edition, 2009. Architect; Economics Department:
other published sources including Page 15: Courtesy of The Elizabethan Yale Facilities; Cullman-Heyman
tion is drawn from memoranda pro-
“Harvard Business School Case Club, Yale University. Tennis Center: Centerbrook
duced by the Investments Office for
Study: Yale Investments Office,” Page 17: Courtesy of Squash Haven Architects; Yale Bowl: Yale Daily
the Yale Corporation Investment
November 2020; Manuscripts and (New Haven). News; William L. Harkness Hall: Yale
Committee. Other material comes
Archives, Yale University Library; and Page 18 (Timeline): 1985, Yale Office of Facilities. All others on this
from Yale’s financial records, Reports
testimonials from individuals as Archives; 1989, Jeanmarie Santopatre page: Tom Strong.
of the Treasurer, and Reports of
identified in the text. m.a.r. 2016; 1989, nhr: Catherine Page 28 (above & below): Yale
the President.
Avalone; 1990, nhr: Melanie Stengel; Alumni Association.
Photography
Biographical Information 1992, Univ. of North Texas digital Page 29 left (with Obama):
Photos by courtesy of the
Biographical information on David F. library; 1992, Yale Univ. archive; 1993, Associated Press.
Swensen family: pages 3 (above
Swensen is based on public and press ynhh Children’s Hospital; 1994, Page 29 bottom: Courtesy of Council
and below), 4–6, 9, 22, 24, inside
sources, in addition to contributions Yale News. of Foreign Relations.
back cover.
by the following persons and Page 19: 1994, Yale Alumni Magazine;
Yale/News, Office of Public Affairs & Writer/General Editing
organizations, whose assistance is 1997, Yale Development Office; 1998,
Communications: pp. 1, 6 (below), 7, David J. Baker
gratefully acknowledged: glc Podcast; 1999, Yale News; 2000-
10, 14 (left), 29 (above right), 30.
2001, Yale Archives; 2001, Wikipedia; Design
Meghan R. McMahon (b.a. 1987) Tom Strong: pp. 14 (right), 29 (above
2002, vsba, llc; 2003, Gwathmey- Strong Cohen, llc / Tom Strong /
Stephen J. Swensen, m.d. left), 32, back cover (and see refer-
Siegel.com; 2003, Kieran Margaret Watkins
Richard Foy University of Wisconsin ences to pp. 21, 27 below).
Timberlake.com.
at River Falls The New York Times: p. 25.
Page 20: 2005, Atelier Ten; 2005, Yale
David Page, d.d.s., River Falls, Yale Department of Athletics:
School of Music; 2005, Yale University
pp. 23, 26
Wisconsin Provost’s Office; 2006, Shepley/
Yale Alumni Magazine Other Photographic Credits Bulfinch.com; 2006, Yale News; 2007, Back cover: View from the top floor of
Yale News/opac (Yale Office of Public Front cover: Kristin Larsen Yale News; 2008, dbwv Architects; Swensen Tower, in the recently inau-
Affairs and Communications) Photography. 2009, Yale Environment School; 2010, gurated Humanities Quadrangle, look-
Registrar’s Offices of Yale College and Page 2: Portrait by Alastair Adams, Turner Construction Co. ing east along Alexander Walk, named
the Yale School of Management; photo courtesy of Berkeley College, Page 21: 2011, Pentagram; 2012, Yale for Bruce Alexander, former Vice
Bulletin of Yale University. Yale University. News; 2013, Yale University Office of President of New Haven and State
Charles D. Ellis (b.a. 1959) Page 4 (below): from The Student the President; 2014, Foster & Partners; Affairs and Campus Development.