Harvard University has appointed Paul B. Edgerley, Mary Callahan Erdoes, and Raymond J. McGuire to the board of the Harvard Management Company (HMC), which oversees Harvard’s $56.9 billion endowment. These additions bring the total number of directors to 15, though the board does not have a fixed size. Certain seats are permanently held by the University’s president, treasurer, chief financial officer, and HMC’s CEO, N.P. “Narv” Narvekar.
All three new directors have extensive backgrounds in global finance. Edgerley co-founded VantEdge Partners and previously led private equity at Bain Capital. McGuire is president of Lazard and formerly led Citigroup’s investment banking division. Both have longstanding ties to Harvard’s fundraising efforts. Edgerley and his wife Sandra M. Edgerley helped lead the University’s $2.5 billion Faculty of Arts and Sciences capital campaign, and the FAS deanship was renamed after their family gift. McGuire has received Harvard’s W.E.B. Du Bois Medal, spoken at Harvard Business School’s Class Day, and helped establish the David L. Evans Scholarship for underrepresented students.
Harvard treasurer and HMC board chair Timothy R. Barakett said the new directors’ experience in global markets and organizational leadership would help support the University’s financial strength.
The Appointment Drawing National Attention
The selection of Mary Callahan Erdoes, CEO of J.P. Morgan Asset & Wealth Management, has generated significant scrutiny. Erdoes previously oversaw the division that managed Jeffrey E. Epstein’s accounts at JPMorgan Chase from 1998 to 2013. Epstein, who later became a convicted sex offender, pleaded guilty in 2008 to charges related to minors.
A recently unsealed Senate Finance Committee memo, dated Nov. 19, revealed that Erdoes maintained regular contact with Epstein between 2010 and 2011, after he served a 13-month prison sentence. Investigators said the messages were “highly personal” and suggested Epstein had “constant access” to her during that period. Emails included Epstein telling Erdoes there were “21 million reasons” he wanted to speak. Another message mentioned that he had “just got out of the pool at the Ritz” in Paris, which Erdoes replied was “rude and insensitive.”
The memo also stated that former JPMorgan executive Jes Staley told Epstein to stop pushing Erdoes, and Epstein responded that he thought he was “following plan.” Staley later resigned from Barclays after a government investigation into his relationship with Epstein.
Internal Decisions and Bank Actions Under Review
According to the Senate memo, Erdoes approved a 2013 internal request to allow Epstein to continue working on projects for third-party clients such as Leon D. Black, even after JPMorgan formally ended Epstein’s direct client relationship that year due to money-laundering concerns. A gift from Black, arranged by Epstein, supported the work of Harvard English professor Elisa F. New, who is married to former Harvard president Lawrence H. Summers.
A 2019 report stated that Erdoes supported keeping Epstein as a client after his 2008 conviction, though JPMorgan later disputed this. A March 2023 deposition, cited in legal filings, showed Erdoes acknowledging that the bank knew by 2006 that Epstein was accused of paying cash to bring minors to his home. JPMorgan eventually paid $75 million to settle a lawsuit brought by the U.S. Virgin Islands accusing the bank of enabling Epstein’s trafficking network. The bank defended Erdoes and said she ended Epstein’s client relationship in 2013 and that the government did not share crucial information for many years.
Harvard’s Sensitive Timing
Erdoes’ appointment arrives as Harvard faces renewed attention on its own past ties to Epstein. Newly released documents from the House Oversight Committee revealed communications between Epstein and multiple Harvard affiliates. In response, the University launched a new investigation into Epstein’s connections to Harvard figures, including Lawrence H. Summers, who maintained correspondence with Epstein until his 2019 arrest.
The disclosures also prompted President Donald Trump to order a Justice Department investigation into Summers, and congressional staff discussed the possibility of a broader probe into Harvard.
