Henry R. Kravis
RECIPIENT OF THE HONORARY DEGREE
Henry Kravis is Co-Founder, Co-Chairman, and Co-Chief Executive Officer of Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Company (KKR). Founded in 1976 and led by Mr. Kravis and George Roberts, KKR is a leading global investment firm.
Mr. Kravis currently serves on the boards of Axel Springer and ICONIQ Capital, LLC. He also serves as a director, chairman emeritus, or trustee of several other cultural, professional, and educational institutions, including The Business Council (former Chairman), Claremont McKenna College, Columbia Business School (Co-Chairman), Mount Sinai Hospital, the Partnership for New York City (former Chairman), the Partnership Fund for New York City (Founder), Sponsors for Educational Opportunity (Chairman), and the Tsinghua School of Economics and Management in China. Mr. Kravis earned a bachelor’s degree in economics from Claremont McKenna College and a master’s degree in business administration from Columbia Business School.
Henry Kravis was elected to the Board of Trustees of The Rockefeller University in 2004. He was named Vice Chair of the Board in 2005, a position he held until becoming Trustee Emeritus in 2019. During his tenure, he was a member of the Board’s Executive Committee, Finance & Operations Committee, and Nominating & Governance Committee. As Vice Chair and member of the Finance & Operations Committee, he oversaw a period of substantial growth and renewal at Rockefeller, which included the construction of new laboratories and other scientific facilities. His visionary leadership in governance and as a philanthropist sparked the creation of the Stavros Niarchos Foundation–David Rockefeller River Campus, with its centerpiece, the Marie-Josée and Henry R. Kravis Research Building.
At Claremont McKenna College, Mr. Kravis founded the Kravis Leadership Institute and established the Kravis Prize in Leadership, awarded annually to an international organization that demonstrates leadership, creativity, and sustainability in the non-profit sector. In 1996, he established the New York City Investment Fund (now known as the Partnership Fund for New York City), a non-profit organization that works to create jobs and help small businesses in New York City. Mr. Kravis was made an Officier of the French Légion d’honneur and has been awarded the Order of the Aztec Eagle, Mexico’s highest honor for foreigners. In addition, he has received honorary doctorate degrees from Claremont McKenna College and several other colleges.