BALTIMORE, April 17, 2014 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Foundation, one of the largest private foundations in the United States, has named Jonathan D. Hook as its first Chief Investment Officer. Mr. Hook will work closely with the Foundation's Board of Trustees and with Rachel Garbow Monroe, the Weinberg Foundation's President/CEO, to refine the Foundation's investment strategy. Mr. Hook, 56, comes to the Weinberg Foundation from The Ohio State University where he served as Vice President and Chief Investment Officer.
"The decision to hire a CIO was a product of the growth and increasing complexity of the Foundation's portfolio," said Ms. Monroe, "As the Weinberg Foundation's assets continue to grow in size and complexity, it was appropriate to hire an in-house CIO who is available on a daily basis to guide and manage our investment portfolio. Jonathan is a superb professional with a strong background in finance in addition to his investment management experience."
Mr. Hook's appointment follows a national search that began this past December. His first day in the office will be Tuesday, May 27, 2014. He will also build an internal investment team to assist him. Mr. Hook is accustomed to charting a new course. After a twenty-year career in commercial banking, he transitioned to a career in institutional investment management when he was hired to build Baylor University's investment office in 2001. He subsequently helped to found the Ohio State University Investment Office in 2008.
"I am extremely honored and humbled that the Foundation selected me to head this critical effort," said Jonathan Hook. "The Weinberg Foundation's mission is to assist those who are poor and vulnerable, a mission that resonates very strongly with me. The Foundation has a dynamic and successful history. I look forward to this challenge and the opportunity to help the Weinberg Foundation manage and grow its assets and be even more effective in the future."
Mr. Hook is a graduate of Willamette University with a degree in Economics and Sociology, and received an MBA in Finance from the Hankamer School of Business at Baylor University. During his more than 13 years as a university CIO, he was honored by Foundation and Endowment Intelligence as the CIO of the Year in 2005 and Best Large Endowment in 2010. Mr. Hook is a frequent speaker in the industry and has been featured in two separate books on endowment management.
He and his wife, Karen, will relocate to the Baltimore area in the near future. They have two children, Kendall, with Sony Records in Nashville, and Connor, a Junior at Baylor University.
About The Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Foundation
The Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Foundation, one of the largest private charitable foundations in the United States, provides approximately $100 million in annual grants to nonprofits that provide direct services to low-income and vulnerable individuals and families, primarily in the U.S. and Israel. Grants are focused on meeting basic needs and enhancing an individual's ability to meet those needs with emphasis on older adults, the Jewish community, and our hometown communities of Maryland, Northeastern Pennsylvania, and Hawaii. The trustees, some of whom also serve as executive officers of the Foundation, are Donn Weinberg, Barry I. Schloss, Robert T. Kelly, Jr., Alvin Awaya, and Chair Ellen M. Heller. Rachel Garbow Monroe serves as the Weinberg Foundation's President and CEO. For more information please go to www.hjweinbergfoundation.org.