SALT LAKE CITY – June 25, 2018 – Utah State Treasurer David Damschen today announced the appointment of Jason Gull to the School and Institutional Trust Funds Office (SITFO) Board of Trustees.
When Utah became a state in 1896, Congress granted approximately seven million acres of land into twelve separate trusts for the support of state institutions, the largest being a trust for the perpetual support of public schools. The land has been administered by the School and Institutional Trust Lands Administration (SITLA) since 1994. In 2014, the Utah State Legislature created SITFO as an independent state agency with a five-member Board of Trustees, chaired by the state treasurer, to invest the funds produced by SITLA’s administration of the land.
“The depth and quality of Mr. Gull’s background in private equity complements the broad range of institutional investment management expertise our existing board members bring to the table,” Treasurer Damschen said. “He will bring a unique dimension of perspective and inquiry to our work as fiduciaries, policymakers and overseers.”
Gull was formerly a partner, head of secondary investments and member of the executive committee at Adams Street Partners, a global private markets investment manager with approximately $30 billion of assets under management. Among his other experiences, he worked at Landmark Partners, a global private equity and real estate investment firm, and was a director of the Salt Lake Organizing Committee for the Olympic Winter Games of 2002. Gull earned his bachelor’s degree in comparative literature from BYU and his MBA from Yale.
“Education is an invaluable public resource, and the School and Institutional Trusts are ultimately an investment in our community as a whole,” Gull said. “I look forward to applying my knowledge and experience as a board member to ensure that SITFO continues to make solid investment decisions that will benefit Utah’s education programs for years to come.”
The SITFO Nominating Committee met five times during the past four months to identify and interview candidates. Treasurer Damschen interviewed the committee’s final nominations before appointing Gull to the board. Gull will serve a six-year term, to expire June 30, 2024.
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