Alumni couple makes $20 million gift to establish Notre Dame Institute for Global Investing

James Parsons and Dr. Carrie Quinn with Rev. John Jenkins, C.S.C.

James Parsons and Dr. Carrie Quinn of New York City have made a $20 million gift to the University of Notre Dame to endow a new Institute for Global Investing in their alma mater’s Mendoza College of Business.

“This magnanimous gift will allow a cadre of superb finance faculty members at Notre Dame to advance their teaching and research to new levels,” said Rev. John I. Jenkins, C.S.C., the University’s president. “Jim and Carrie are distinguished graduates of the University, and we are most grateful for their wonderful generosity.”

The Notre Dame Institute for Global Investing is poised to advance investment-management research and educational outreach on a worldwide scale, according to Roger D. Huang, Martin J. Gillen Dean of the Mendoza College of Business.

“The Notre Dame Institute for Global Investing provides that vital nexus for research, the classroom, our alumni and other partners so that we can leverage all of it for a greater impact than the sum of its parts,” he said. “I’m confident that the institute will enable us to expand opportunities for our stakeholders — especially for our students — and become a significant thought leader in the global investment community.”

Scott Malpass, vice president, chief investment officer and a professor in Notre Dame’s Applied Investment Management (AIM) course, added: “I have known Jim since he was a junior at Notre Dame and have watched him become one of the finest money managers in the nation today. Jim and Carrie’s tremendous generosity will allow us to train the next generation of top-tier money managers imbued with the strong business ethics and principle-centered leadership that come from a Notre Dame education.”

The institute will leverage three key strengths of Notre Dame — top-rated finance faculty, an innovative finance curriculum and extensive strategic partnerships — to form a platform for both learning and influencing the way investment managers the world over think about global finance.

The institute’s goals include expanding internship and career placement opportunities; leveraging key partnerships among the college, the Notre Dame Investment Office and the University’s extensive alumni network; furthering faculty research and thought leadership; attracting prospective finance faculty; and adding depth and breadth to Mendoza’s already strong finance curriculum.

Shane Corwin, associate professor of finance, has been named as the inaugural director of the institute. A member of the Notre Dame faculty since 2000, he teaches and researches in the areas of security market design and investment banking. He has published articles in numerous finance journals, most recently studying the role of limited attention in securities trading, the measurement of transaction costs and conflicts of interest related to maker-taker fees on U.S. stock exchanges.

Corwin has served as a member of the Nasdaq Economic Advisory Board and has been awarded research grants from the Notre Dame Deloitte Center for Ethical Leadership, Morgan Stanley and the Q-Group. He earned a doctorate in finance from Ohio State University and bachelor’s and master of business administration (MBA) degrees from Mankato State University.

Parsons earned his bachelor’s degree in finance from Notre Dame and an MBA from Harvard University. He is founder and portfolio manager for Junto Capital Management in New York City and previously served as a portfolio manager for Viking Global Investors in New York.

Quinn is a graduate of both Notre Dame and Tufts University Medical School. She completed her pediatric residency at Boston Children’s Hospital. After working in private practice in Queens, New York, for six years, she is now an assistant clinical professor of pediatrics at Mount Sinai Hospital. In addition to seeing patients and teaching medical students, she is the executive director of the Mount Sinai Parenting Center, a not-for-profit entity created to support and educate parents in evidence-based parenting practices designed to help improve the health, resilience and well-being of children and families. The couple has three children.

“There has never been a greater need for outstanding leadership in the investment management industry,” Parsons said. “It has been a privilege to work together with the Mendoza College of Business, Scott Malpass, the Investment Office and other University leaders to form an institute that should enable the University to adequately address the need to educate the investment management leaders of tomorrow. The University is uniquely positioned to assist in the formation of leaders around the globe, and Carrie and I are delighted that our gift will help address this critical need.”

Quinn and Parsons made a $5 million gift in 2010 to endow the directorship of Notre Dame’s Boler-Parseghian Center for Rare and Neglected Diseases. They also have made gifts to their alma mater for a Donor Advised Fund, scholarship, the Applied Investment Management Alumni Endowment Fund and the President’s Circle.