(December 6, 2013) – Mark Baumgartner, the Ford Foundation’s former head of asset allocation and risk, has accepted the CIO role at the Princeton-based Institute for Advanced Study.
He starts with the endowment in January, succeeding Ashvin Chhabra as CIO.
The $1 billion endowment is smaller than Ford’s $11 billion portfolio, but the private research institute offers Baumgartner a rare chance to pursue both of his specialties.
Before entering asset management, he completed a PhD in aerospace engineering at Princeton, and holds a bachelor’s degree in the same discipline from the University of Florida.
“The similarity between engineering and finance is that both involve making decisions in the face of uncertainty—whether it be designing a wing or changing the asset allocation of a portfolio,” Baumgartner told aiCIO in a 2012 interview.
The Institute for Advanced Study supports fundamental research into the sciences and humanities—“the original, often speculative thinking that produces advances in knowledge that change the way we understand the world,” according to the organization.
“We are honored to have someone with Mark’s combination of strong investment experience and understanding of the Institute’s needs to guide our strategic growth,” said Robbert Dijkgraaf, a mathematical physicist and director of the institute.
Baumgartner spent nearly five years at the Ford Foundation working under CIO Eric Doppstadt. Prior to that, he had served as a managing director with Credit Suisse and Morgan Stanley’s global portfolio solutions unit.
Related Content: Mark Baumgartner’s Power 100 Profile