Ohio University Foundation

Ohio University Foundation

The Ohio University Foundation was established in 1945 as a 501(c)(3) repository for all private gifts to Ohio University. It channels donations from alumni, corporations, and other foundations into annual giving programs, capital campaigns, and planned gifts. Chair Sandra J. Anderson oversees a board that mixes long-time university stewards with major donors like trustee Perry Sook, CEO of Nexstar Media Group. The Foundation's investment footprint is concentrated in hedge funds, infrastructure, and real estate, but its most active posture is in early-stage venture capital. It is a founding partner in the Ohio Innovation Fund, a venture initiative backed alongside Ohio State University that invests in Ohio-based startups. The Foundation's direct real assets include the 139-room Ohio University Inn & Conference Center, the Russ Research Center industrial campus in Beavercreek Township, and the mixed-use Ridges complex, which also houses the Kennedy Museum of Art and its collections of Southwest Native American weavings and contemporary prints. The Foundation's total assets under management are not publicly disclosed. Its team size and internal investment staff structure remain private, although it operates with the explicit administrative support of Ohio University itself. Beyond its balance-sheet investments, the Foundation manages several notable physical assets and philanthropic programs, including the Sugar Bush Foundation, a supporting organization that funds community projects in Appalachian Ohio. The board's participation in NACUBO's endowment study links it to national peer benchmarking. The Foundation's structure is unusual in its dual role as both a university endowment and a direct real-asset operator. Unlike endowments that outsource all property management, it directly holds and operates commercial, industrial, and residential real estate in and around Athens. This operational footprint, combined with its in-state venture fund partnership, embeds the Foundation directly in the local economy in a way that standard pooled endowments do not.