Michael Gould named Lehigh’s Interim CIO

Lehigh named Michael Gould its interim chief investment officer in August. Gould, who has worked in Lehigh’s Investment Office since 2018, took over the role after former CIO Kristin Agatone left to manage Georgetown University’s investment team.

Gould now oversees the university’s $2.2 billion endowment at what he calls “a pivotal time” for the institution.

As the Interim CIO, Gould leads a small team responsible for ensuring Lehigh’s investments support current operations while growing to serve future students and faculty. 

Gould said the office manages a diversified portfolio across equities, bonds and alternative strategies, aiming for long-term stability and growth.

He said the university’s financial landscape has shifted as Lehigh expands programs, enrolls larger classes and increases opportunities for students. 

He also said the Investment Office manages the university’s long-term investment portfolio, which includes endowment assets and university funds. 

Each year, the office distributes about $100 million, with most going toward financial aid and scholarships, including programs like the Lehigh Commitment, which provides full tuition coverage to families earning less than  $75,000 annually. 

When Gould arrived at Lehigh in 2018, he said the endowment was valued at $1.3 billion. It has now grown to be worth over $2 billion. 

However, he said the endowment isn’t a single unrestricted fund. Instead, he said it is made up of many individual funds, each with its own set of restrictions placed by donors.

 “(The funding is) lots of different endowments,” Gould said. “If a donor gives money to the university, they could restrict it — say it can only go to scholarships or faculty chairs. At the end of the day, it’s ultimately the donor’s decision.” 

He also said managing the endowment has become more complex in today’s economic climate.

“The challenges now are that everything’s trading at historical highs,” Gould said. “You want to invest the portfolio and make a market-related return, but as things get more expensive, you have to find alternative opportunities.” 

Ke Shen, an assistant professor of finance, said the market’s direction remains uncertain. He also said an important question to consider is how long market highs last, because future returns could decrease if prices stop rising. 

However, Gould said Lehigh’s position in the economic climate remains strong.

“Endowments tend to be more in the headlines today than in past years,” he said. “But Lehigh is in a very good position — we’re very well funded, and performance has been great.”

He credited his mother, a public school teacher in Jamaica, Queens, for his choice to have a career in education. He said seeing his mom work in the public school system inspired his current goal of making education more accessible and affordable. 

“I saw firsthand the challenges students from disadvantaged backgrounds face,” Gould said. “That puts in my head how important funding is to education.”

Finance professor McKay Price said financial stewardship is important to Lehigh’s operations.

“Most of the Lehigh budget that is responsible for keeping professors paid and buildings operating comes from tuition,” he  said. “If we stopped charging tuition today, we’d go out of business.”

He said students often assume their tuition pays for their education, when in reality tuition expenses cover operating costs like utilities and building maintenance. He said the endowment, rather, is the fund pool that covers scholarships.

Gould said the growth of the endowment is essential to attract more students who may rely on financial aid. 

“As you grow, you can provide more financial aid and attract more students,” Gould said. “It’s a flywheel — you want to continue to attract the best students, and financial aid is a really big component of that.”