Kennesaw State Foundation

Kennesaw State Foundation

The Kennesaw State University Foundation operates as the principal fundraising and asset-management arm for the university. Led by CEO Lance Burchett, the foundation stewards a pool of endowed and expendable funds directed toward student scholarships, academic programming, and capital projects. The foundation's board includes investment practitioners such as Teddy Parrish, founder of Parrish Capital, and the institution benefits from ties to a student-managed investment fund established by donor Dr. Gene Henssler. Unlike endowments that allocate to a diversified portfolio of external managers, the foundation's visible deployment is rooted in physical campus infrastructure. Holdings include the Austin Residence Complex, University Village and University Village Suites, and The Summit residential properties on the Kennesaw campus. It also controls revenue-generating assets such as Fifth Third Stadium and the Bernard A. Zuckerman Museum of Art, which houses named collections including the Ruth V. Zuckerman Collection and the Athos Menaboni Collection. No liquid-markets allocation or fund commitment data is publicly disclosed. The foundation's operational scope extends beyond investment management. It manages philanthropic vehicles including the Kennesaw Museum Foundation and maintains professional network affiliations with the Smithsonian and the American Alliance of Museums. The CEO, Lance Burchett, also serves as Vice President for University Advancement, integrating fundraising with asset management under one office. Enrollment growth at Kennesaw State, which serves roughly 45,000 students (per University System of Georgia, 2023), provides a natural tailwind for foundation assets through recurring gifts and facility fees. A distinguishing feature is the reliance on tangible, on-campus real assets rather than an outsourced chief investment officer model. The foundation owns and operates the mixed-use Bixby Kennesaw development, 500 Chastain commercial building, and other parcels around the university, making it simultaneously an academic endowment and a campus real estate holding company. This direct-control structure reduces management fees but concentrates exposure to the university's physical footprint and regional economic health.