# Shepherd University

Shepherd University is an Endowment / Foundation based in Shepherdstown, United States.

## Overview

- **Organization type:** Endowment / Foundation
- **Headquarters:** Shepherdstown, United States
- **Region:** North America
- **Address:** Shepherdstown, WV, United States
- **Founded:** 1871
- **Assets under management:** $30M - $40M (Altss estimate)
- **Website:** shepherd.edu
- **LinkedIn:** https://www.linkedin.com/company/shepherd-university

## Regulatory record

- **Reports private funds:** No

## About

Shepherd University, founded in 1871 as a state-supported institution, now serves as the anchor higher-education entity in Shepherdstown, West Virginia. President Mary J.C. Hendrix leads the institution, while the Shepherd University Foundation — a legally separate supporting organization governed by a board that includes Austin J. Slater, Jr. and EVP Sherri Janelle — manages the university's endowed assets and real property portfolio. The wealth underlying the endowment derives from a combination of private donations, public appropriations, and auxiliary revenue, with leadership donors including Argos USA. This is not a pure portfolio of stocks and bonds. The endowment holds direct, mission-aligned real estate that includes Potomac Place student housing, McMurran Hall commercial space, and the Agricultural Innovation Center at Tabler Farm — a 138-acre working farm on Billmyer Mill Road. These direct holdings coexist alongside pooled institutional investments, most notably the Ironwood Institutional Multi-Strategy Fund and Nuveen Global Cities REIT, placing the university as a limited partner in both hedge fund multi-strategy and global real estate vehicles. The investment posture spans public-equity alternatives, private real estate credit, and directly managed community assets across West Virginia's Jefferson County. The total endowment corpus is estimated at approximately $34 million (Altss estimate); the university does not publicly disclose a precise AUM figure. The university competes in NCAA Division II athletics as a member of the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference and holds specialized accreditation from the National Association of Schools of Art and Design. The Foundation maintains a dedicated art collection, including the Bachner Sculpture Collection housed at the Center for Contemporary Arts. The endowment's structural differentiator is the intimacy between portfolio and place. Unlike a commingled pool run by a large OCIO, Shepherd's endowment directly owns operating campus-adjacent assets alongside its institutional fund commitments. This architecture embeds the investment function within the university's physical footprint — a governance model that blurs the line between treasury management and community development in a way that larger endowments typically outsource.

## Sectors

- Real Estate
- Hedge Funds
- Education

## People

- Mary J.C. Hendrix — President
- Austin J. Slater, Jr. — President of the Foundation Board of Directors, Vice Chairman of the Board of Governors
- Sherri Janelle — Executive Vice President of the Shepherd University Foundation

## Questions

### Is the Shepherd University Foundation the same entity as the university itself?

No. The Shepherd University Foundation is a legally separate 501(c)(3) supporting organization that manages the university's endowment and certain real property. It operates with its own board of directors, which includes university officials like President Mary J.C. Hendrix and independent leaders such as Austin J. Slater, Jr. This separation provides a governance buffer between endowment assets and the university's operating budget.

### What types of assets does Shepherd University's endowment hold?

The endowment holds a mix of direct real estate and pooled institutional funds. Directly owned properties include Potomac Place (student housing), McMurran Hall (commercial space), and the Agricultural Innovation Center at Tabler Farm. In addition, the endowment is an LP in the Ironwood Institutional Multi-Strategy Fund and the Nuveen Global Cities REIT, giving it exposure to hedge fund strategies and global real estate credit.

### How large is Shepherd University's endowment relative to its peer institutions?

With an estimated $34 million in assets (Altss estimate), Shepherd's endowment is small relative to national private liberal arts colleges but aligns with many regional public universities. For context, the endowment supports a student body of approximately 3,000, so assets per student are well below the threshold at which endowments materially subsidize operations beyond scholarship support.

### What is the relationship between the Tabler Farm and the endowment?

Tabler Farm, a 138-acre property at 482 Billmyer Mill Road, is held as a direct endowment asset and operates as the university's Agricultural Innovation Center. Rather than leasing the land to a third party, the university uses the farm for academic programming and community agriculture initiatives — making it both an investment holding and a programmatic asset.

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

Canonical page: https://altss.com/profile/shepherd-university

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