Lehigh University has hired a Harvard Management Company alum as investment chief of its $1.2 billion endowment, the Bethlehem, Pennsylvania-based school announced Monday.
Kristin Agatone, who most recently served as a managing director at outsourced-CIO firm Summit Rock Advisors, moves into the CIO role at Lehigh on May 31.
“We are proud to welcome Kristin to Lehigh,” said university President John Simon in a statement. “She boasts an impressive track record in institutional investment management, and enjoys a sterling reputation among her peers and colleagues. We are fully confident that she’s the right choice to oversee our endowment and help us build an even stronger financial future.”
Agatone replaces ex-CIO Peter Gilbert, who retired from Lehigh in November. Jordan Hitch, a member of the university’s board of trustees and former Bain Capital managing director, has served as interim CIO since Gilbert’s departure.
“It is an honor to step into this important role at the university and become a member of the Lehigh community,” Agatone said. “I look forward to expanding the ways Lehigh’s endowment can support the university’s longstanding education mission—not just for the students of today, but those of future generations as well.”
Prior to joining Summit Rock, Agatone was a vice president with Harvard University’s $37 billion endowment. She has also worked in the private equity group at TPG Capital and in the investment banking division at Goldman Sachs.
Agatone holds a bachelor’s degree and MBA from Harvard.