Anderson and Carlson named to Rice University Board of Trustees; Foshee and Oshman re-elected

CONTACT: B.J. Almond
PHONE: 713-348-6770
E-MAIL: balmond@rice.edu

A well-known financial expert and a lawyer for a high-profile hedge fund, both of whom are active alumni of Rice University, were named to the Rice Board of Trustees Thursday.  They are Keith Anderson, chief investment officer for Soros Fund Management, LLC, in New York City, and Nancy Packer Carlson, a partner of Carlson Capital, LP, in Dallas. 

Re-elected to another four-year term were trustees and alumni Douglas Foshee and M. Kenneth Oshman.

“We’re glad to add the financial and legal wisdom of such successful alumni as Keith Anderson and Nancy Carlson to our board,” Chairman Jim Crownover said. “Adding to our connections in Dallas, New York and international financial centers will help the board expand its geographic scope as Rice moves ahead with the Vision for the Second Century goal of strengthening its reputation as one of the nation’s top research universities.”

“Keith and Nancy are wonderful additions to our board, and they are joining us at a critical time as we proceed with our plans to expand the university’s student body, research mission and global impact,” President David Leebron said. “They reinforce the national reach of our board and also bring, respectively, the perspective of the graduate and undergraduate experience.”

Crownover and Leebron both welcomed the continued service by Foshee and Oshman.

Anderson received a B.S. in economics and finance from Nichols College in 1981 and an MBA from Rice’s Jesse H. Jones Graduate School of Management in 1983. He joined Soros in February and oversees the company’s investment activities. Previously he was vice chairman and chief investment officer of Black Rock, a $1.4 trillion asset management firm, which he cofounded in 1988. Prior to that, he was a vice president in fixed income research at the First Boston Corp., and from 1983 to 1987 he was a portfolio manager at Criterion Investment Management Co.

Anderson is chairman of the Treasury Borrowing Advisory Committee, which meets quarterly with the U.S. secretary of the treasury to advise on the financing and management of the federal debt. He serves on the board of Family Dynamics, a nonprofit organization focusing on the prevention of child abuse, and on the Jones School’s Council of Overseers and the board of the Brearley School in New York City. He also is member of the Rice Associates, a giving society.

Carlson received a Bachelor of Arts degree in economics and sociology from Rice in 1980 and a law degree from the University of Texas at Austin School of Law in 1985.  She works for Carlson Capital, a $4 billion, Dallas-based hedge fund founded in 1993 by her husband and Rice alumnus Clint D. Carlson ’79.  Previously she was a lawyer with the firms of Kelly, Hart & Hallman and Andrews & Kurth, LLP.

The Carlsons are members of several giving societies at Rice: Rice Associates, the William Marsh Rice Society and the Lovett Society. They have been co-chairs of the latter. Nancy Carlson was a reunion class solicitor and served on the Rice University Fund Council. She has hosted three events in Dallas for Rice alumnae.
 
Foshee is president and CEO of Houston’s El Paso Corp., the largest natural gas pipeline system and one of the largest natural gas producers in North America.  He received an MBA from Rice in 1992 and joined the board of trustees in 2004.

Oshman is chairman and CEO of Echelon Corp., a networking company in San Jose, Calif., that provides products and systems that monitor and save energy by connecting everyday devices to each other and the Internet in utility, building, industrial, transportation and home control systems. He received B.A. and B.S. degrees in electrical engineering from Rice in 1962 and 1963, respectively, and joined the board in 2004.