SOURCE OF WEALTH: JP Morgan Asset Management, Salomon Smith Barney/Citigroup, KKR
FUNDING AREAS: Education & Youth, Mental Health
OVERVIEW: Clifford and Leigh Chiu do not have a formal charitable vehicle; however, the family appears to have a particular interest in education and guiding youth from adolescence through college completion.
BACKGROUND: Clifford K. Chiu graduated from the University of Pennsylvania in 1980 and received an M.B.A. from the University of Chicago in 1982. Chiu was a managing director and head of Asian institutional business at JP Morgan Asset Management, and head of Hong Kong investment banking at Salomon Smith Barney/Citigroup and its predecessors. He was also a partner at Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. (KKR). He currently serves as a senior advisor to Vista Equity Partners and to Neuberger Berman Group. Chiu takes up residence in Austin, Texas and Hong Kong.
ISSUES:
EDUCATION & YOUTH: The Chius have endowed annual scholarships for the underrepresented at his schools Chicago Booth and the University of Pennsylvania as well as the Hong Kong University Medical School (his mother’s school), Pomona College in suburban Los Angeles (the couple are parents), and the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth (where the couple are also parents).
Chiu has served on the global advisory boards of the Weingarten Learning Resources Center at the University of Pennsylvania and of the University of Chicago Booth School of Business where in 2015 he was appointed the first “distinguished executive-in-residence” at its Hong Kong campus. Through the Clinton Global Initiative, Chiu launched a 2015 commitment to action, “K-12 Learning Through Global Connectivity” in language arts and STEM skills.
MENTAL HEALTH: Chiu is a director of the St. James Settlement and a member of the board of trustees of the Seton Fund. The couple recently made a gift to Ascension Seton to support mental healthcare initiatives for college students in Central Texas, establishing the Chiu Endowment for Excellence in Mental Health.
LOOKING FORWARD: Chiu is still very much engaged in business, but perhaps philanthropy will ramp up through a formal foundation in the coming years. Leigh is active in the design world so perhaps some arts philanthropy will take shape as well.
LINK: Clifford Chiu Website
