Allison K. Thacker is a special advisor to Rice University. Ms. Thacker joined Rice University in 2011 and served as Chief Investment Officer and President of the Rice Management Company through September 2024. In that role, she was responsible for managing the endowment’s long-term investment pool valued at $7.5bn. Rice University’s endowment ranks in the top 20 of U.S. private research universities, and the annual distribution from the endowment is the single largest revenue source to the operating budget, supporting ~40% of the University’s operating expenses. Over the 5- and 10-year periods ending on June 30, 2024, the endowment generated annualized returns of 9.6% and 8.6%, respectively. Rice Management Company partners with third-party investment managers and employs an active management strategy.

Before joining Rice University, Ms. Thacker spent 11 years with RS Investments, a San Francisco-based investment firm specializing in public equities. At RS Investments, Ms. Thacker held roles including Portfolio Manager, Managing Director and Research Analyst. In the earlier portion of her career, Ms. Thacker served as a Summer Analyst at Putnam Investments and as a Financial Analyst in the energy investment banking group at Merrill Lynch & Co. She is the board chair of the KIPP Texas Houston Regional Board of Directors, an open-enrollment, public school network with 59 schools serving 34,000 students across Texas. She is also a member of the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas Financial Sector Advisory Council, the Houston Ballet Board of Trustees, Houston Endowment Investment Committee, and YPO.

Ms. Thacker is a graduate of Harvard Business School where she received an M.B.A. She has a Bachelor of Arts degree in economics with honors from Rice University.