Richard J. Ganong of Boston and Brunswick, Maine, has been named senior vice president for development and alumni relations, effective immediately. A Bowdoin alumnus with deep ties to the College and community, Ganong has more than 25 years of experience and achievement as a leader in the investment management industry, including demonstrated success in fundraising, strategic thinking and organizational development. The announcement was made Monday by Bowdoin College President Barry Mills.
Rick Ganong ’86
Ganong succeeds Kelly Kerner, who is taking on new responsibilities at the College after two years as Bowdoin’s chief development officer. Under Kerner’s leadership, Bowdoin raised $46.2 million in fiscal 2012-13, including $10.6 million in gifts to the Annual Giving program, which receives contributions from alumni, parents and friends of the College. In the same period, Bowdoin’s Alumni Fund participation rate was over 59%, a rate that is among the highest in the nation. Kerner will work directly with Mills on projects related to development and other areas at the College.
“I am very grateful to Kelly Kerner for his leadership of our development and alumni relations programs during the past two years,” said Mills. “The organization had seen steady and effective leadership for 25 years, and Kelly was able to step in and move these efforts along even further. Kelly is a terrific colleague, and I look forward to our work together on behalf of Bowdoin.”
Ganong was selected for the position after he met and spoke with many Bowdoin trustees and with the College’s search consultant, Isaacson, Miller. Reporting to President Mills, he will serve as a member of the leadership team that sets strategy at Bowdoin. He will also oversee a development and alumni relations staff and program that engages a loyal and diverse group of alumni in the life of the College.
“There are few people who know Bowdoin better or believe more passionately in what this College stands for than Rick Ganong,” said Mills. “His impressive professional record speaks for itself and shows that he knows how to motivate, inspire, and lead. Rick is a person who forges lasting relationships. He is a generous volunteer and philanthropist who understands the importance of serving the common good. And he’s an accomplished athlete who values teamwork, effort and a determination to succeed. I look forward to working with Rick and our outstanding team in Development and Alumni Relations to advance the mission of this great College.”
A member of the Bowdoin Class of 1986, Ganong graduated magna cum laude with degrees in government and classics. He was a three-sport athlete at the College (football, ice hockey, and baseball) and a member of the Student Judicial Board and Beta Theta Pi. He earned an M.B.A. at Dartmouth’s Tuck School of Business in 1992.
“I couldn’t be more excited about the opportunity to work with President Mills, the Board of Trustees, and the accomplished staff in development and alumni relations, and to do everything I can to build on the strengths of this College that I love,” said Ganong. “I believe in the liberal arts model of education because I have lived the benefits of the knowledge, skills and relationships I gained here. My job, as I see it, is to make sure that future graduates have access to the very best education possible and that they are as proud of Bowdoin as I am today.”
Professionally, Ganong has focused on venture capital and hedge fund investing. He had a successful, 17-year career as a partner at the Tudor Investment Corporation, an internationally recognized diversified investment management firm. He was a founding general partner of the Tudor Venture Group, which provides growth capital to primarily American, information-technology companies.
After helping to form Tudor Ventures in 1996, Ganong managed three separate venture funds with aggregate capital of nearly $700 million. Most recently, he was a partner at Windhorse Capital Management, a Boston-based wealth management firm stewarding capital on behalf of individuals and families.
Ganong has dedicated his time and resources to many not-for-profit institutions. He is currently a member of the Board of Overseers at the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth. He is also the chairman of the corporation and president emeritus of the Board of Trustees at the Belmont Hill School in Belmont, Mass. From 2008-12 he was an overseer and member of the finance committee at Newton Wellesley Hospital in Newton, Mass. He is a mentor at Year Up and has served on various Bowdoin College committees, including as co-chair of the committee to fund and construct the Sidney J. Watson Arena, Bowdoin’s $20 million state-of-the-art, LEED-certified ice arena.
Ganong’s family includes many Bowdoin graduates, including his wife of 23 years, Kris, who is also a member of the Class of 1986; father-in-law Roger Tuveson ’64; sister Betsy Ganong Dawson ’89; and sister-in-law Katy Tuveson Gearan ’91and her husband, Mike Gearan ’91. Rick and Kris have two adult children, Ryan and Kimmy. Kimmy Ganong is a member of the Bowdoin Class of 2017.
