# Pacific Lutheran University

Pacific Lutheran University is an Endowment / Foundation based in Tacoma, United States.

## Overview

- **Organization type:** Endowment / Foundation
- **Headquarters:** Tacoma, United States
- **Region:** North America
- **Address:** Parkland, WA, United States
- **Founded:** 1890
- **Assets under management:** $123.1M (Altss estimate)
- **Website:** plu.edu
- **LinkedIn:** https://www.linkedin.com/school/pacific-lutheran-university/

## Regulatory record

- **Reports private funds:** No

## About

Pacific Lutheran University, founded in 1890, operates a $123.1M endowment (Altss estimate) overseen by a Board of Regents investment committee chaired by Ben Warwick. The university is owned by a corporation of delegates from Region 1 synods of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, making its governance distinctly ecclesiastical rather than a standalone nonprofit board. Former Washington State Investment Board CEO Theresa Whitmarsh, a PLU alumna, advises the committee, bringing public-fund discipline to the small endowment. The endowment allocates across public equities, hedge funds, private equity, and real estate. The strategy spans early-stage venture, buyout, and secondaries, with co-investors including the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, which has directed grants to PLU's study-away endowment, and the Mellon Foundation, which funds curricular initiatives. On the direct real-asset side, the university holds campus-adjacent commercial properties — Garfield Commons, Garfield North, and the Parkland Post Office — alongside the physical campus, an Opportunity Fund, and a permanent art collection that includes antique type and African art holdings. No public headcount for the investment office exists. The endowment participates in the Intentional Endowments Network and NACUBO, signaling peer benchmarking on sustainable-investing practices even as it retains a fossil-fuel-linked equities sleeve. The PLU Opportunity Fund, a named internal vehicle, reflects a targeted deployment pocket separate from the main endowment pool. The structural differentiator is the twin mandate: the endowment serves a religiously affiliated university while maintaining a hybrid portfolio that includes hedge funds and venture capital — a posture more common at larger secular endowments. The continued investment committee leadership by a sitting regent, rather than a dedicated investment office, creates a governance model where capital-allocation decisions are tightly bound to the university's long-term educational mission and church affiliation.

## Sectors

- Real Estate
- Hedge Funds
- Private Equity
- Venture Capital

## People

- Allan Belton — President
- Ben Warwick — Chairman of the Investment Committee, Board of Regents
- Mark Griffith — Chair of the Board of Regents

## Questions

### Who runs investment decisions at Pacific Lutheran University?

The Investment Committee of the Board of Regents, chaired by Ben Warwick. The committee draws on the advisory expertise of alumna Theresa Whitmarsh, former CEO of the Washington State Investment Board, but the university does not publicize a dedicated internal investment office headcount.

### How is the endowment structured relative to the university's church affiliation?

PLU is owned by a corporation of delegates from Region 1 synods of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. The endowment is embedded in that structure, meaning the same Board of Regents that governs the university sets investment policy — it is not an independent foundation.

### Does PLU's endowment hold direct real estate, and what kind?

Yes. In addition to the main Parkland campus, the university owns commercial properties including Garfield Commons, Garfield North, and the Parkland Post Office, along with residential assets like South Hall and the President's Residence. These are held alongside the Opportunity Fund, a separate deployment vehicle.

### What venture and private equity stages does PLU target?

The endowment deploys across early-stage seed, startup, expansion, late-stage, buyout, secondaries, and fund-of-funds structures. It does not confine itself to a single stage, reflecting a flexible allocator approach within a sub-$150M pool.

## Related profiles

- [Virginia Wesleyan University](https://altss.com/profile/virginia-wesleyan-university)
- [Children's Foundation](https://altss.com/profile/children-s-foundation)

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

Canonical page: https://altss.com/profile/pacific-lutheran-university

Maintained by Altss — https://altss.com — methodology: https://altss.com/methodology