Harvard Endowment Chief Stephen Blyth Resigns

Stephen Blyth, outgoing CEO, HMCHarvard Management Company’s (HMC) CEO Stephen Blyth has resigned for “personal reasons” effective immediately, the endowment announced.

Robert Ettl, HMC’s COO, will continue to serve as interim CEO.

“The board is deeply grateful for Stephen’s many contributions during his distinguished 10-year career at HMC, particularly in his most recent role as president and CEO where he created a more flexible asset allocation framework, a redesigned compensation system, and a collaborative investment decision structure,” said Paul Finnegan, HMC board’s chairman.

Blyth, who announced he was taking a medical leave in May, will serve as senior advisor to the endowment board. He will also return to teaching quantitative finance at Harvard.

René Canezin, head of fixed income, credit, and commodities, and Rich Hall, head of private equity, will continue to co-chair the endowment’s investment committee. Head of Real Estate Daniel Cummings will serve as Ettl’s vice-chairman on HMC’s executive committee, Harvard added.

“HMC is fortunate to have a strong and deep leadership team,” Finnegan said. “We are confident that under Bob Ettl’s leadership, HMC will continue to successfully implement its investment strategy.”

Blyth was tapped as CEO in September 2014 replacing outgoing CEO Jane Mendillo. He joined HMC in 2006 and served as head of public markets until the promotion, overseeing roughly 40% of the fund’s assets.

The $37.6 billion endowment has hired executive recruiter David Barrett Partners to search for Blyth’s replacement.

Related: Harvard Endowment Chief Goes on Medical Leave & Harvard Names New Endowment Head, Underperforms Peers in 2014