Carnegie Mellon University
January 19, 2012

Press Release: Carnegie Mellon Names Charles A. Kennedy Chief Investment Officer

Contact: Teresa Thomas / 412-268-2900 / thomas@cmu.edu

PITTSBURGH—Following a national search, Carnegie Mellon University has named Charles A. Kennedy its new chief investment officer (CIO). Kennedy succeeds Edward J. Grefenstette, who resigned in March 2010 to become CIO of The Dietrich Charitable Trusts.

Kennedy has served as CMU's interim CIO since Grefenstette's departure. He joined the university as senior investment manager in December 2007, and since then has helped to develop the university's investment program.

"Our national search turned up many fine candidates, but Chuck Kennedy rose to the top," said CMU Trustee David Shapira, head of the CIO search committee and chair of the board of trustees' Investment Committee. "Chuck did an outstanding job as interim CIO and his performance, coupled with his knowledge and understanding of the Carnegie Mellon culture made him the right choice."

From 1995 to 2002, Kennedy was a principal investment banker at RBC Capital Markets, formerly Dain Rauscher Wessels (DRW), in Minneapolis and Boston. While at DRW, he managed transactions for companies in a variety of industries before joining the network technology team in 1997. Kennedy and the team managed six of the top 10 network technology IPOs of 1999. As a partner with DRW Venture Partners, he oversaw investments in 15 companies.

In 2003, Kennedy began teaching courses at Duquesne University's Palumbo Donahue School of Business and in 2004 joined the finance faculty at the University of Pittsburgh's Katz Graduate School of Business. There, he taught courses in private equity; venture capital; investment banking; financial forecasting; commercial banking; financial distress; and other advanced financial topics. Pitt's MBA Class of 2007 named him "Teacher of the Year." Most recently, in 2010, he taught a venture capital/private equity course at CMU's Tepper School of Business.

Early in his career, Kennedy served in various banking positions with Westinghouse Credit Corporation, PNC Bank and Credit Suisse, formerly CS First Boston.

Kennedy earned his MBA from Harvard Business School in 1995. He graduated valedictorian of his 1988 class at Duquesne, where he earned a bachelor's degree in business administration.

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