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Medical College of Georgia Foundation
The Medical College of Georgia Foundation was created in 1954 as a charitable partner to support what is now the state's flagship public health sciences...
Medical College of Georgia Foundation
The Medical College of Georgia Foundation was created in 1954 as a charitable partner to support what is now the state's flagship public health sciences university. President and CEO Ian S. Mercier manages the perpetual endowment, which serves the Medical College of Georgia at Augusta University, its affiliated Health Sciences Colleges, and the Wellstar-MCG hospital system. Chairman Judson Benjamin Deal provides board-level continuity through the foundation's real estate expansion. The foundation's investment posture spans hedge-fund commitments, distressed-debt allocations, fund-of-funds strategies, and secondaries — alongside a concentrated program of direct real assets in Augusta. The institution's holdings combine a managed endowment with physical property investments that include the Sutherland Mill headquarters on St. Sebastian Way, the mixed-use HUB for Community Innovation on Chafee Avenue, the 15th Street project, commercial parcels on Fifteenth Street, and the Georgia Cyber Center site on Grace Hopper Lane. The foundation partners with the Community Foundation for the CSRA, which co-locates at Sutherland Mill. The organization's deployment also intersects directly with its academic mission. It underwrites scholarships, professorships, research facilities and the Belltower Student Foundation. The MCG 3+ Peach State Scholars Initiative, executed alongside Centene subsidiary Peach State Health Plan, brings a corporate co-investor into the foundation's workforce-pipeline work. Mercier participates actively in the Association of Governing Boards of Universities and Colleges as a speaker and advisory-council member, extending the foundation's governance influence beyond Georgia. The foundation is unusual among U.S. medical-school endowments for operating as a direct real estate developer in its host city. Its physical footprint in Augusta — from the cyber center site to student housing to innovation hubs — gives it a balance-sheet shape more often associated with place-based foundations than with university-affiliated investment offices.
General information
Firm type
Endowment / Foundation
Year founded
1954
Location
Region
North America
Country
United States
City
Augusta
Corporate office
720 St. Sebastian Way, Suite 150, Augusta, GA 30901, United States
Principals
Ian S. Mercier
President and CEO
Judson Benjamin Deal
Chairman of the Board
Sector focus
Frequently asked questions
Who runs investment decisions at the Medical College of Georgia Foundation?
President and CEO Ian S. Mercier leads the foundation day-to-day, and the investment and governance strategy is overseen by a board chaired by Judson Benjamin Deal. The foundation has not publicly disclosed a dedicated CIO role or separate investment committee structure.
How does the foundation's real estate portfolio relate to its endowment?
The foundation holds real assets directly, including its Sutherland Mill headquarters, the HUB for Community Innovation, the 15th Street mixed-use project, and parcels tied to the Georgia Cyber Center. These properties operate alongside the liquid endowment portfolio, giving the foundation an unusually large on-balance-sheet physical presence for an entity of its size.
Is the MCG Foundation a single-family office?
No. It is a non-profit 501(c)(3) endowment that supports the Medical College of Georgia and the broader Health Sciences enterprise at Augusta University. All assets benefit the institution and its academic-medical mission.
Does the foundation allocate to external managers or invest directly?
The foundation's strategy includes both. On the external-manager side, it uses hedge-fund commitments, fund-of-funds vehicles, distressed-debt allocations, and secondaries. On the direct side, it acquires and develops commercial, mixed-use, and residential property in Augusta.
Which external partners collaborate with the foundation on its mission-related work?
The Community Foundation for the CSRA co-locates at the Sutherland Mill headquarters and partners on the Hub for Community Innovation. Centene's Peach State Health Plan co-funds the MCG 3+ Peach State Scholars Initiative, a pipeline program for medical students. Wellstar Health System is the foundation's clinical partner through the Wellstar-MCG hospital network.
How does the foundation interact with Augusta University's governance?
The foundation is a legally separate 501(c)(3) entity, not a unit of the university or the University System of Georgia. Its CEO, Ian Mercier, participates nationally in the Association of Governing Boards of Universities and Colleges as a speaker and advisory council member, which gives the foundation a voice in broader governance conversations beyond the campus.
What philanthropic structures sit under or alongside the foundation?
The MCG Foundation operates the Belltower Student Foundation, which appears to provide direct student support, and is also linked to the Paceline fundraising platform — founded by Dag Grantham in partnership with the foundation — which raises money for cancer research at the Georgia Cancer Center.
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