# Mount Saint Mary's University

Mount Saint Mary's University is an Endowment / Foundation based in Los Angeles, United States.

## Overview

- **Organization type:** Endowment / Foundation
- **Headquarters:** Los Angeles, United States
- **Region:** North America
- **Address:** Los Angeles, CA, United States
- **Founded:** 1925
- **Assets under management:** Undisclosed
- **Website:** msmu.edu
- **LinkedIn:** https://www.linkedin.com/school/mount-saint-mary's-university/

## Regulatory record

- **Reports private funds:** No

## About

Mount Saint Mary's University was founded in 1925 by the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet, establishing the only primarily women's Catholic university in Los Angeles. President Ann McElaney-Johnson, who also chairs the Women's College Coalition, governs an institution anchored by two principal campuses: the Chalon Campus in Brentwood and the Doheny Campus near downtown. A transformative $15 million gift from MacKenzie Scott in 2020 underscored the university's recognized role in advancing gender equity and Hispanic-serving education. The endowment pursues a broad investment mandate spanning venture capital, growth equity, buyouts, natural resources, and fund-of-funds commitments. This multi-asset approach reflects an institutional portfolio construction philosophy designed to support over 50 graduate and undergraduate programs. The university's presence extends beyond academics, with commercial real estate holdings that include the Chalon and Doheny campuses, a Hollywood studio property, and an art gallery collection, supplemented by a historic residential birthplace site in Bas-en-Basset, France. The institution's real asset footprint provides an inherent inflation hedge within the broader portfolio. President McElaney-Johnson has deepened the university's institutional network through active participation in the Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities and the Council of Independent Colleges. The operating relationship with Payden & Rygel, a Los Angeles-based fixed-income manager, is reinforced by alumnus James Sarni's position as a Managing Director at the firm and member of the MSMU Board of Advisors. In November 2023, the university publicly celebrated its designation as a Hispanic-Serving Institution, which positions it for specific federal grant opportunities that can complement endowment returns. Mount Saint Mary's endowment is structurally distinct as a single-campus foundation whose investment program supports a dual identity: a traditional undergraduate women's college and a coeducational graduate health sciences hub. This academic mix creates spending-policy demands different from those of a pure liberal arts college, requiring the endowment to balance long-term capital appreciation with the liquidity needed for health-profession program expansion.

## Sectors

- Education

## Offices

- Chalon Campus: 12001 Chalon Rd, Los Angeles, CA 90049
- Doheny Campus: 10 Chester Place, Los Angeles, CA 90007

## People

- Ann McElaney-Johnson — President

## Questions

### What is Mount Saint Mary's relationship to the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet?

The Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet founded the university in 1925 and remain its sponsoring religious order. The university's Chalon campus is named for the order's motherhouse in France. The relationship is structural — the sisters' charism shapes the university's mission — but investment decisions appear managed by the university's board and investment committee, not the order directly.

### What real assets does Mount Saint Mary's own outside its endowment portfolio?

Beyond the endowment fund, the university holds two Los Angeles campuses (Chalon and Doheny), a Hollywood studio property, and a residential birthplace site for Mother St. John Fontbonne in Bas-en-Basset, France. It also houses the José Drudis-Biada Art Gallery Collection on the Chalon campus. These assets are held for educational and cultural purposes, not as part of an investment portfolio.

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

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