Investment Committee and Managers

Our Investment Committee sets policy for the foundation's assets.

Sterling Jenson, Committee Chair, is the Regional Managing Director of Wells Capital Management, a unit of Wells Fargo & Company. Mr. Jenson is responsible for separate account portfolio management in the mountain region states from Idaho to Texas with combined assets of over $4 billion. Mr. Jenson has extensive experience in both investment management and financial services. Mr. Jenson is a member of the Board of the Hale Theater and an actor.  He is the chairman of the National Advisory Council of the Marriott School of Management at BYU and a member of the Investment Advisory Committee of the Utah Permanent School and Institutional Funds. Mr. Jenson received a Bachelor's degree in Economics and an M.B.A. from Brigham Young University .

Elizabeth Tashjian, Ph.D. is an Associate Professor of Finance at the University of Utah. She is Director of the Garn Institute of Finance and a David Eccles Fellow. Dr Tashjian received her Ph.D. in Finance from Purdue University and her B.A. in Mathematics from Boston College. Her primary research interests are in corporate financial distress and futures contract design. She serves on the Academic Advisory Council of the Turnaround Management Association, She won the Marvin J. Ashton Teaching Excellence award in 1999 for her work in developing the University of Utah Student Investment Fund. Dr. Tashjian is Vice President for Education and Youth at Congregation Kol Ami.

Kent Misener is the CIO and treasurer of Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators and president and director of research for Crossroads Investment Advisors. Deseret Mutual Benefits Administrators is the employee benefits arm of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and its affiliated organizations and manages its assets.  Mr. Misener received his bachelor’s degree in finance and economics and his MBA from USU and serves on the Investment Committees of many organizations including the Foundation for Education and Self Reliance and Intermountain Healthcare.