Following Up: Grace Gorman ’24, University of Chicago
Grace Gorman ’24, a graduate of the MBA and Asset Management programs, joined the university’s investment office, where she supports its venture capital portfolio and helps identify promising ventures in healthcare and biotech.
In this series, we check in with recent Yale SOM alumni to learn how their Yale SOM education has shaped their career paths since graduation.
How have you pursued your aspirations to have impact in your career so far?
I was attracted to the dual-degree MBA and Master’s in Asset Management program at SOM by the prospect of combining higher-level business training with rigorous study of asset management. My ultimate aspiration was to combine my qualitative and quantitative skills to invest on behalf of a mission-led institution. After graduation, I joined the University of Chicago’s investment office, where I help manage the university’s venture capital portfolio. Working in the endowment and foundation space is incredibly motivating. If we do our job well, we directly impact the university’s ability to provide financial aid and support world-class research, among a host of other causes. I am eager to identify the best investments to drive returns in support of the university’s mission.
What’s a lesson from the Asset Management program that has helped you on your career path since graduation?
One of the most formative experiences in the Asset Management program was taking Dean Takahashi and Jim Millar’s Investing Excellence course, which gave us rare, direct access to some of the world's best active managers. What struck me most wasn’t any single stock pick or framework—it was a deep appreciation for just how hard it is to generate consistent alpha. Great active management requires a genuine edge, relentless intellectual honesty, and the conviction to act when others hesitate. That lesson has only grown more relevant as markets have evolved. During my time in the program, GPT-3.5 launched. The LLM revolution and the pace of AI development since then has been extraordinary. If anything, it reinforces what those managers in Investing Excellence taught us: Even as information becomes more abundant and processing power more democratized, markets still reward judgment—knowing which opportunities matter, when to act, and why your view is differentiated. The best approach doesn’t involve choosing between AI and human intelligence; instead, it requires the strengths of both working together.
Have there been unexpected benefits from your SOM education?
Many! What stands out the most is the number of people in the endowment and foundation space with connections to SOM or Yale more broadly. I feel fortunate to be in the same network as a number of very accomplished CIOs and other investors in this space who have set a very high bar and continue to do so. Additionally, it has been exciting and rewarding to see my classmates also working at the intersection of business and society—across climate tech, healthcare, education, and other nonprofits.
What are you passionate about in your work?
I am passionate about backing great investors who are identifying and investing in founders building the technology of the future. More specifically, I am very passionate about the broader applications of AI, particularly in healthcare and biotech. It is really exciting to be able to invest in people who are building technologies that can develop life-changing medicines, enhance quality of life, and improve patient outcomes.
