# Augustana College

Augustana College is an Endowment / Foundation based in Rock Island, United States.

## Overview

- **Organization type:** Endowment / Foundation
- **Headquarters:** Rock Island, United States
- **Region:** North America
- **Address:** Rock Island, Illinois, United States
- **Founded:** 1860
- **Assets under management:** $222.9M (Altss estimate)
- **Website:** augustana.edu
- **LinkedIn:** https://www.linkedin.com/school/augustana-college/

## Regulatory record

- **Reports private funds:** No

## About

Augustana College's endowment traces its origins to the institution's founding in 1860 by Swedish Lutheran settlers, with its modern investment posture emerging under President Andrea Talentino's administration. The endowment benefits from a board of trustees that includes senior leaders from Morgan Stanley, BlackRock, and John Deere. A defining philanthropic event was the $40 million Gerber Challenge, established by trustee and alumnus Murry Gerber, which reshaped the institution's capital campaign capabilities. The endowment allocates across hedge funds, buyout, growth, and special situations strategies. Publicly confirmed investment types lean toward secondaries and private capital. The geographic focus is North America, consistent with a regional liberal arts college mandate. A board of trustees featuring Michael Gapen of Morgan Stanley, Murry Gerber of BlackRock, and Comptroller Leslee Hager of Deere & Co. provides investment governance. The endowment's actual number of investment professionals is not disclosed, as investment management typically operates through trustee committees. The college maintains physical campus assets including the Robert A. and Patricia K. Hanson Hall of Science and the Gerber Center for Student Life, alongside the John Deere Planetarium and Fryxell Geology Museum — all real assets that complement the financial pool. What differentiates Augustana's endowment structure is the density of operating-company board experience within its investment committee — trustees simultaneously sit on the boards of BlackRock and Halliburton, or run government affairs for Toyota, bringing a direct, cross-sector view to a $223M pool. This hybrid of asset-owner fiduciary duty with director-level public-company governance is unusual for an endowment of this size.

## Sectors

- Hedge Funds
- Secondaries & Special Situations
- Education
- Real Estate

## People

- Andrea Talentino — President
- Murry Gerber — Trustee
- Michael Gapen — Trustee
- Leslee Hager — Trustee
- Mark Johnson — Trustee
- Darrell Owens — Trustee
- Daryl Roser — Trustee
- Matthew Stoodley — Trustee
- Robert Anderson — Trustee
- Robert A. Hanson — Trustee and Major Donor

## Questions

### What is the estimated size of the Augustana College endowment?

The endowment is estimated at $222.9 million (Altss estimate). Augustana College does not publicly disclose a real-time AUM figure on its website. The last available benchmark for the college's pool comes from NACUBO peer comparison data.

### How is the endowment governed?

The endowment is governed by the Augustana College Board of Trustees. The board includes individuals with direct investment industry experience, such as Murry Gerber, a director at BlackRock; Michael Gapen, a managing director at Morgan Stanley; and Daryl Roser, a managing director at Accenture.

### What was the Gerber Challenge and how did it impact the endowment?

The Gerber Challenge was a $40 million matching gift program established by trustee and alumnus Murry Gerber. It served as a major catalyst for fundraising, substantially increasing the college's capital campaign totals and adding directly to the permanent endowment.

## Related profiles

- [Tri-State Carpenters and Joiners Pension Trust Fund](https://altss.com/profile/tri-state-carpenters-and-joiners-pension-trust-fund)
- [University of Louisiana at Lafayette Foundation](https://altss.com/profile/university-of-louisiana-at-lafayette-foundation)

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Last updated: 2026-08-11T02:43:31.692Z

Canonical page: https://altss.com/profile/augustana-college

Maintained by Altss — https://altss.com — methodology: https://altss.com/methodology