University of Mary

University of Mary

Founded in 1959 by the Benedictine Sisters of Annunciation Monastery, the University of Mary operates as a private Catholic university with an estimated $65M endowment (Altss estimate). The founding order remains the institutional sponsor, with several Sisters serving on the Board of Trustees. Wealth accumulation is tied to campus real estate holdings and major donor relationships, notably with Harold Hamm, founder of Continental Resources, and A. Kirk Lanterman, former CEO of Holland America Line. The endowment's known deployment concentrates on direct real estate assets. Holdings include the main commercial campus at 7500 University Drive in Bismarck, a downtown Bismarck satellite facility, Saint Joseph's Residence Hall, and a mixed-use Annunciation Monastery property. The university also maintains a commercial campus in Rome. Beyond tangible assets, the student-managed University of Mary Investment Club — established with support from A. Kirk Lanterman — functions as a co-curricular portfolio. Academic partnerships with Arizona State University for the Mary College at ASU exchange program add operational complexity without direct equity stakes. The university employs an undisclosed number of investment and finance professionals across its North Dakota and Rome campuses. Philanthropic operations run through the University of Mary Foundation. Club memberships include NCAA Division II athletics within the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference, the Association of Benedictine Colleges and Universities, and a recognized listing from the Cardinal Newman Society. No dedicated fund vehicles or external LP disclosures have been identified. A genuine structural differentiator is the endowment's composition — overwhelmingly physical campus and monastery real estate with an unusually explicit fossil-fuel donor concentration (Harold Hamm's Hamm School of Engineering). Governance remains with the founding Benedictine order, a succession structure atypical among modern US endowments that have professionalized investment offices. The student investment club introduces a minor co-investment education component that sits outside formal endowment management.