Ravenel Curry

SOURCE OF WEALTH: Cofounder of Eagle Capital Management

FUNDING AREAS: Education, Policy

OVERVIEW: Ravenel B. Curry III conducts his philanthropic contributions through the Beth and Ravenel Curry Foundation, which was established in 1974 by Curry and his late wife Beth. According to available tax filings, the foundation awarded $11.9 million in grants in 2017. Curry is on the board of the Manhattan Institute and the American Enterprise Institute. Apart from conservative policy work, Curry has given large sums in education, particularly higher education. Curry also has an interest in history. He is a Giving Pledge signatory.

BACKGROUND: Curry graduated from Furman University, a liberal arts school in South Carolina, in 1963, and received an MBA from the University of Virginia in 1967. Curry began his investment career as a security analyst at Morgan Guaranty Trust Company. He was also a partner at H.C. Wainwright and the portfolio manager of the Duke Endowment. He cofounded Eagle Capital Management with his late wife Beth.

ISSUES:

EDUCATION: Curry is a former trustee of Furman University, his undergraduate alma mater. The school has received steady support over the years, including a $1 million gift last decade to support the Chinese Studies program. Beth's alma mater, Queens University of Charlotte, received at least $3 million between 2010 and 2012 alone. Beth also sat on the board of overseers of Weill Cornell Medical College, which received a little over $1 million in 2013, and on the board at Rockefeller University, which has received more modest sums of late. Davidson College has also received support.

Curry also has an interest in education reform and has supported the Alliance for School Choice, Families for Excellent Schools, and Center for Education Reform, among others. In 2013, a $1 million gift went to Uncommon Schools, a network of public charter schools in Boston, Newark, Camden, Brooklyn, Rochester, NY and Troy, NY. It is worth noting that Curry's son, Ravenel Boykin Curry IV, is a founding board member of Public Prep, which opens charter schools for children in New York City.

POLICY: Curry sits on the board of the American Enterprise Institute and the Manhattan Institute. The American Enterprise Institute is the site of the Beth and Ravenel Curry Chair in Free Enterprise, which was created with a $3 million gift. Other support has gone to Atlas Network, Cato Institute, and the Institute for Justice, which describes itself as "the nation's only libertarian, civil liberties, public interest law firm." Support has also gone to the Alexander Hamilton Society, and the Competitive Enterprise Institute.

OTHER: Curry is on the board of the New York Historical Society. Support has also gone to the Gilder Lehman Institute of American History and to science outfits such as the New York Hall of Science.

LOOKING AHEAD: Beyond the endowment to the foundation, it is hard to know how much money is waiting in the wings.  It remains to be seen what impact Beth Curry's recent death will have on the family's philanthropy. The late couple's son, Boykin Curry also has an interest in education and public policy (he is on the board of the New America Foundation) and should be watched as well.

CONTACT:

The Curry Foundation has no website or any process for applying for grants. But the address is below. 

Ravenel and Elizabeth Curry Foundation

499 Park Avenue Floor 17

New York, NY United States 10022-1240