# UNO Foundation

UNO Foundation is a Foundation based in New Orleans, United States.

## Overview

- **Organization type:** Foundation
- **Headquarters:** New Orleans, United States
- **Region:** North America
- **Address:** New Orleans, LA, United States
- **Founded:** 1984
- **Assets under management:** $97M (Altss estimate)
- **Website:** unofoundation.org

## Regulatory record

- **Reports private funds:** No

## About

The University of New Orleans Foundation was chartered in 1984 as a private fundraising and asset-management arm for the city's primary public research university. Founding board member Henry Bernstein — whose name now anchors the College of Business Administration — helped shape its early donor base alongside a network of local business figures. The Foundation's principal beneficiary remains UNO, but its holdings stretch well beyond a traditional university portfolio into a set of real assets that few endowments of comparable size control. The endowment pool itself is modest — Altss estimates roughly $97M — yet the Foundation's economic footprint is amplified by direct ownership of commercial real estate including the Lee Circle parcels, the UNO President's residence, and the Patrick F. Taylor Library at 925 Camp Street. It also holds the primary collection of Southern art installed at the Ogden Museum and owns that museum's physical site. Two subsidiary entities, UNO Foundation Working Interest, L.L.C. and UNO Foundation Royalty Company, L.L.C., manage legacy oil and gas interests that generate a separate royalty stream — a structure more common among land-grant endowments in Texas and the Dakotas than for a metropolitan Gulf Coast foundation. Board leadership mixes university administration with corporate New Orleans. Second Vice Chair Kimberly S. Cook-Nelson is an executive VP at Entergy, tying the Foundation to the region's dominant utility. Campaign co-chair Gary Solomon Sr., a past president of YPO Louisiana, has co-chaired the 'Next is Now' fundraising push alongside engineering benefactor Robert A. Savoie. In May 2024, the Foundation partnered with the UNO Research and Technology Foundation, an affiliated support organization, to strengthen the university's applied-research commercial pipeline at the UNO Research and Technology Park (public record). UNO Foundation's structural distinction is its hybrid asset base — it operates simultaneously as a traditional endowment manager, a commercial landlord, a mineral-rights holder, and an art-collection steward. That combination of cash-flow streams gives it a cushion against enrollment-driven revenue swings that peer urban universities lack, though it also concentrates risk in downtown New Orleans real estate and the volatility of energy royalties.

## Sectors

- Education
- Real Estate
- Energy Transition & Renewables

## People

- Anthony Gregorio — President and CEO
- Henry Bernstein — Founding Board Member and Benefactor
- Gary Solomon Sr. — Co-chair, 'Next is Now' Campaign Cabinet
- Robert A. Savoie — Co-chair, 'Next is Now' Campaign Cabinet
- Kimberly S. Cook-Nelson — Board Second Vice Chair; Executive VP at Entergy

## Questions

### How is UNO Foundation related to the University of New Orleans?

The Foundation is a legally separate nonprofit corporation chartered to receive gifts, manage endowments, and hold real assets on behalf of the University. It serves as the university's primary fundraising and asset-management arm but operates with its own board and investment governance distinct from the university's academic administration.

### What non-financial assets does the Foundation hold?

Beyond the pooled endowment, the Foundation directly owns the Ogden Museum of Southern Art site and its primary collection, the UNO President's residence, the Patrick F. Taylor Library, and several parcels around Lee Circle in downtown New Orleans. Two LLC subsidiaries manage oil and gas royalty interests that generate a separate income stream for the university.

### What is the UNO Research and Technology Foundation?

It is an affiliated support organization co-located at the UNO Research and Technology Park. The two foundations recently formalized a closer partnership aimed at commercializing applied research developed at the university. The Research and Technology Foundation manages the Park's facilities and tenant relationships.

### Who leads investment decisions at the Foundation?

President and CEO Anthony Gregorio oversees investment management alongside the Foundation's board, which includes executives from Entergy and prominent local business figures like Gary Solomon Sr. The Foundation has not publicly disclosed a separate chief investment officer or external OCIO relationship.

## Related profiles

- [University City Science Center](https://altss.com/profile/university-city-science-center)
- [Upstate New York Bakery Drivers and Industry Pension Fund](https://altss.com/profile/upstate-new-york-bakery-drivers-and-industry-pension-fund)

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Last updated: 2026-06-03T20:00:00.000Z

Canonical page: https://altss.com/profile/uno-foundation

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