May 6, 2021
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David F. Swensen ’80 Ph.D., whose revolutionary approach to managing Yale’s endowment, warmth of spirit, and personal integrity made him one of the world’s most admired institutional investors and a beloved member of the Yale community, died May 5 in New Haven, after a long battle with cancer. He was 67.
Self-confident, selfless, spirited, and guided by a finely tuned moral compass, Swensen assumed management of Yale’s endowment in the mid-1980s, when he was in his early 30s and the endowment stood at $1.3 billion. In the decades to come, he won international renown for an approach to institutional investing that emphasized diversification beyond publicly traded stocks and bonds, especially with illiquid and alternative assets, for his commitment to ethical action in work and life, and for financial results.