Yale's Lisa Howie named Smith College's First Chief Investment Officer

Dear students, staff, faculty and alums:

We are pleased to announce that Lisa Howie, a director in the Yale University Investments Office, will become Smith’s first chief investment officer, a key step in bringing management of the college’s endowment in-house. As you know, last year Smith announced that we would shift away from outsourcing our endowment management, allowing us to customize investment strategies to our specific needs and giving us greater direct control over our largest financial asset. Smith’s endowment funds more than one-third of the college’s operating budget and enables the college to invest in key areas such as student financial aid, faculty recruitment and retention, and innovative academic programming.

Lisa Howie received both her bachelor of science and master of business administration from Yale, where she has spent the past 12 years managing Yale’s foreign public and private equity portfolios. She also contributed significantly to the Investments Office’s recruiting and staffing efforts as well as its diversity and inclusion initiatives. In her new role, she will report jointly to President McCartney and to the Investment Committee of the board of trustees. She will be responsible for building a high-performing investment team and best-in-class investment office.

Throughout the search process, Lisa impressed us with her investment expertise, her leadership skills and her dedication to building strong teams. She expressed her strong commitment to Smith’s mission of educating and empowering women.

We wish to thank the search committee—trustees Deborah DeCotis ’74, Andrea Auerbach ’91, and Anne Martin ’83, and Vice President for Finance and Administration David DeSwert—for their efforts and guidance as we bring management of the endowment in-house.

Lisa’s first day at Smith will be June 28, 2021. We hope you will join us in welcoming her to our community.

Sincerely,

Kathleen McCartney
President

Alison Overseth ’80
Chair, Board of Trustees

Deborah Farrington ’72
Chair, Investment Committee of the Board of Trustees
Chair, Chief Investment Officer Search Committee