spring 2013
leadership, made significant gifts, and did a fabulous job of transforming the University. It’s been a pleasure working with them.” Collins is quick to note that he had plenty of fun in his 34 years at Clark. A sports enthusiast (the Department of Athletics falls under his purview), he was a regular at the Noontime Basketball Association games that for many years attracted faculty, staff and students to the Kneller courts at high noon. “It was a true passion of mine,” he says. “I got to meet an awful lot of great people through the NBA.” Collins also speaks fondly of Clark’s barnstorming softball team of faculty and staff who in the early ’80s took on, and usually defeated, the likes of Brandeis, Bentley, St. Anselm and Babson. “We had a great time — and we were good,” he says. Though he’s officially retiring in August, Collins has agreed to stay on for one more year as chief investment officer during the transition. At 64, he says, he’s ready for retirement. “I think in the life of any organization, 35 years is long enough,” he says. “Organizations need to rotate people and ideas and ways of doing things. I was fortunate to follow Larry Landry and build on the good work he did, and having someone come in after me and do some things better and differently will be good for this place.” President David Angel notes that Collins’ impact has been significant. “For more than three decades, Jim Collins has been a stalwart of Clark University,” he says. “His considerable financial skills, his careful and discerning stewardship of University resources, and his commitment to this institution have had a tremendous impact on our mission to provide a transformative experience to our students. Jim’s contributions are evident throughout the campus, and will continue to be felt long after he’s retired. He will be missed.” Collins likes to tell the “cake story.” When Clark’s endowment was nearing $100 million, Investment Committee Chair Michael Freedman ’64 promised his committee would serve cake to the Board of Trustees when that magic threshold was reached. “He was true to his word, and we arranged to have a big cake,” Collins remembers. “The only thing is, not long after we had the cake the market fell precipitously and the endowment immediately dropped below $100 million. After that, Tony Tilton, Larry Landry and others would always ask Michael when we’d be having the next cake. But when the endowment went to $200 million and $300 million, we all decided we would never have cake again. It was bad luck.” Still, as his retirement nears and the Clark community plans to honor Jim Collins, the astute investor might look into sinking some resources into sugar and flour futures. Because in addition to the warm wishes, the gracious thanks, and all those kudos that he’s deflected to others over the years, there undoubtedly will be a very big cake.
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clear that Buffett had a very strong value-focus. David is the person who promoted that the most here. “Our portfolio has its relative advantages,” he continues. “We may underperform when the market is going up real fast, but we tend to outperform when it’s going down. The Investment Committee has had a solid risk-averse focus, which gives us a competitive advantage relative to our peers. Our record is good, and can be traced to the talent of people like David, Bob Hurst [’66], Larry Landry, right through to the current chair Bob Stevenish. Continuity is terribly important, and people like Tony Tilton, who has served on the Investment Committee since 1976, and many others, have helped us keep that long-term view.” The economic meltdown in 2008 is a prime example of how the investment strategy helped Clark navigate choppy economic waters. On the operating side, the University fared relatively well, Collins says. Financial aid was given a little more freely and revenues flattened, but enrollment held steady. While investments dropped about 16 percent in the tumbling 2008-2009 market, many other colleges were experiencing losses in the 24 to 27 percent range. “It was still a hit to us, no doubt about it. But the conservative approach from our Board of Trustees and Investment Committee on spending rates, investment practices and debt served us very well. The system was built in a way to withstand some shocks. You don’t only measure your success when things are going great; a better measure is when things are going badly.” Throughout the conversation, Collins returns to the topic of the people he has worked with who helped make Clark hum. He talks of the string of “great hires” like Andrea Michaels, vice president for budgets and planning; controller Kathy Cannon; Jack Foley, vice president of government and community affairs; Lynn Olson, retired director of Human Resources; Paul Bottis ’84, retired director of Physical Plant, and those who have assisted in his office — Pam Moore, Danielle Manning, now senior vice president/treasurer at Suffolk University, and Jan Adamec. Collins also cites the influence of leaders on the Finance Committee, like Ron Shaich ’76, Barry Rogstad ’62, M.A. ’63, and Mel Rosenblatt ’53, and the many key people who have devoted years of service to the Environment and Audit committees. “I am very proud of the facilities improvements we made over the years,” he says, “beginning with the construction of the Sackler Sciences Center and continuing with such key buildings as the Higgins University Center, the Lasry Science Center, the Academic Commons and the closing and rejuvenation of Downing Street. These projects were carried out overwhelmingly by Paul Bottis [see page 60] and led by some outstanding chairs of the Environment Committee, like Mike Leavitt, Jim Harrington, Jackie Pfannenstiel [’69], Peter Klein [’64] and Larry Hershoff [’71].” “All of these people embraced Clark University,” he says. “They provided