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OHSU Foundation
Greg Ness, former CEO of The Standard, oversaw the OHSU Foundation board. Endowment est. $922M, backs university spinouts via Next Ventures.
OHSU Foundation
Philanthropic donors established the Oregon Health & Sciences University Foundation in 1971 as an independent nonprofit corporation solely serving OHSU, the state's public academic medical center. The foundation reports to a board that has included prominent Oregon business figures like Greg Ness, its former chair, and John D. Hershey, a director with ties to Blackstone and Sixth Street Specialty Lending. While the foundation's endowment value is not publicly disclosed, Altss estimates its size at approximately $922 million. The portfolio spans five heavily diversified asset classes. The foundation commits to buyout, distressed debt, early- to late-stage venture capital, growth equity, natural resources, and secondaries. Beyond standard fund commitments, the organization deliberately co-invests to capture concentrated returns. A defining allocation is its strategic partnership with Next Ventures, anchoring Next Ventures II, a fund dedicated to commercializing medical-device, digital-health, and biotech startups spun directly out of OHSU research. The foundation holds direct real assets as well, including the Franklin Building at 3030 SW Moody Ave, the Schnitzer Campus land parcel in the South Waterfront donated by the Schnitzer family, and a timberland portfolio. The foundation runs lean, without publicly listed professional headcount — it manages assets in coordination with OHSU, the Oregon Community Foundation, and its volunteer board. The board room connects the endowment to operating executives; John D. Hershey carries public-company governance experience from Blackstone and Sixth Street. In its philanthropic mode, the foundation stewards an enduring relationship with Phil and Penny Knight, who have collectively pledged $2 billion to OHSU, including a famous $500 million matching grant for the Knight Cancer Challenge. The Doernbecher Children's Hospital Foundation and OHSU Medical Research Foundation sit as adjacent philanthropic entities within the same fundraising infrastructure. The foundation's architecture blurs the line between a university endowment and an evergreen venture platform. Its mandate to co-invest directly in OHSU spinouts via Next Ventures concentrates its portfolio risk into the very medical innovations its donor base funds — a closed loop in which philanthropic gifts fuel research, and the investment office reintroduces capital to commercialize the resulting intellectual property.
General information
Firm type
Endowment / Foundation
Year founded
1971
AUM
$922M (Altss estimate)
Location
Region
North America
Country
United States
City
Portland
Corporate office
2020 SW 4th Avenue, Suite 900, Portland, OR 97201, United States
Principals
Greg Ness
Former Board Chair
John D. Hershey
Board Member
Sector focus
Frequently asked questions
How does the OHSU Foundation source proprietary investment opportunities?
Its most distinctive sourcing channel is the partnership with Next Ventures, a venture firm formed specifically to commercialize intellectual property developed at OHSU. The foundation directly co-invests in the Next Ventures II fund, which targets medical-device, digital-health, and biotech companies spun out of the university. This gives the portfolio early access to deal flow that originates inside an academic medical center with over $500 million in annual research funding.
What is the relationship between the OHSU Foundation and the Knight family's giving?
Phil and Penny Knight are the foundation's most transformative donors, having pledged a combined $2 billion to OHSU. Their $500 million matching grant for the Knight Cancer Challenge specifically ran through the foundation's fundraising infrastructure. However, the Knights' personal investment vehicles and family office operate separately from the foundation's endowment portfolio.
Is the OHSU Foundation strictly an endowment, or does it function more like a venture investor?
It functions as both. The foundation manages a diversified endowment across buyouts, distressed debt, secondaries, and natural resources. But it also acts like an evergreen venture partner through its anchor commitment to Next Ventures II, a fund explicitly designed to back for-profit companies emerging from OHSU labs, giving the foundation concentrated equity exposure to early-stage academic spinouts.
Who governs investment decisions at the OHSU Foundation?
A volunteer board of directors holds fiduciary responsibility. Past and current board members include Greg Ness, former chair and retired CEO of The Standard, and John D. Hershey, who serves on the boards of Blackstone and Sixth Street Specialty Lending. The foundation has not disclosed a dedicated internal chief investment officer or investment committee structure in public-facing materials.
What role does the Oregon Community Foundation play with the OHSU Foundation?
The two organizations collaborate on endowment management and philanthropic advising, per Altss research. This can create a co-investment or shared external-manager dynamic for Oregon-based non-profit portfolios, though the specific mandates and fee-sharing arrangements between the two foundations have not been publicly detailed.
Does the foundation hold any directly owned operating real estate?
Yes. The foundation's direct real assets include the Franklin Building on SW Moody Avenue in Portland's South Waterfront district and the underlying Schnitzer Campus land parcel, donated by the Schnitzer family. It also holds a timberland portfolio and office space at 2020 SW 4th Avenue.
Which sectors does the OHSU Foundation explicitly avoid?
No exclusionary screens are publicly documented. However, given the foundation's sole beneficiary is an academic medical center, and its primary direct co-investment vehicle (Next Ventures II) targets health-sciences spinouts, the portfolio naturally skews toward healthcare and life sciences rather than sectors like consumer goods or heavy industrials.
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.
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