Jane Mendillo '84 to Head Harvard Endowment

Jane Mendillo, a member of the Yale SOM Class of 1984, has been named the new president and CEO of the Harvard Management Company. Mendillo, who is also a 1980 graduate of Yale College, is currently the chief investment officer for Wellesley College, a position she has held since 2002. She will begin directing Harvard’s $35 billion endowment on July 1, 2008.

Mendillo will lead the largest endowment in higher education. She is not new to Harvard, having spent 15 years at the Harvard Management Company before moving to Wellesley. During her earlier tenure at Harvard, Mendillo rose to the position of vice president of external management, overseeing the investment of $7 billion of the school’s endowment, including $6 billion in externally managed investments for the Harvard endowment, and $1 billion in Harvard pension and related accounts. Her prior positions at Harvard Management included domestic equities investment, venture capital investment, and the management and investment of charitable trusts and gifts.

When Mendillo moved to Wellesley, she took control of a $1 billion endowment that grew to $1.7 billion during her time at the college. Last year, the group 100 Women in Hedge Funds awarded Mendillo its Industry Leadership Award. While at Wellesley, Mendillo has served on the Yale University Investment Committee, which advises on the investment of the Yale endowment. She will leave that position before assuming her new role at Harvard.

Yale SOM Dean Joel Podolny said Mendillo’s career exemplifies the values of the school. “She is the very embodiment of SOM’s ideal graduate,” he said. “She is someone whose skills and talents are focused on complex management challenges that, when addressed, will have a significant positive societal impact.”

Harvard news release 
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