By Rachel Winters
Daniel C. Chung, Chief Executive Officer and Chief Investment Officer at Fred Alger Management, Inc ., assumed his new role as Chair of the Conservancy’s New York Board on December 4, 2013. Chung’s expertise in both investment and in leading and growing an investment firm is a valuable asset to the Conservancy as the organization works to develop, refine, and effectively execute its global and statewide priorities.
“We are excited to have Dan Chung as the new Chair of the Board,” said Bill Ulfelder, Executive Director of The Nature Conservancy in New York. “His passion for conservation and improving people’s lives, in addition to the management expertise he has gained over his remarkable career, is a wonderful combination for the Conservancy. The Conservancy will benefit enormously from his leadership.”
Chung is Chief Executive Officer, Chief Investment Officer, and Portfolio Manager at Fred Alger Management, Inc., a private investment management firm with over $20 billion in assets under management, serving institutional and corporate clients, retail investors and financial advisors since 1964.
Chung joined Alger in 1994 and has twenty years of investment experience. He was named Chief Investment Officer in September 2001, President in 2003, and CEO in 2006. Chung holds a bachelor’s degree from Stanford University and earned a J.D. magna cum laude from Harvard Law School in 1987, where he was an editor of Harvard Law Review. After completing law school, he served a one-year term as Judicial Clerk for the Honorable Justice Anthony M. Kennedy, United States Supreme Court. He joined Simpson Thatcher & Bartlett LLP in New York City in 1989 and earned an L.L.M. from New York University in 1993. Chung is a CFA charter holder and a member of the CFA Institute.
“I am thrilled to be the new chair of The Nature Conservancy’s New York Board,” said Chung. “I am looking forward to this tremendous opportunity to help the Conservancy in its mission to conserve the lands and waters on which all life depends. New York sets global precedents, which means that I am now in the unique position to raise the bar for sustainability worldwide.”
For Chung, who first became a member of the Conservancy’s New York Board of Trustees in December 2011, conservation is a family tradition. He is an avid biker, skier, and all-around outdoorsman. During his past two years as a Board member, Chung has offered insightful perspective on the Conservancy’s global work and has been engaged in strengthening many of the organization’s programs around the world. More specifically, Chung served as a leader on the Conservancy’s hugely successful Heart of the Adirondacks campaign to preserve 161,000 acres of Adirondack wilderness for the benefit of nature and people.
Chung and his wife Alex, along with their two children, reside in Brooklyn.
Rachel Winters writes for The Nature Conservancy in New York.