Utah State University Endowment

The endowment falls under the purview of the Vice President for Finance and Administrative Services, currently Dave Cowley. It is invested alongside the university's broader treasury function. USU reports to NACUBO, which provides benchmarking against other university endowments nationally.

USU's real-asset holdings include the Swaner Preserve and EcoCenter in Park City, the Bastian Agricultural Center and equestrian park in Southwest Salt Lake County, the Innovation Campus research park in North Logan, and land in Dammeron Valley. These are not purely investment properties; many serve ongoing academic, conservation, or extension programming.

No separate external management entity is apparent. The endowment is managed within the university's central financial administration, consistent with public land-grant universities of its size.

The land-grant mission gives USU ownership of active agricultural and conservation properties that most endowments do not carry on their balance sheets. This means stewardship includes operational and educational mandates, not solely financial return objectives.

Oversight is shared by the Board of Trustees, chaired by Tessa White, and the executive administration led by President Brad L. Mortensen, who took office in January 2025. The Vice President for Finance and Administrative Services implements the policy.