Spitz tapped by Mass Mutual Financial

Former university treasurer joins more corporate boards, lectures at Harvard Business School

Email | Print By Milt Capps

Bill Spitz

Former Vanderbilt University Treasurer and Vice Chancellor for Investments Bill Spitz confirmed for NashvillePost.com this morning he has accepted appointment to board of Mass Mutual Financial Group, a Fortune 100 firm with $500 billion in assets under management.

The company, which includes Oppenheimer Funds among its holdings, is affiliated with Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company, based in Springfield, Mass.

Earlier this year, Spitz joined the board of two other publicly traded companies, Acadia Realty Trust, based in White Plains, NY; and, London-based Cambium Global Timberland Ltd.

Spitz continues to serve on the board of Atlanta-based Diversified Trust, which he co-founded 13 years ago.

Spitz is no longer associated with Vanderbilt Owen Graduate School of Management, but recently lectured at Harvard Business School, where students examined a case study of Vanderbilt University's endowment and investments.

Spitz said during an interview this morning that his current activity reflects a commitment to "'chill' for awhile, and to try this board business, and see if that's enough to fill me and keep me interested — if not, I'll go do something else," which would probably translate into becoming associated with an investment firm.

Having given a year's notice of his intentions, Spitz retired from Vanderbilt earlier this year, after 21 years, during which time the Vanderbilt endowment grew from $300 million to its current $3.44 billion.

Vanderbilt subsequently appointed Matthew Wright, formerly investment director with Emory University, to shoulder Spitz's investment duties, with treasurer duties moving to Betty Price, Vanderbilt's controller in the office of financial affairs.