R. Kelly Doherty, founder and managing partner of Caymen Advisors, has been named chair of Princeton University’s Annual Giving Committee. Annual Giving provides unrestricted funds to meet the University’s highest priorities and most pressing needs— such as financial aid, library and computing resources, and faculty support—and ensures the flexibility to undertake necessary new initiatives.

“I am delighted that Kelly Doherty has agreed to spearhead our Annual Giving efforts,” said President Shirley M. Tilghman. “His deep commitment to Annual Giving and the mission of our University, coupled with his energetic spirit and financial expertise, will be a source of inspiration for his fellow volunteers and all of Princeton’s alumni, parents, and friends.”

Doherty, who succeeds Rajiv Vinnakota ’93 as chair of Annual Giving, has been a member of the Annual Giving Committee since 2005, and a longtime AG volunteer. He chaired the Special Gifts committees for 1981’s 15th, 20th, and 25th Reunion campaigns. A former member of the Regional Schools Committee, and a past member of the Advisory Council of the Bendheim Center for Finance, he will join the Executive Committee of Aspire: A Plan for Princeton, the University’s comprehensive campaign that began in 2007 and concludes in 2012.

He assumes the Annual Giving chair “with humility, because so many others have worked so hard before me. I think we all share the feeling that we owe it to the University to make a difference, to leave Princeton an even better place than we found it, to keep it vibrant for the next generation.”

An English major whose career has been in finance, Doherty is a strong believer in the broad education offered at Princeton. He appreciates the “balanced collegiate experience” that enabled him to captain the varsity lacrosse team as well as pursue his studies; he and his father, Robert C. Doherty ’52, both wore No. 33, and son Matt ’11, a third-generation lacrosse player, currently wears the same number.

He is aware that he takes on Annual Giving leadership “at a time of economic uncertainty,” but feels confident in the support of all Princetonians. He points out, “Annual Giving is always a vital part of Princeton’s fundraising effort. Unrestricted funds enable the administration to promote new initiatives, such as neuroscience, and support existing initiatives that are important but vulnerable to economic downturn, such as financial aid. If some students experience a change in their economic circumstances, AG provides a buffer. Annual Giving ensures that Princeton’s pursuit of excellence need never be compromised.”

He notes, “Annual Giving is the first priority of Aspire: A Plan for Princeton, and will strive to provide at least $250 million over the five-year period of the campaign.” Caymen Advisors, formed in 1998, operates two private investment funds—a global macro hedge fund and a venture fund specializing in Israeli-based technologies. Prior to that Doherty was vice chair at Bankers Trust and a member of the firm’s Management Committee. He had joined Bankers Trust in 1981, serving as manager of foreign exchange trading in New York; manager of foreign exchange and gilts trading in London; and global manager of foreign exchange and securities trading.

He sits on the board of L.P. Thebault Co., a commercial printing company, and the global equity firm Harding Loevner Funds Inc. His community and civic engagement activities include membership on the board and chairmanship of the Endowment Committee of the Peck School, an independent K-8 day school in Morristown, New Jersey; he is also a member of the Endowment Committee of Morristown Memorial Hospital.

Doherty is married to Susan O’Connell Doherty of the Class of 1983, who has also been an active Annual Giving volunteer, as well as a past member of the Reunion and the Regional Schools committees. They live in Bernardsville, New Jersey, and have four children.

September 2009