New York University has named Michelle Knudsen as NYU’s new Chief Investment Officer (CIO). Working closely with the Investment Committee of the University’s Board of Trustees, Ms. Knudsen will have responsibility for managing the University’s $6-billion endowment and leading the strong team of professionals in NYU’s Investment Office. She will join NYU toward the end of June 2024.
Trustee Traci Lerner, Chair of the Board’s Investment Committee, stated, “We look forward to welcoming Michelle Knudsen to NYU. Her selection was the outcome of a thorough, global search, and we are thrilled to have her joining us. She impressed the Search Committee with her intellect, creativity, energy, and insight. We believe she will make an enormous contribution to NYU as both our CIO and as an engaged member of our community.”
Executive Vice President Martin Dorph said, “NYU’s endowment is among the 30 largest university endowments; the resources it provides are incredibly important to the University and require an especially qualified and talented professional to be our CIO. In Michelle, we have found such a person. She brings excellent experience to the position, and impressed me and members of the Investment Committee with her insights, her understanding of NYU’s needs, and her team management skills.”
A graduate of Stanford University, Ms. Knudsen comes to NYU from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, where she has been serving as senior portfolio manager since 2019, developing and implementing key investment and diversification strategies for the Foundation’s $8-billion endowment and managing its team of investment analysts. From 2010 to 2019, she held a series of increasingly senior positions at Partners Capital Investment Group, an investment office for institutional and private clients, with responsibility for approximately $5 billion in assets spanning diversified investment strategies. Prior to Partners, she was a financial analyst at Goldman Sachs.
The search was undertaken by a search committee led by Traci Lerner, NYU Trustee and Chair of the Investment Committee, with the participation of trustees representing the NYU Board and the Board of the Law School Foundation.
About NYU’s Endowment
Supported by major donations (not tuition dollars), NYU’s $6 billion endowment fund provides a permanent source of capital to support the University’s mission and programs. The Endowment is managed by a professional investment staff within the NYU Investment Office. It is invested globally across a diverse range of strategies using external managers, and income from the endowment supports NYU’s academic program.
About New York University
Founded in 1831, NYU is one of the world’s foremost research universities (with more than $1 billion per year in research expenditures, it is ranked seventh among private research universities) and is a member of the selective Association of American Universities. NYU has degree-granting university campuses in New York, Abu Dhabi, and Shanghai and has 13 other global academic sites, including London, Paris, Florence, Tel Aviv, Buenos Aires, and Accra, and US sites in Washington, DC, Los Angeles, CA, and Tulsa, OK. Through its numerous schools and colleges, NYU is a leader in conducting research and providing education in the arts and sciences, law, medicine, business, dentistry, engineering, education, nursing, the cinematic and performing arts, music and studio arts, public service, social work, public health, and professional studies, among other areas.
