SOURCE OF WEALTH: Goldman Sachs, Kepos Capital
FUNDING AREAS: Education, Health, Environment, Human Services, Policy
OVERVIEW: Robert Litterman, his wife Mary, and family conduct their philanthropy through the Litterman Family Foundation. Available tax filings indicate that the foundation awarded $885,000 in grants in 2018.
The family supports their schools, including University of Minnesota, as well as health, environmental outfits, and more. Litterman’s board memberships include the World Wildlife Foundation and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.
BACKGROUND: Robert B. Litterman received his BS in human biology from Stanford University, and his PhD in economics from University of Minnesota. He joined Goldman Sachs in 1984, where he went on to have a 23-year career, making partner in 1994. Litterman joined Kepos Capital in 2010.
ISSUES:
EDUCATION: The Litterman family have steadily supported Stanford University Foundation, University of Minnesota Foundation, and MIT. Prior to his career at Goldman Sachs, Litterman taught at MIT. Litterman and Mary, meanwhile, both received doctorates from University of Minnesota, as did the couple’s son. Some of this giving is focused on economics at the school. University of Minnesota is home to the Mary A. and Robert B. Litterman Endowed Fellowship. The family has also supported the Thomas Sargent Professorship. Other grantees have included United Negro College Fund. It is also worth noting that Mary once co-chaired the Millburn Education Foundation in New Jersey.
HEALTH: The Littermans have an interest in health philanthropy and Litterman is on the board of Robert Wood Johnson Foundation in New Jersey. The couple’s daughter also has a PhD in neuroscience. Other grantees have included Seeing Eye, Inc., Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, National Foundation for Cancer Research, Overlook Hospital Foundation, and American Cancer Society.
ENVIRONMENT: Litterman is on the board of World Wildlife Foundation, which the family supports. The Littermans have also supported National Park Conservation, Linden Trust for Conservation (established by fellow Goldman alum Larry Linden), Conservation Lands Foundation, Ceres, Environmental Defense Fund, Resources for the Future, and Partnership for Responsible Growth, which “advocates for pro-growth tax policy addressing the challenge of climate change with carbon-funded tax cuts.”
HUMAN SERVICES: Grantees have included United Way of Northern New Jersey, United Way of Routt County, and Community Food Bank of New Jersey.
POLICY: The family has also supported policy outfits Niskanen Center and the Cato Institute.
LOOKING FORWARD: The Littermans are based in the Northeast, but the family also has ties to the Midwest and the West Coast. Expect their grantmaking to carry on with their established interests.
CONTACT:
The Litterman Family Foundation does not provide a clear avenue of contact but below is an address:
The Litterman Family Foundation
Bowling Green Sta., P.O. Box 73
New York City, NY 10274
