Updated:
California State University, Stanislaus Foundation
The California State University, Stanislaus Foundation was established in 1960 as an official auxiliary to the university. Its mandate is to supplement...
California State University, Stanislaus Foundation
The California State University, Stanislaus Foundation was established in 1960 as an official auxiliary to the university. Its mandate is to supplement declining state funding by soliciting and managing private gifts. Governance reflects the region's dominant economic forces: Board President Stephen Gemperle runs Gemperle Family Farms, and investment chair Richard Ronten leads California and Utah Property Investments. Past leadership includes John Jacinto, CEO of Vistech Manufacturing Solutions, illustrating a board built on local agribusiness and industrial ties that influence the Foundation's conservative, asset-backed orientation. The Foundation's investment pool—estimated at roughly $19M—is deployed across multiple structures. Liquid financial assets are largely invested through the CSU Systemwide Total Return Portfolio, a pooled vehicle managed out of Long Beach that provides small-campus auxiliaries with access to institutional asset classes including global equities, fixed income, and inflation-sensitive assets. Separately, the Foundation holds direct real estate exposure through the main Turlock campus and the Stanislaus State Stockton Campus at 612 E. Magnolia Street, as well as a dedicated Commodity Exposure Portfolio that reflects the Central Valley's agricultural base. On the cultural-asset side, the Foundation stewards the University Fine Art Collection, the California Painting Collection, and the Tamarind Print Collection. The Foundation operates without dedicated investment staff, relying on the Finance and Investment Committee chaired by Ronten to oversee allocations. Systemwide pooled assets are governed by CSU investment policy, while local real estate and commodity positions offer inflation-hedging characteristics aligned with the board's expertise. The Foundation's philanthropic arm maintains membership in NACUBO and CASE, and the entity participates in CSURMA for risk management. Recent board transitions have brought Britt Rios-Ellis into the Foundation chair role alongside her presidency of the university, a dual-hat structure common across CSU auxiliaries. The structural differentiator is the Foundation's embeddedness in a single regional economy. Unlike endowments that diversify purely through financial assets, the Stanislaus Foundation's board composition—farm operators, local manufacturers, regional property investors—produces a portfolio that intentionally overlaps with the Central Valley's land, commodity, and real estate markets. This generates inflation sensitivity and mission alignment that a generic pooled-fund-only approach would lack; it also limits liquidity and introduces concentration risk that a larger, professionally staffed endowment would likely avoid.
General information
Firm type
Endowment / Foundation
Year founded
1960
Location
Region
North America
Country
United States
City
Turlock
Corporate office
One University Circle, Turlock, CA 95382, United States
Principals
Britt Rios-Ellis
Foundation Board Chair; President of California State University, Stanislaus
Stephen Gemperle
Foundation President; President of Gemperle Family Farms
Richard Ronten
Chair of Finance and Investment Committee; President of California and Utah Property Investments
Sector focus
Frequently asked questions
Who runs investment decisions at the CSU Stanislaus Foundation?
The Foundation's Finance and Investment Committee makes all allocation decisions. Richard Ronten, President of California and Utah Property Investments, chairs that committee. Day-to-day investment management for liquid assets is delegated to the CSU Systemwide Investment Office, which runs the Total Return Portfolio that the Foundation participates in. The Foundation has no dedicated internal investment staff.
How does the Foundation's portfolio divide between pooled funds and direct holdings?
The Foundation participates in the CSU Systemwide Total Return Portfolio for its core financial exposures — this gives it access to institutional asset classes across equities, fixed income, and real assets managed at the system level. Separately, it holds direct real estate including the Turlock and Stockton campuses, and maintains a Commodity Exposure Portfolio reflecting the board's deep agricultural expertise in California's Central Valley.
How is the Foundation related to the CSU system's central investment office?
The Foundation is an auxiliary organization of California State University, Stanislaus — legally separate but mission-bound. It voluntarily invests its liquid endowment assets alongside other CSU campus auxiliaries and foundations through the CSU Total Return Portfolio, a pooled fund governed by the CSU systemwide Investment Advisory Committee. The Foundation retains full discretion over direct real estate and its commodity portfolio.
What is the board's connection to Central Valley agriculture?
The board's composition reflects the region's dominant industries. Foundation President Stephen Gemperle runs Gemperle Family Farms, a major Central Valley egg and almond producer. Board member Norik Naraghi serves as general counsel for H. Naraghi Farms. Investment chair Richard Ronten's real estate firm operates heavily in California agricultural and development property. This agricultural expertise shapes the Foundation's commodity allocations.
Does the Foundation maintain philanthropic structures beyond the endowment?
Yes. The Foundation is the officially designated recipient and steward of all private gifts to the university. Its philanthropic operations fund student scholarships, faculty grants, and campus capital projects. It also holds and manages the university's fine art collections, including the Tamarind Print Collection and California Painting Collection, which are housed in the University Art Gallery and library.
What is the Foundation's known posture on liquidity?
The Foundation accepts lower liquidity in exchange for mission alignment and inflation protection. The pooled Total Return Portfolio provides quarterly liquidity for spending needs, but the direct real estate holdings — two campus properties — and the commodity portfolio are illiquid by design. This tradeoff is consistent with a small endowment that does not face capital calls or redemption pressures from third-party beneficiaries.
Why is the Foundation's AUM set at approximately $19M, and is that a public figure?
The Foundation does not publish a current AUM figure. The $19M estimate is derived from an analysis of the entity's scale relative to the university's enrollment, regional giving patterns, and auxiliary revenue flows, benchmarked against comparable CSU campus foundations. The true figure may be modestly higher if recent capital campaigns have meaningfully boosted the corpus.
Profile maintained by Altss using OSINT (open-source intelligence), regulatory filings, licensed data partners, and verified direct submissions. Read the methodology. Last updated: . Continuous refresh with full update cycles at least every 30 days.
Need institutional-grade insight on endowments & foundations?
Altss delivers:
Prefer a guided tour?
We’ll walk you through: